The Top dApps of 2020

RiveX

Published in

RiveX Foundation

4 min readApr 9, 2020

A look at some of the most prominent decentralized applications of 2020

What is a dApp?

A dApp can be described as a decentralized or distributed application. dApps look similar to traditional applications, but they are built on a particular blockchain with a decentralized database. This means that dApps run on a decentralized peer-to-peer network instead of centralized servers and can’t be controlled or taken down by any single entity.

What is the purpose of a dApp?

Other than cryptocurrencies, dApps are a great use case for blockchain. From gaming to decentralized financial applications, dApps currently cover a very broad range of purposes. Most dApps offer incentives, such as tokens, to attract users which is an important aspect for any dApp since it increases transactions on the underlying blockchain, adding value to the ecosystem.

The best blockchains for building dApps

It's no secret that Ethereum is an incredibly popular platform for dApps, with over 2000 dApps currently running on the Ethereum blockchain, from gaming to token swaps to decentralized exchanges. Some other popular platforms include NEO, EOS and TRON blockchains, all having some advantages and disadvantages over Ethereum. This includes transaction speed, daily user count, throughput and fees.

What are the most popular dApps this year so far?

We recently published an extensive overview of the current dApp ecosystem in this article. Let's take a look at some of the most popular dApps in the crypto ecosystem.

CryptoKitties (Built on Ethereum)

When one mentions the word dApp, for most the first one that comes to mind is CryptoKitties. CryptoKitties has remained an extremely popular dApp since 2017, allowing users to breed, buy and sell blockchain-based cats. CryptoKitties are non-fungible ERC-721 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.

MakerDAO (Built on Ethereum)

MakerDAO, launched in 2015, remains one of the most successful dApps built on the Ethereum blockchain. The MakerDAO DAI token is the only stablecoin that can claim to be truly decentralized. MakerDAO features a decentralized lending platform allowing users to borrow the DAI stablecoin.

Uniswap (Built on Ethereum)

Uniswap is an automated token exchange built on the Ethereum blockchain, boasting a very simple and easy to use exchange process allowing users to swap ERC20 tokens in a fully decentralized manner. Users simply connect their Metamask wallets and begin swapping their tokens.

InterPlanetary Search Engine (Built on EOS)

InterPlanetary Search Engine (IPSE) is a decentralized search engine built on the EOS blockchain based on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). This allows users to search the internet in a decentralized manner while getting rewarded for sharing their content.

OpenSea (Built on Ethereum)

OpenSea is a decentralized marketplace where users can buy and sell non-fungible tokens. OpenSea aims to be a platform where crypto gamers can exchange any collectibles from all crypto games.

WINk (Built on TRON)

WINk (formerly TRONBET) is the biggest crypto gambling dApp so far. The WINk platform includes games, sports betting, poker and a wide variety of others. WINk claims to abide by 3 core principles: Transparency, Fairness and Wealth Distribution.

Introducing RiveX dApps, and Wanchain Ecosystem dApps

WRDEX is the Wanchain-RiveX cross-chain decentralized exchange, operated by RiveX and fuelled by Wanchain cross-chain technology. WRDEX allows users to trade a variety of wrapped assets in a decentralized manner, without a central authority. WRDEX will be accessible via the web portal as well as the upcoming RX Wallet. There are currently a variety of dApps being built by third parties which will be integrated into the RX Wallet. Stay tuned for more details on these.

Wanchain, the blockchain RiveX is built on, also recently released a Dapp browser within their desktop Light wallet. This will allow users from anywhere in the Wanchain ecosystem to access ecosystem dApps such as RiveX WRDEX (currently on testnet) and FinNexus’ Wandora Box.

We believe Wanchain is an excellent platform for building dApps since Wanchain has already achieved cross-chain with Ethereum, Bitcoin and EOS. This allows for cross-chain communication (transfer of value and data) between different chains. This opens up a world of possibilities for any project to build cross-chain dApps.

What DApps would you like to see built on RiveX? Got any good ideas for the future of DeFi? Join the discussion on our official Telegram group and let us know!

About RiveX

RiveX is a chain agnostic interoperable layer-2 solution across different blockchain protocols. RiveX aims to empower the next generation of decentralized applications, decentralized finance and enterprise solutions. RiveX has comprehensive interoperable DeFi solutions such as RX Wallet which aims to integrate DAPPS from different blockchain protocols to enable an interoperable DeFi ecosystem within RX Wallet itself. The first DAPP which RX Wallet has already integrated is WRDEX. Another core product powered by RiveX is the world’s first cross-chain DEX called WRDEX.

👇 More about RiveX 👇