If you clicked the headline, you probably already know the incredible potential of Ethereum. Moving beyond the fundamental use case of Bitcoin (acting as digital cash), Ethereum is making its name on Decentralized Applications (dApps).
Apps.
Many new tokens and dApps are already being built upon the Ethereum blockchain. The best dApps aim to solve common problems in the cryptospace and the real world, leveraging the blockchain. For Ethereum enthusiasts, it’s important to understand the incredible ideas it is helping to foster. Here are some of the very best examples of tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.
Tokens.
Basic Attention Token (BAT). Basic Attention Token (BAT) reimagines the digital advertising industry. The platform uses a token on the Ethereum blockchain to make it easier to compensate publishers. BAT holders can use the platform to buy a variety of advertising services.
The Brave browser, furthermore, blocks ads, then rewards advertisers with BAT when you choose to view them organically. BAT is the most recognizable token in the modern attention-economy, and it can be exchanged between advertisers, users, and businesses with ease. It’s the project best poised to upset the current duopoly comprised of Facebook and Google.
One company.
Bancor (BNT). Bancor is one of the most exciting tokens to deploy on the Ethereum blockchain in the past few months. Bancor allows users to create new cryptocurrencies. These “smart tokens” can hold or trade against reserve tokens. Each new inherently liquid smart token is itself a market maker, establishing a price all on its own. It also provides liquidity to holders of other currencies. Bancor eliminates the need for crypto middlemen in everyday trading, solves the low liquidity problem for smaller tokens, and reduces dependency on crypto exchanges.
A couple of ideas, though not all inclusive.
OmiseGO (OMG). OmiseGO) is an international payment solution for mainstream digital wallets. OmiseGO allows merchants to accept payments through China’s ALIPAY (450 million current users). The amazing thing about OMG is that any supported currency can be used to buy any item, anywhere in the world. You won’t have to exchange USD for Yuan, or anything else.
One core developer suggested that it will be possible, one day, to make conventional purchases with airline miles. For anyone who has ever paid exorbitant fees to exchange currency in order to make basic purchases while traveling, the applications are obvious.
Status (SNT). Status is a decentralized messaging app modeled after China’s WeChat behemoth (with its nearly 1 Billion users). The project has even more exciting potential. It could one day act as a hub for all Ethereum dApps, and as a browser for the decentralized Web 3.0. Their emphasis on user privacy and autonomy is inspiring and, with an impressive development team and community, truly possible.
Physical debit cards.
TenX (PAY). TenX (PAY) links users’ blockchain assets to a physical debit card used for conventional purchases in the real world. Though it is built on the Ethereum blockchain, popular cryptoassets like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and DASH will be supported. TenX has announced plans to share profits with PAY holders and TenX debit card users. The cards are shipping, though they are not currently available for people in the United States.
Platform to make your own predictions on.
Augur (REP). Augur is a platform which allows anyone to create their own prediction markets, where users will bet “yes” or “no” on various events and outcomes. Augur leverages the wisdom of the crowd to come to a consensus about what the outcome of any given situation was without reliance on a 3rd party. if adopted, this will be a paradigm shift for the gambling and forecasting industries.
Hacked.
0x (ZRX). 0x is a platform for decentralized exchange of Ether and ERC20 tokens. There are many exchanges, but major players like Bittrex charge users to trade and constantly plague users with withdrawal issues.
They also get hacked from time to time, and the users pay the price. 0x is a self-sustaining dApp, so there is no central body extracting fees from users. It is also a platform that allows users to create their own novel exchange applications, for a near future token economy where exchange between app coins and protocol coins will be vitally important. 0x is meant to be a public utility, not a capitalistic enterprise.
Civic (CVC). Anyone who has signed up for networks and services online knows the hassle of constantly inputting personal information for identity verification. Civic creates the potential for on-demand, affordable, secure access to ID verification through the Civic blockchain. This could end the era of constant ID and background checks for each new application or other entity. An early Civic platform is already usable globally.
Introducing Safecontract.
Now that you’re on your way to owning some of the most valuable tokens, it’s time to take a look at decentralized crypto-banking dApp Safecontract. Safecontract is a compounding savings account dApp that runs entirely on the Ethereum blockchain. It offers tremendous value to holders of the tokens listed above, as well as an ever growing number of other ERC20 coins.
Token economy.
Safecontract’s cofounders Shayne Coplan and Abhinav Narayanan recognize that the token economy is going to continue growing by leaps and bounds. In the coming years, as money pours into the token economy and there is increased adoption of dApps, the select few top tokens will experience tremendous value growth. As a result, token holders will do well to hang onto promising coins, rather than looking for fast returns through day trading.
Coplan says, "I was in the Ether presale back in 2014. Everyone I know that was involved at that time has regrets of ever trading the markets. In hindsight, the buy and hold strategy massively outperformed even the most successful of traders. With the new wave of tokens arriving in the market, hopefully Safecontract can help token holders avoid making that same mistake."
Safecontract supports a collection of well-curated and conceived projects built on the Ethereum blockchain. Any fan of Ethereum knows that its potential is practically endless. As projects like the one’s above develop, they will add value to Ethereum, which will in turn boost the potential of all ERC20 coins. All token holders should consider this space, but crypto aficionados already know the score.
Decentralized applications.
Smart Contracts and decentralized applications are the future of more industries than banking. For now though, the greatest innovations are happening in finance, but they will grow to affect every aspect of our lives. Crypto investors are already on the verge of enjoying a historic bull market, as money pours into the industry.
Tokens like these are also proving to be borderless stores of value, a powerful new banking option for individuals all over the world as centralized national economies rise and fall. Check out these tokens, as stores of value, as useful applications, and as a way to take part in the ongoing crypto revolution.
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