In 2024, the landscape of Web3 infrastructure continues to shape the digital ecosystem, paving the way for transformative technologies and decentralized solutions. As it keeps evolving, it’s super important to stay in the loop about what’s trending in the market. Let’s explore the top five trends that are grabbing attention of developers and crypto enthusiasts right now.
1. DePIN
DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) takes a novel approach to building out infrastructure like telecom networks and energy grids. Instead of corporations solely funding expensive rollouts, DePIN incentivizes participants to contribute computing resources, bandwidth, and storage capacity through tokenization.
Participants earn the project’s native cryptocurrency tokens as rewards for expanding the decentralized infrastructure during its bootstrapping phase. This crowdsourced model allows for faster, more localized, and cost-effective deployment compared to traditional corporate approaches.
As the decentralized network grows, early contributors’ token incentives could potentially increase in value, creating monetization opportunities tied to the ecosystem’s expansion.
By tapping into a global pool of incentivized participants, DePIN projects can rapidly scale physical infrastructure across jurisdictions while aligning with local needs more actively than centralized corporate rollouts.
For instance, among over 650 DePIN projects in the market, Roam has attracted significant attention from the community, boasting over 200,000 app users and 250,000 WiFi spots across the globe. The users receive Roam Points for every contribution they make to building the network, such as adding WiFi, checking in, and referring friends. These rewards can soon be converted into $ROAM tokens after the Token Generation Event (TGE).
This sector’s combined market cap exceeds $20 billion, with an annualized on-chain revenue of about $15 million, underscoring its viability and value.
2. Privacy Protocol
Privacy protocols are a set of methods, technologies and standards designed to protect user privacy in Web3, particularly for on-chain transactions recorded on public ledgers. These protocols often involve zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), decentralized identities (DID) which help users to be anonymous and can not be tracked by other users.
DIDs are a way to identify yourself on the internet without using a central authority, like a government or a company. It’s like a digital version of a driver’s license that can only be used by the person it’s issued to.
DIDs have numerous applications, such as authorizing access to WiFi networks like Roam. Users can create a DID via the free Roam app on Android or iOS to access this network: https://weroam.xyz/join_us.html. Each user will have their own DID which are unique sequences of code. This mechanism allows for automatic connections to Roam’s global WiFi network when a DID-equipped device comes within range of a Roam miner.
Looking ahead, the widespread adoption of privacy protocols could lead to more secure, private, and user-controlled digital interactions across various sectors.
3. Interoperability
Interoperability in blockchain allows different networks and applications to seamlessly communicate and exchange data. It enables the transfer of assets and information across chains, enhancing collaboration and innovation. Solutions include cross-chain interoperability for communication between different blockchains, inter-protocol interoperability for interaction among networks using different protocols, and technologies like sidechains, bridge protocols, and oracles.
Projects such as Polkadot, Cosmos, and Avalanche are pioneering cross-chain protocols, facilitating the seamless transfer of assets and data across disparate blockchains. This interoperability fosters collaboration and synergy between ecosystems, allowing users to access a broader range of services and assets without being confined to a single network.
4. DeFi
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a financial framework that enables individuals to access financial services like lending, borrowing, trading, payments, and money transfers directly, without the need for intermediaries or middlemen such as banks. It also lets consumers and businesses use cryptocurrency for their financial activities rather than fiat currencies.
Most decentralized finance apps are built on Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency platform in the world. Ethereum enabled peer-to-peer transactions of value to be executed programmatically based on a set of conditions through “smart contracts”, which are simply pieces of code that are deployed and executed on the blockchain. This makes the process smoother, more secure, and more transparent. Additionally, DeFi protocols often utilize decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), enabling community governance and decision-making.
Despite regulatory and compliance challenges for DeFi projects, DeFi’s rapid adoption and integration into the wider financial world are undeniable. According to Statista, Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2024–2028) of 9.07% resulting in a projected total amount of US$37,040.0m by 2028. DeFi stands poised to reshape the future of finance.
5. Tokenization
Tokenization is a data security technique where sensitive or confidential information is replaced with a non-sensitive substitute called a token.
These tokens are both irreversible and unrelated to the original data, reducing the risk of data breaches and enhancing security for organizations and industries like in financial or health care sectors. Since tokens are only meaningful within specific contexts, they hold no value to hackers, providing an added layer of security.
There are many examples for use-cases for tokenization but the most common way merchants and service providers use it for digital information security. During a payment transaction, the merchant forwards the customer’s credit card number to a trusted partner, typically a payment gateway, using bank-level encryption or a hosted payment page. In return, the payment gateway issues a toke that represents the credit card in their system. This token, randomly generated and indecipherable because it hasn’t been encrypted yet. It eliminates the need to store full payment data, reduces compliance risks, and enhances overall security.
Looking ahead, the future of tokenization holds promise as organizations increasingly prioritize data security and privacy. Tokenization has not only paved the way for a more inclusive and efficient financial landscape, enabling investors, but it also improved the liquidity and transparency. According to a Citi forecast, the value of tokenization in private markets could be nearly USD4 trillion in value by 2030, an 80x growth rate.
