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5 cryptocurrency projects that made waves in 2021

December 25, 2021 Coin Telegraph

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UNI, AAVE, CRV, AXS and DOGE are a few of the top cryptocurrency projects in 2021 that helped transform the face of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and paved the way to mass adoption.

2021 was a breakout year for the cryptocurrency market in many respects and most investors are absolutely thrilled that Bitcoin (BTC) price established a new all-time high of $68,789. In the same timeframe, Ether (ETH) went on a parabolic rally which saw its price gain 565% from Jan. 1 to hit a record high at $4,859 on Nov. 10.

While it was a banner year for large cap cryptocurrencies, some of the biggest gains and most impactful developments came from the altcoin market where decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) rallied by thousands of percent and helped to usher in a new level of awareness and adoption for blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Here’s a look at five altcoin projects that made significant contributions to the cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2021.

Uniswap

The decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI) has arguably had the greatest impact on the crypto ecosystem as a whole since launching in the summer of 2020, with the DEX seeing significant growth throughout 2021 as it helped facilitate the launch of thousands of new crypto projects by removing the barriers to launch that existed on centralized exchanges.

Data provided by Dune Analytics shows that Uniswap has been the dominant DEX throughout the year and it has consistently seen more trading volume than all other DEXs combined.

*Monthly DEX volume by project. Source: Dune Analytics*

As seen on the chart above, the volume traded on decentralized exchanges really started to ramp up in the second half of 2021 led in large part by activity on Uniswap.

Throughout 2021 Uniswap led the field in development as well, with the developers behind the protocol announcing the release of Uniswap v3 in March. The v3 upgrade included multiple protocol upgrades and it built the foundation to integrate layer-two scaling solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum with Uniswap as a way to help reduce the transaction costs and processing times for users.

Aave

Aave (AAVE) is a DeFi lending protocol that allows users to deposit their tokens and lend them out as a way to earn a yield or pledge them as collateral in order to borrow another asset.

As the DeFi sector started to gain traction in early 2021, AAVE emerged as a community favorite thanks to the wide swath of crypto assets supported and the backing from some well-funded players.

Over the course of the year, AAVE expanded its capabilities and reach with the release of AAVE v2 which added support for Polygon, a layer-two scaling solution, and Avalanche, which is a popular cross-chain blockchain network.

*Total liquidity on the AAVE protocol. Source: Aave*

As a result of these added capabilities, the total liquidity available on the AAVE protocol has surpassed $25.7 billion, making AAVE the top-ranked DeFi protocol by total value locked (TVL).

Curve

Curve Finance is a stablecoin-focused protocol that utilizes an automated market maker to manage liquidity on the platform and across the DeFi ecosystem.

Stablecoins have emerged as a foundational piece for the cryptocurrency community as a whole in 2021 because they provide sufficient liquidity for the market and a safe haven for traders seeking shelter during periods of high volatility.

The growing importance that stablecoins have benefited Curve protocol and its native CRV by accelerating its integration of stablecoins into many of the top DeFi protocols, including the Yearn.Finance ecosystem and Convex Finance.

Despite the fact that a significant portion of the assets locked on the Curve protocol are stablecoins, the platform now ranks as the second leading protocol in terms of TVL behind AAVE, with data from Defi Llama showing that $21.77 billion in value is now locked in Curve vaults.

*Total value locked on Curve. Source: Defi Llama*

Curve has also integrated with many of the most active blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Harmony, xDAI, Polygon, Arbitrum and Fantom, which is further evidence of the protocol's quest to be the stablecoin liquidity provider for the entire crypto market.

Axie Infinity

Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn (p2e) trading and battling game that allows participants to collect, breed, raise, battle and trade NFT-based creatures called Axies.

The p2e model emerged as a new fan favorite over the course of 2021 because it provides users with the ability to earn a daily income alongside their gameplay, which offers a few unique advantages when compared to the traditional pay-to-play model.

Alongside the rise in popularity of Axie Infinity came a new all-time high for the platform's native AXS token. As the token stormed to new highs, the platform generated a daily revenue of $17.55 million at its height on August 6.

*Axie Infinity price vs. total revenue. Source: Token Terminal*

Axie Infinity was also one of the earliest projects to establish the trend of migrating away from the Ethereum network because of high fees and slow transactions. Earlier in the year the project migrated to the Ronin sidechain and in November the project launched its own DEX called Katana.

Dogecoin

Dogecoin is an open-source proof of work cryptocurrency that leads the field of “meme” coins that made headlines all throughout 2021.

While the project has few contributions on the technological or development front, frequent shilling from the likes of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban helped to push Doge into a 23,746% rally that saw the price rise fr from $0.0031 on Jan. 1 to an all-time high of $0.74 on May 8.

*DOGE/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView*

On top of the gains seen in DOGE price, the token received increased attention after it was announced that it would be used to help fund the launch of a lunar satellite by SpaceX and the Dogecoin movement also kicked off a meme-coin rally and spawned a bevy of copy-dog projects li Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON).

