Sharpen Up: 5 Crypto Projects with the Most Well-Defined Use Cases
When I was a kid, my grandfather gave me his prized collection of arrowheads. He began collecting them when he was also a little tyke, and had been waiting decades to pass them down in the family. At the time, I not only struggled to comprehend how my grandfather was once a little kid, but I was also confused how anyone could hunt with such a dull object.
Ah, the naive thoughts of a young mind…yet, I’ve been returning to this conceptual idea a lot as of late.
Crypto projects risk turning into dull arrowheads.
Once spawned as sharp, penetrating ideas that could up-end bloated institutions, projects can dull; buried under lines of code, ICO headaches, scaling issues, and the list goes on.
What all crypto projects must really ask themselves from the start (or, starting right now) is…Why are we here? What problems are we solving right now? What product(s) are we creating to get us to a solution? And finally, WHO IS GOING TO USE IT?
Before this turns into an existential crisis, let’s channel this potential energy into investigating some real-life case studies. We’re looking beyond established players, Bitcoin and Ethereum, to take a deeper look at who in the industry is targeting their potential market with sharp arrowheads (proverbially, of course).
5 Crypto Projects with the Most Well-Defined Use Cases
Golem Project (GNT)
Distributed Computing
FCAS Rank: B
Golem is an Ethereum-based project, maintaining one of the most focused use cases and effective utility tokens across all crypto projects. Users (from PC owners to data centers) can join and participate in the market today, lending out their spare computer resources to network participants, earning GNT in return, or by renting these resources themselves.
The concept is clear and concise, and the tokenomics are simple. With the release of Brass Golem, the project is targeting graphics rendering (CGI) as their first use case frontier before moving onto machine learning.
The team has an active community and impressive technology that continues to evolve through partnerships with Intel and Invisible Things Labs.
MakerDAO (DAI)
Decentralized Finance — Stablecoin/Investment
FCAS Rank: S
The DeFi movement is one of the most intriguing areas of growth in the crypto industry. 2019 has been a particularly fruitful year thus far, with platforms maturing and adoption increasing.
At the heart of this movement is Dai, the leading crypto-collateralized stablecoin underpinning a financial system that can rely solely on decentralized mechanisms. With other popular stablecoins such as TrueUSD based upon centralized systems of collateralized fiat held in escrow accounts, Dai is a beacon representing freedom from these existing structures; hence the massive support it has in the space as well as the massive level of scrutiny it must endure.
The inherent potential of DeFi to enhance global access to financial systems and give individuals increased custody and protection over their assets, all while avoiding costly intermediaries, is an exciting reality already taking shape.
0x (ZRX)
Decentralized Finance — Exchanges/Investment
FCAS Rank: A
0x is an open-source trading protocol, built upon Ethereum, that facilitates decentralized exchange of tokens. The project firmly carved out a use case for its product by creating a standardized protocol for various Relayers (Decentralized Exchanges) to utilize in their infrastructure, with the ability to settle multiple off-chain interactions with a single on-chain transaction.
ZRX the token is used to pay trading fees on decentralized exchanges (DEX) and serves as a governance token overseeing protocol upgrades.
The team identified issues with both centralized exchanges (security, lack of autonomy) and decentralized exchanges (expensive, slow, incompatible, illiquid), and developed a product to solves the issues of each. In so doing, 0x has been able to reduce costs, deepen order books, and facilitate quicker transactions while placing ownership of the trading process firmly in the user’s hands.
ChainLink (LINK)
Blockchain Intelligence (Oracles)
FCAS Rank: A
Blockchain oracles are an essential enhancement to platform infrastructure, expanding the practical use cases of projects by giving them access to off-chain information; thereby increasing the potential for widespread adoption.
Enter Chainlink. The decentralized oracle service touts itself as “blockchain middleware” connecting on-chain smart contracts with off-chain data. With 30+ integrations and partnerships, Chainlink is laser-focused on expanding the scope of blockchain capabilities, marrying these capabilities with existing industries and systems, and ultimately driving the evolution of smart contract technology forward to displace centralized digital infrastructure.
All the fancy bells and whistles of growing smart contract platforms may be stimulating, but without access to external data sources that can be delivered in a manner that complies with a blockchain’s trustless infrastructure, the systems become fancy black boxes constrained to on-chain activity. ChainLink, and oracles generally, give Blockchains the practical enhancements they need to up-end traditional solutions.
Storj Labs (STORJ)
Distributed Storage
FCAS Rank: B
There are a number of projects vying for decentralized storage dominance, and the Storj Labs is at the front of the pack. With a clearly defined roadmap, cutting-edge product, rock solid use cases, and stalwart development, the project is doing all the right things to grow and mature their business.
Their Beacon release will enable users to share encrypted files via an innovative technique called Macaroons. “Macaroons are authorization credentials that provide flexible support for controlled sharing in decentralized, distributed systems.” In other words, Storj has enhanced the traditional web cookie and optimized it for next gen Web3.
The V3 Storj network is strengthening as node operators come online , and the core developers have maintained a furious pace of work. In an industry thirsty for breakthrough, mainstream use cases and adoption, STORJ is providing a solid template for execution.
So why is all of this important?
Crypto projects must begin behaving like businesses. Real businesses focus on cutting edge product to drive real customer adoption.
Product and Customers. Those are the essential pieces.
For crypto projects, this means refining a clear vision and use case for the business, driving developer teams to create a product that solves real problems, and targeting the right customers to utilize the platform. Then, engaging with this growing community through regular social media communications, meet-ups, AMAs and more, will multiply your efforts. Finally, rinse and repeat.
If you want to learn more about Flipside Crypto’s resources for growing projects, we want to hear from you! Reach out to us anytime here.
