The global valuation of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, has increased dramatically in recent years to exceed $3 trillion in November 2021. This is how many retail and professional investors have sometimes seen the returns on their investments in 2022 increase by two to three times the amount they initially invested.
But since then, buying pressure has subsided on the majority of cryptocurrencies, including market leaders like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
The recent signing of an executive order by US President Joe Biden outlining a national digital asset strategy, however, has improved the long-term outlook for the crypto market as a whole. Investors are already wondering that it could be the next cryptocurrency to explode in 2023.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
The Ethereum blockchain ether is arguably one of the best altcoins to get into, largely due to its potential to attract promising web3 projects to this blockchain.
Indeed, it is currently the largest smart contract platform (smart contracts) and it is also home to the largest selection of DeFi, dApps, metaverse and Web3 projects. These have driven massive use cases for ETH tokens and even helped push their price to year-end 2021 highs.
The Ethereum 2.0 upgrade also improved network efficiency and caps the creation of new ETH tokens; thus limiting its supply in a context of growing demand.
2. Sunshine (SUN)
Solana is the fastest growing smart contract project. Aiming to replace Ethereum as the preferred smart contract platform for developers and NFT-Crypto project owners, Solana quickly integrated all the technologies present on Ethereum.
From DeFi applications, through the NFT and metaverse box, from crypto games to meme currencies as well as decentralized exchanges, the Solana project still has a bright future ahead of it. These elements have also allowed SOL tokens to maintain an upward trend on average in 2021.
Even amid the slowdown in cryptocurrency marketSolana is actively growing its ecosystem by integrating more programs and protocols as well as growing its community.
3. Looking Glass
As the NFT craze peaked in 2021, several developers noticed two major hurdles holding back the widespread adoption of this latest blockchain-based innovation.
First, the sheer complexity of the processes for creating and purchasing NFTs. Second, the lack ofapplications, de blockchains high-performance or secure wallets that can be used simply with NFTs. Even after the price drops of these digital assets in 2022, interest in this asset class remains high.
This is how Looking Glass Labs (LGL) was born. It is a web3 platform focused on play-to-earn tokenization, immersive metaverse environments, non-fungible token (NFT) architecture, and virtual asset royalty streams.
From then on, LGL allows users to build third-generation 3D metaverses allowing functional art and collectibles to coexist simultaneously in many NFT environments, unlike existing NFT games which only offer 2D graphics as well as lower quality photos.
4. Decentraland (MANA)
Decentraland (MANA) is an immersive and decentralized virtual reality platform, powered by the Ethereum blockchain. It combines elements of entertainment, gaming and e-commerce, which appeals to individuals as well as businesses. In this context, users can play games or create art galleries and virtual concert halls in particular. They can also, for example, charge visitors to visit these places.
Furthermore, the platform allows users to purchase virtual plots of land called LAND via non-fungible tokens (NFT). Players can also expand and monetize their land with 3D content, games, and other apps. The network has attracted major brands to its metaverse, including Coca-Cola, Samsung and JP Morgan Chase.
5. Rootstock (RSK)
It’s almost hard to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies without mentioning the larger blockchain; namely that of Bitcoin. Rootstock (RSK), a project that offers consumers decentralized finance (DeFi) based on Bitcoin, is thus a project of choice to build a futuristic future with blockchain.
While the introduction of Ethereum pushed developers to build a better platform capable of executing sophisticated smart contracts, Bitcoin was expressly designed for it with strict constraints on the execution of smart contracts to make it exceedingly secure and robust. This is still the case today and it’s a safe bet that Bitcoin isn’t going away anytime soon.
To the extent that Rootstock relies on Bitcoin to build its own technology and that the project brings real added value, Rootstock is to be watched very closely in 2022-2023 and in the years that follow.
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