A decentralised application (or, DApp in short) is a computer or mobile application that runs through a distributed computing mechanism usually over a public blockchain like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, TRON, V Systems etc. The distributed architecture of a DApp ensures that it cannot be shut down by a single actor and would need majority node participants to have consensus for any decision. Sometimes the term “DApp” is used in concurrence with “smart contracts” though they are not interchangeable. DApps use smart contracts to execute functions in a trustless manner. 2019 saw a major uptick in DApp users, with 2.77M new users joining the ecosystems across segments such as finance (DeFi or, Decentralised Finance), social media, gaming, gambling etc. Here are some DApps that are in the running for a great 2020.
Uniswap (Ethereum)
DeFi apps, especially those based on Ethereum, have seen the most spectacular growth last year. Simple nifty platforms that allow users to lend, borrow and stake cryptocurrencies at the click of a button have been the flavour of the season and will continue to make headway into 2020. One of the most promising among these is Ethereum Foundation grant recipient Uniswap which is an automated protocol for swapping, trading and staking (lending) Ethereum and ERC20 assets. Anyone can create a market for an ERC20 token by staking (pooling) $ETH and equivalent amount of tokens which others can trade from, thereby creating a trading pool while the stakers earn a fee from the trading activity. As on 24th Jan’20, Uniswap has a trading volume of USD 1.6M+ and its pools have USD 44M+ in $ETH locked up or staked which is a testament to market confidence on the platform.
Ethereum staking on Uniswap has gone parabolic already (source)
Tachyon Protocol (V Systems)
As political uncertainty, protectionist policies and brinkmanship gain ground, there have been growing instances of authoritarian regimes across the world clamping down on freedoms through restrictions, censorship and surveillance. Consequently, there has been higher adoption of technologies that empower individual freedoms. One of these are dVPNs or, decentralised Virtual Private Networks. dVPNs allow users to transact data over public networks privately in a trustless manner, usually through blockchain governance. In 2019, VPN applications were downloaded 480M times which is a 54% rise compared to last year as per a latest report. And this trend will continue in 2020 with platforms like Tachyon Protocol having launched their VPN service alpha version in Q42019 already. Backed by global VPN brand, X-VPN, Tachyon is built on the V Systems blockchain and is led by Proof of Stake inventor Sunny King. With nodes being set up across all continents (except Antarctica), the network is set to be in place through the year in order to be sufficiently distributed.
DTube (STEEM)
The end of 2019 saw a slew of censorship-related events from centralised platforms like YouTube suddenly removing hundreds of crypto-related videos without a recourse, Google banning Ethereum wallet Metamask from Play Store for a policy that didn’t