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Justin Sun Will Go to Space on Blue Origin Mission Taking 5 People With Him

December 24, 2021 Bitcoin.com

DOGE-1 moon mission set for launch with SpaceX in early 2022

November 10, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Dogecoin-funded payload appears to be on track for launch in the first quarter of 2022 on board SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

DOGE-1, the first crypto-funded mission to the moon, is set to launch early next year following a new partnership between two blockchain companies and manufacturer Geometric Energy Corporation, also known as GEC.

Smart exchange ecosystem Unizen and DeFi incubator ZenX announced Wednesday that they are in the process of building and launching DOGE-1, a 40-kilogram — roughly 88 pounds — cubesat that will provide a new use case for cryptocurrencies. The cubesat will travel to a “stable lunar orbit” in order to obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras that will be sent back to GEC for analysis.

The cubesat will be deployed through a launch agreement with SpaceX FalconX slated for the first quarter of 2022, though no hard dates were provided. Over 1,600 cubesats have been launched to date, but unlike DOGE-1, they’ve traveled into Low Earth Orbit, which is between 100 and 1,200 miles above the Earth’s surface. Traveling to lunar orbit puts DOGE-1 250,000 miles away from Earth.

“NASA’s CAPSTONE was set to be the first cubesat to reach the moon, but it has been delayed a number of times and has a current launch date of late March 2022,” the companies said. “This means that DOGE-1 could be the first cubesat in history to reach the moon, marking a significant achievement for global spaceflight.”

As Cointelegraph previously reported, the Dogecoin-funded project was first introduced in May of this year, with a planned launch date as early as the first quarter of 2022. At the time, SpaceX vice president of commercial sales Tom Ochinero said the “mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.”

SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year

– Mission paid for in Doge
– 1st crypto in space
– 1st meme in space

To the mooooonnn!!https://t.co/xXfjGZVeUW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2021

Dogecoin (DOGE) rose to prominence earlier this year thanks in part to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who touted the memecoin’s virtues and even claimed to work with its developers to improve its efficiency. The Musk-inspired surge may have added billions to DOGE’s market cap at a time when more mainstream users were getting into cryptocurrency.

To the moon: Huobi wants to send someone to space for its 8th birthday

November 3, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Alan Greenspan

Huobi will celebrate another year around the sun by sending a lucky user to space.

Huobi Group, a major global blockchain company behind the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is celebrating its eighth birthday in a somewhat unusual way.

The company will hold a series of events as part of its eighth-anniversary celebrations, including giveaway promotions and a space travel ticket, Huobi told to Cointelegraph on Wednesday.

Huobi will hold a contest that will offer one lucky winner an experience to literally travel into space. All Huobi Global users across the world are eligible to participate in a free contest, but there are certain limitations.

“There are still health requirements that have to be passed in order to go to space, but these details will be revealed at a later point,” Jeff Mei, director of global strategy at Huobi Group, told Cointelegraph.

The company declined to disclose what space agency will provide this space trip for Huobi, or whether it will happen through a private firm such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin or Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“The message we’re trying to send with this contest is that the concept of space is open to everyone, and this reflects the openness of cryptocurrencies and Huobi’s platform,” Mei added.

Continuing until late November, Huobi’s anniversary celebrations will also include the company’s annual online forum, the Huobi Summit 2021: Blockchain and Beyond. The event will take place on Monday, featuring panel discussions with industry experts alongside government officials.

The list of speakers will include Alan Greenspan, a former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. Greenspan will discuss global inflation as many investors have turned to cryptocurrencies in search of higher yields.

Greenspan is known as a major proponent of Bitcoin (BTC), comparing Bitcoin to that of the early form of money in the U.S. called the “continental currency.” He also criticized the idea of the central bank digital currency in 2019.

Huobi Group co-founder Du Jun noted that the company will continue to expand its global footprint to introduce innovative products and localized services, starting with markets in Turkey and Brazil. To reinforce its global expansion, Huobi is looking to have increased its global headcount from 2,300 employees to 3,000 by the end of 2021.

Huobi was recently forced to exit China after the Chinese government enforced another major cryptocurrency ban in late September. As of mid-October, Huobi’s businesses operated outside of China and amounted to around 70% in terms of trading volumes and revenues.

Copernic Space and Lunar Outpost target space commercialization via NFTs

September 29, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Both companies are offering companies and individuals the chance to buy space on a lunar lander in the form of nonfungible tokens.

Copernic Space and Lunar Outpost are set to launch a public sale for tokenized payload space in a lunar lander headed for the moon in Q4 2022.

According to an announcement issued on Wednesday, the blockchain space outfit Copernic Space and space robotics company Lunar Outpost will sell the payload space aboard the craft in the form of NFTs.

Corporate and retail buyers will be able to buy, fractionalize and resell payload space NFTs on Lunar Outpost’s M1 MAPP rover.

Ownership of the NFT will reportedly confer ownership of the payload space within the lander denominated in kilograms (kg).

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Copernic Space co-founder and CEO Grant Blaisdell said that the sale will cover 3.5kg of available payload space with an initial sale price of $4.25 million per kg.

