Analysis of Existing DApps on Ethereum
According to Stanislav Sheliakin, business analyst at Applicature, 95% of ICOs launched token sales on Ethereum in order to collect money and profit from an ICO, but not to develop a business. This appears to be the main issue: owners of ICO projects focus on taking advantage of the token sale rather than generating token flow.
Why Do DApps Run out of Funds Before Launch?
Applicature business analysts explain it this way: there is no need to create utility tokens for a DApp on Ethereum. Instead, creators can use common Ethers, which makes the development process much easier.
Among thousands of ICOs launched on Ethereum, only a few ended up with a ready-to-go dApp, even though the investment funds were huge. ICOs remain one of the most profitable means of crowdfunding; however, development is not always related to them. The reason for this is that creators are never focused on how, exactly, they are going to make their idea real, but when it comes to execution, they spend big sums on development. Furthermore, technical execution is a component that shouldn’t be underestimated; otherwise, dApp creators will face a shortage of funds.
Applicature would like to share our opinion on projects brilliantly combine ideas and development.
Ethereum, as the first platform allowing dApps, hosts the greatest variety of fields that dApps work for: gaming, gambling, storage, wallets, exchanges, governance, social media, etc. Our business analysts will reveal the top 7 dApps on Ethereum that are worth taking into consideration.
Gaming
Blockchain found further adoption in FinTech, which also helps modernize the approach to the gaming industry. Let’s overview some of the blockchain-based gaming platforms.
CryptoKitties
An amazing thing about the CryptoKitties project is not just that each asset is reflected by a gosh-how-cute kitten, but yes, let’s admit it — it’s brilliant! Also, the team decided not to run an ICO, justifying it by their conviction that it’s not the blockchain that should enhance investor trust in an ICO, but a ready-to-go product.
The game was released by the Canadian company AxiomZen on November 23, 2017, and has already achieved tangible results. The success of CryptoKitties after the launch was astonishing: in comparison to the EtherDelta token exchange, there were twice as many transactions conducted through CryptoKitties — more specifically, 15 percent.
Blockchain technology and Ethereum cryptocurrency stand in the basis of CryptoKitties. However, unlike other dApps that issue utility tokens, CryptoKitties allows players to buy, sell, or “breed” a digital asset that looks like an adorable virtual kitten. Each of these is unique, and each can create one more completely unique (0 Gen Kitten), a double-cost digital kitten. When CryptoKitties peaked, one 0 Gen Kitten could bring its owner up to 8 ETH.
If you breed a lot of cats with the same feature, their price goes down, which has caused a dramatic drop in the economics of the CryptoKitties project.
Luckily for the project, it gets around 368 active users daily due to State of the dApps.
Active users buy out the surplus of kitties, which ultimately will lead to a decrease in the level of the economy.
Moreover, there is a probability that 0 Gen Kitties will soon stop being bred on the network, which will cause users to chase after the rare kitties. So, CryptoKitties is going to get back in the game!
PlanetCrypto
Imagine that every twenty square meters of the land on the Earth have price tags, and you can own them all: the Eiffel Tower, the White House, the Kremlin, the Statue of Liberty, and even a house you haven’t paid a mortgage on.
To start playing PlanetCrypto, you need to extend your browser with MetaMask or BraveBrowser. Then you’re ready to own world-famous establishments, protect them from malicious takeovers, and sell at a profit, as the price doubles each time a player purchases land.
As you can see, recently, there’s been a visible leap in the game’s performance:
Although the project is young, without many users to play on a daily basis yet, PlanetCrypto somehow managed to buy the headquarters of Coinbase in San Francisco. In the game, of course!
Storage
The thing that makes cloud storage exclusively useful and comfortable is that you don’t have to keep all your paper documents and photos in a private box under your bed. Instead, you can upload them to the virtual cloud, which will follow you everywhere your device goes.
However, storage options like Dropbox and Google have their disadvantages, such as price and security. Why should users pay for storage if they cannot be sure that a provider doesn’t intend to steal and sell the data stored on the platform? Here is where we need blockchain with its decentralized solution.
According to the opinion of Stanislav, Applicature business analyst, one of the truly trustworthy storage projects on blockchain is Storj.
Storj
So, what makes Storj a reliable project worth attention? First of all, the project is constantly improving and has turned out to be a good alternative to existing cloud storage choices like Dropbox and Google. As we can see in the screenshot from State of the DApps, the project is frequently updated, and has relatively stable performance:
The dApp was first created in 2014, following P2P protocol; however, the team is now heading toward B2C. Moreover, they have changed the old/outdated tokens into new STORJ tokens, and users are able to exchange them with the help of a conversion app set on the platform.
