In many respects, 2021 is a breakthrough year for the cryptocurrency market, and most investors are interested in Bitcoin (Bitcoin) The price hit a record high of US$68,789. In the same time period, the ether (Ethereum) Continued its parabolic rebound, and its price has risen 565% since January 1, and hit a record high of US$4,859 on November 10.

Although this was an iconic year for large-cap cryptocurrencies, some of the biggest gains and most influential developments came from the altcoin market, where decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFT) rose by thousands of% , And helped usher in a new level of understanding and adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

Below are five altcoin projects that have made significant contributions to the cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2021.

Uniswap

Since its launch in the summer of 2020, the decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI) has arguably had the greatest impact on the entire crypto ecosystem. DEX achieved significant growth throughout 2021 because it was launched by deleting the existence of centralized exchanges obstacle.

Data provided by Dune Analytics shows that Uniswap has been the dominant DEX throughout the year, and its trading volume has always exceeded the sum of all other DEXs.

As shown in the figure above, the trading volume of decentralized exchanges really started to increase in the second half of 2021, which was largely driven by Uniswap activities.

Throughout 2021, Uniswap is also leading the development field, and the developers behind the agreement announced the release of Uniswap v3 in March. The v3 upgrade includes multiple protocol upgrades, which lay the foundation for the integration of second-tier scaling solutions such as Optimism and Arbitrum with Uniswap to help reduce user transaction costs and processing time.

Aave

Aave (AAVE) is a DeFi lending agreement that allows users to deposit their tokens and lend them as a way to earn income, or use them as collateral to borrow another asset.

As the DeFi industry began to receive attention in early 2021, AAVE has become a favorite of the community due to the support of a large number of encrypted assets and the support of some well-funded participants.

During this year, AAVE released AAVE v2, adding support for Polygon (a second-layer scaling solution) and Avalanche (a popular cross-chain blockchain network), thereby expanding its functions and scope of influence.

Due to these additional features, the total liquidity available on the AAVE agreement has exceeded US$25.7 billion, making AAVE the highest ranked DeFi agreement by total value lock (TVL).

curve

Curve Finance is a protocol focused on stablecoins. It uses automated market makers to manage the liquidity of the platform and the entire DeFi ecosystem.

Stablecoins have become a fundamental part of the entire cryptocurrency community in 2021 because they provide sufficient liquidity for the market and provide a safe haven for traders seeking refuge during periods of high volatility.

By accelerating the integration of stablecoins into many top DeFi protocols, including the Year.Finance ecosystem and Convex Finance, the importance of stablecoins to the Curve protocol and its native CRV is increasing.

Although a large part of the assets locked in the Curve agreement are stablecoins, the platform now ranks second in TVL, second only to AAVE. Data from Defi Llama shows that Curve has now locked a value vault of US$21.77 billion.

Curve also integrates many of the most active blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Avalanche, Harmony, xDAI, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Fantom, which further proves that the protocol seeks to become a stablecoin liquidity provider for the entire crypto market.

related: The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Board has identified stablecoins and cryptocurrencies as threats to the financial system

Axis unlimited

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

The p2e model will become a new fan favorite in 2021 because it provides users with the ability to earn daily income while playing games. Compared with the traditional payment model, it has some unique advantages.

As Axie Infinity became more and more popular, the platform’s native AXS token also hit a record high. As the token soared to new highs, the platform generated $17.55 million in daily revenue when it peaked on August 6.

Axie Infinity is also one of the first projects to establish a migration trend from the Ethereum network due to high fees and slow transaction speeds. Earlier this year, the project migrated to the Ronin sidechain and launched its own DEX called Katana in November.

Dogecoin

Dogecoin is an open-source proof-of-work cryptocurrency that leads the field of “memetic” coins, making headlines throughout 2021.

Although the project has little contribution to technology or development, the frequent shillings from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban helped push Doge up 23,746%. The price has increased from January 1st. US$0.0031 rose to a record high of US$0.74 on May 8.

In addition to the increase in the price of DOGE, the token has received more and more attention after it was announced that it will be used to fund SpaceX’s lunar satellite launch. The Dogecoin movement has also started a meme coin rally and spawned a group of projects imitating dogs, li Shiba Inu ( SHIB) and Dogelon Mars (ELON).

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