According to Blaisdell, the right to use the payload space will require at least a 100g purchase. However, the Copernic Space CEO revealed that smaller purchases were possible, stating:

“They can purchase much smaller and divided amounts whether it be 10g or 1/10th of a gram. I mean the unique rarity of owning a portion of a permanently limited asset that sits on the moon is literally out there but the internal rarity comes out of the specific application of the space itself, if your payload space has an actual payload, any related NFT will have an additional layer of uniqueness compared to those that don't.”

Blaisdell also commented on the possibility of fractionalizing the payload space NFT into smaller pieces as a way of making the asset even more affordable for prospective buyers. Indeed, Blaisdell told Cointelegraph that the fractional NFT model will be applied to other space assets, including rovers and satellites.

According to the announcement, Copernic Space and Lunar Outpost plan to release other NFTs that will offer more access to the rover after landing on the moon.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, fractionalized NFT projects have been gathering steam over the past few months, seemingly lowering the barrier for owning popular nonfungible token assets.

However, some regulators say fractional NFTs may constitute investment contracts which makes them securities.

There’s 30 Doge-Like Tokens Today — New Daddy Doge Jumps 57% This Week, Promises To Be First in Space

August 4, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Ridiculed no longer? US Space Force will launch NFT line

June 14, 2021 Coin Telegraph

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“We can now put this launch and Neil Armstrong’s historic achievements on the immutable ledger and memorialize and tokenize it on an NFT that the public can participate in,” said Ethernity Chain CEO Nick Rose.

The United States Space Force, a branch of the armed forces created under the previous administration of Donald Trump, is releasing a series of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

In an announcement on Monday, the U.S. Space Force (USSF) said it had partnered with community-oriented nonfungible token platform Ethernity Chain to release digital versions of patches and coins designed for the launch of its fifth vehicle in the GPS Block III. The NFTs will feature the satellite's launch vehicle, space suits and other iconic imagery. The one being launched is named after Neil Armstrong, a space pioneer and the first person on the moon.

According to Ethernity Chain, the NFTs will be interactive augmented reality tokens, one of which will feature a 3D depiction of 27 satellites orbiting forming the Earth in what scientists describe as a GPS “constellation.” Opening bids for the satellite NFT will start at $1, with collections containing between 25 and 100 pieces and ranging from $100 to $1,000.

“This is a historic opportunity for the NFT and blockchain space to push the medium forward and commemorate a moment both technologically and futuristically,” said Ethernity Chain CEO Nick Rose as a part of the announcement. “We can now put this launch and Neil Armstrong’s historic achievements on the immutable ledger and memorialize and tokenize it on an NFT that the public can participate in.”

The satellite will reportedly provide “accurate global positioning and navigation systems to military and civilian users.” With a 15-minute launch window open starting at 4:09 pm UTC on Thursday, project leaders at Astrotech Space Operations Florida have already begun preparations for the launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Following its creation as an independent branch of the U.S. armed forces in 2019, many initially mocked the USSF for it seemingly being central to the Trump administration’s agenda at a time when domestic and international concerns were arguably more of a concern for those in the United States. The Space Force even inspired a TV comedy series of the same name.

Spacex to Launch Dogecoin Paid DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon

May 9, 2021 Bitcoin.com

Literally to the moon — SpaceX payload funded by DOGE plans to reach lunar orbit in 2022

May 9, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce,” said SpaceX's Tom Ochinero.

Canada-based manufacturing and logistics firm Geometric Energy Corporation will be launching a Dogecoin-funded payload on one of SpaceX’s first rockets to the moon.

In a Sunday announcement from Geometric Energy Corporation, the company said its commercial satellite could be traveling to the moon as early as the first quarter of 2022 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Weighing 40 kilograms — roughly 88 pounds — the payload is designed to “obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems.”

"Having officially transacted with DOGE for a deal of this magnitude, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector," said Geometric Energy CEO Samuel Reid.

Tom Ochinero, VP of Commercial Sales for SpaceX, added:

"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.”

Neither SpaceX nor Geometric Energy specified how Dogecoin (DOGE) was used to fund the endeavor. The cost may refer in part to the development of the payload or include the funding to send it to the moon.

Previous lunar missions have had significant price tags. The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program’s Chang'e 4, the last vehicle to perform a soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019, cost 1.2 billion yuan, or roughly $172 million at the time, to send a 1,200-kg lander with a 140-kg rover to the moon. NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a satellite launched to orbit the moon in 2013, carried a payload mass of 49.6 kg at a cost of roughly $280 million, including research and development — $5.6 million per kg, not accounting for the mass at launch.

Should Geometric Energy’s satellite incur the same costs — though SpaceX's design is likely more efficient eight years down the road — the firm would need to have paid roughly $225.8 million for a 40 kg payload, or more than 388 million DOGE at the time of publication. This would represent 0.3% of the circulating supply of 129.5 billion DOGE tokens.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has repeatedly hinted — perhaps jokingly — on Twitter that Dogecoin will be the first cryptocurrency to “literally” reach the moon. Musk’s social media activity has likely been responsible for a number of price surges for the token, which has risen more than 800% in the last 30 days to reach $0.55 at time of publication.

Cointelegraph reached out to Geometric Energy, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

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