Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the hottest categories on the cryptocurrency markets right now. While DeFi has already had its first hype-driven boom during the summer of 2020, the NFT markets have only recently started to see exponential growth. From crypto art and in-game collectable items to digital identity solutions – the NFT’s use cases seem almost unlimited. While this hyped-up subgroup of cryptos might be a bit overheated at the moment, almost every project that has recently implemented a new NFT-related feature has seen the price of its coin skyrocket. The NFT-focused project in this week’s selection is accompanied by a governance token of a famous decentralized exchange and a project that focuses on decentralized governance.
1. Uniswap (UNI)
UNI is a governance token of Uniswap – an automated liquidity protocol and currently the most popular decentralized exchange (DEX). UNI tokens are ERC-20 tokens that allow holders to decide on the future of Uniswap by voting on proposals. The governance token holders also oversee the usage of funds from the community treasury, and the protocol’s fee switch.
Uniswap V3 could Solve the Issue of Extremely High Network Fees Soon
The Ethereum-based decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol Uniswap quickly rose to popularity during the DeFi summer of 2020. However, the unicorn themed DeFi protocol is currently struggling to compete with other, much cheaper forks of the project. The main problem is that a transaction fee on Ethereum can range from $20 to over $100 on a bad day, making Uniswap essentially useless for many of the unconfident DeFi newcomers as well as traders who want to trade smaller volumes. But Uniswap team has hinted that all these issues will be addressed in the next protocol upgrade, called Uniswap V3, which is scheduled to be released later this year. Uniswap’s CEO Hayden Adams tweeted:
“2019: Uniswap V1 proved AMMs can compete with traditional exchanges; 2020: Uniswap V2 will prove AMMs can do things traditional exchanges cannot; 2021: Uniswap V3 will face slippage and capital efficiency head on to prove AMMs can outcompete traditional exchanges on all fronts”.
Reportedly, Uniswap is going to address the issues by integrating a Layer 2 scaling solution since waiting for Ethereum to solve its scaling and congestion issues on their own with Ethereum 2.0 might end in disaster for the popular DEX protocol. Uniswap V3 could roll-out as soon as this May. If the announced upgrade successfully solves at least part of the protocol’s current issues, Uniswap could reclaim its throne of the DEX with the highest trading volume.
In addition, rumors are spreading that Uniswap as well will take a dive into the popular world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Whether the project is just going to lunch tokenized swag, e.g., an Unishirt or Unisocks ($SOCKS), which they have done before, or implement a major NFT feature such as an integrated decentralized NFT marketplace, remains unknown. Either way Uniswap V3 could send ripples throughout the space once it is deployed and could fuel UNI to rally even past the $50 mark.
2. Enjin (ENJ)
Enjin Coin (ENJ) is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency (ERC1155 token) used to directly back the value of next-generation blockchain assets. It is designed for social gaming as it allows virtual goods to be traded on the blockchain using smart contracts and ENJ as a payment method. The project aims to change the fundamental nature of virtual worlds by providing infinite high-speed transactions between players and game providers at zero cost. More than a million people are already using Enjin’s products to manage, create, and trade these blockchain assets.
Leaked Website Indicates that Coinbase Could be Preparing to list Enjin
Enjin is one of several projects that successfully capitalized on the recent NFT hype. The gaming-based project announced two scaling solutions (JumpNet and Efinity) earlier this month. With the aforementioned solutions Enjin aims to facilitate gasless (free) transactions of both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from any blockchain. Following the announcement, ENJ has seen a massive rally, causing the token’s price to increase by more than 200% – it surged from around $0.40 to a local high of $1.51 on March 4. The market capitalization also spiked from less than $100 million to more than $1 billion in merely a few days. But the rally did not stop just there as demand drove ENJ to set consecutive all-time highs of $1.94, $2.20, and $3.03, which is the current ATH price, set on March 15.
In light with the increased demand for ENJ several exchanges began looking into the project. While ENJ pairs were supported by Binance and the FTX exchange even before the rally, numerous exchanges, such as Gemini, Huobi and OKEx have only recently introduced the support for ENJ spot trading or futures contracts. Nevertheless, it seems that we are still awaiting one big and important listing – the one from the U.S.-based Coinbase exchange. The good news is, that the listing could be just around the corner, at least according to a leaked EnjinCoin support website which has been published on the exchange’s support section for a few days. Although Coinbase supports Enjin custody already from September last year, many took the accidentally published support page as a confirmation that ENJ spot trading is soon going to be made available on Coinbase. The influx of new investors and fresh capital due to a Coinbase listing and the hype around this event could cause ENJ to ascent even higher.
3. DAO Maker (DAO)
DAO Maker is a blockchain-based platform that is looking to assist start-up companies in the launch, management, and closure of a token sale. The project aims to support several token sales models, all of which will be fully compliant with regulatory requirements.
Dao Pad Investment Platform Goes Live on March 25
The DAO Maker is going to launch a multi-investment platform called the Dao Pad on March 25. The Dao Pad will allow DAO token holders to easily participate in the future token offerings. To kickstart the Dao Pad, the Cere Network project will be conducting a public token sale on the freshly launched platform. To be eligible to participate in the Cere token sale, investors will first need to stake at least 1000 DAO tokens on the platform. Besides staking to participate in token offerings, the DAO token can also be used to provide liquidity to Uniswap V2 liquidity pools and participate in the project’s governance. In addition, incentives for users are also paid out in DAO. March has been a very important month for the projects as the DAO Maker team have conducted HAPI Strong Holder Offering (SHO) and the DAFI Protocol SHO earlier this month. In addition, 3,209,535 DAO token worth around $13,088,593 have recently burned. All of this has translated to a good price performance for DAO. The token is currently changing hands at around $8.00, very close to its all-time high price of $8.51 set yesterday, March 22. DAO is also up by more than 40% in the past month.