In practice, users of the platform can lease unused space on their hard drive through DriveShare and MetaDisk. For this, they get paid in a token. It’s brilliant, isn’t it?
Also, the system offers a mining opportunity similar to the Bitcoin mining process.
In the near future, owners of the STORJ token will be able to exchange it into other currencies through the biggest exchange services, such as Poloniex and Bittrex.
Finally, in regard to decentralization, there is no limit on time for the uploading of files, as they will be copied concurrently from thousands of computers.
As the cherry on the cake, blockchain technology ensures a more secure and less expensive file storage.
Exchange Services
Exchange services on blockchain have the same importance as banks for traditional money exchange. That’s why choosing a reliable and trustworthy exchange service becomes like pursuing a unicorn.
Why not use centralized exchanges? Well, if Achilles had one weak spot, centralized exchange services have several. This makes them vulnerable to hacks.
Applicature considers the top 3 exchanges:
IDEX
The world’s first real-time decentralized ERC20 token exchange on Ethereum — here it comes!
Just connect your wallet to IDEX, or create a new one and start trading your assets.
Unlike EtherDelta, IDEX uses its own smart contracts to allow users to control their transactions, which will still require signing with a private key, but the system will send them to the network automatically. This allows the system to conduct real-time updates of the order book and balances, and to control the current of transactions. Furthermore, the system uses the speed of the centralized approach and the security of decentralization.
0X
The 0X website claims that it is an open, permissionless protocol that lets ERC20 tokens be bought and sold on the Ethereum blockchain.
Specially-designed AMM smart contracts provide opportunities for price adjustment. Additionally, 0X provides users with a tool that allows for the creation of direct payment channels, allowing them to perform financial operations and money exchanges secured by blockchain. That’s like MasterCard on steroids!
Bancor
Wait, one more exchange service? But 0X and IDEX gave users everything they wanted, didn’t they? Well, yes, but those aren’t all the opportunities exchanges are able to provide.
What makes Bancor special is that users can convert any ERC20 token into any other ERC20 token they want. Moreover, when a user owns a native BNT token, he/she is able to convert it into any cryptocurrency without commission. This is enforced by the elimination of third parties, such as stock exchanges.
Increasing liquidity on Ethereum by Bancor became possible in 2017, when Bancor ICO gathered over $140 million.
What’s really special is that the exchange service doesn’t distinguish between the sale and the purchase token rate. This means that users don’t have to pay more for buying a coin.
The thing that will convince you that Bancor is a real game-changer in the field is its cooperation with TokenCard, which allows users to bind the wallet with any cryptocurrency on its balance to a common bank card. This means that users have the opportunity to pay with crypto in retail shops. Of course, the shop will not get paid with BTC or ETH or whatever the user owns; instead, the system will instantly convert crypto into fiat, and let the user pay for the purchase.
Obviously, currency-exchange projects play a crucial role for cryptocurrencies, as helping digital money integrate into the activities of day-to-day life will facilitate them considerably. Beyond the exchanges mentioned earlier, there is one more project definitely worth checking out: Binance. Why is it so special? Check it out here!
Governance
Are you sick and tired of bureaucracy whenever it comes to paperwork? Blockchain offers you freedom of choice, and protects you with its protocol. Would you ever expect to get all this from a traditional governance system?
Above, Applicature suggests several platforms in different fields for your consideration; however, we couldn’t keep quiet about the governance opportunity on the blockchain.
Aragon
Although the Aragon team is only developing its beta version, the success of the project should be put in perspective.
Aragon is a platform on which the users can form a decentralized organization. They can also integrate blockchain into a pre-existing business.
The platform operates on Ethereum, but is moving to EOS. The kernel of the platform is a native ERC token: the ANT. Owners of ANT tokens have the right to influence the workflow of the platform by voting.
With Aragon, entities can pay salaries, keep accounts, and conduct transactions. Companies adopting Argon technology will optimize workflow with regard to the features of blockchain: security, transparency, and low fees. Also, third-party elimination will reduce company expenses.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology has spread its roots to almost all fields that include assets transactions. It allows the elimination of third parties while cutting expenses and enhancing security.
Even if an ICO gathers an unbelievable sum of money, it doesn’t mean the team will deliver the product. The main reason is funds management. Because the importance of development is often underestimated, companies run out of funds before finishing their product’s beta version.
Applicature has built a strong consulting team for designing business strategy and DApps architecture with full business-development assistance.
The leaders in our marketing team are ready to create content that will attract even the most demanding investors and support you in scaling your solution.
Of course, the cherry on the cake is Fluence, which will help you deploy public net nodes, start your own chain, use smart-contract templates, and much more in just a few clicks, without needing to know all the nuances of blockchain technology.
To find out more, contact Applicature. Our specialists are available to answer all your questions.
