Despite a long and cold crypto winter, the sector never stops evolving. With 2024 fast approaching, there’s a blend of excitement and caution for crypto natives and newcomers alike. The aftermath of FTX’s meltdown, sideways movement in token markets, and more than our fair share of rug-pulls leaves many of us feeling gloomy.
But the space continues to evolve at a rapid rate despite market conditions. The volatility and transformative nature of this emerging economy require constant knowledge updating. It can be hard to keep up. For the crypto familiar and newcomer alike, this guide will serve as a pulsecheck, refine your understanding, and give you actionable steps to prepare you for 2024 and beyond.
The Maturing Crypto Landscape
While Bitcoin and Ethereum maintain their top-tier positions in the market, younger blockchains like Polkadot, Cardano, and Cosmos have expanded their ecosystems dramatically. The communities are strong and developers are building. The focus has shifted from just currency to complete ecosystems–providing more robust decentralized applications, more creative NFT projects, and stronger DeFi platforms.
Action point: Diversify your portfolio of coins. Research and invest in emerging projects within these younger ecosystems. Remember, it’s not just about HODLing tokens for a good return. It’s also about understanding the utility they bring and preparing your financial position for an increasingly decentralized global economy.
Rise of Layer-2 Solutions
High transaction fees on primary networks like Ethereum pushed for Layer-2 solutions such as Optimism and zkSync. These protocols allow for faster and cheaper transactions by processing them off the main chain.
Action point: Consider exploring the different layer-2 ecosystems, familiarize yourself with the applications that live there, and get comfortable with bridging tokens between chains. A good starting point is setting up a wallet that supports layer-2 solutions, bridge some tokens, and test out an application. Uniswap is a great application to begin with. This decentralized exchange supports all of the leading layer-2 solutions.
Find Your Niche in the Decentralized Internet
Web3 represents a decentralized internet model. It ensures users have control over their data, unlike the traditional internet models dominated by giants like Google and Meta. However, the novelty and rapid progression of the web3 ecosystem can be overwhelming. But just like you don’t aim to understand every website on the traditional internet, you don’t need to learn every nook and cranny of web3.
Action point: Explore a handful of platforms in web3 you’ve never heard of and find what interests you. The point is to draw the value from web3 in the areas you care about. Whether that be decentralized social media, content writing, music collectibles, or a more robust trading experience, get on board with projects that stand for the web3 ethos.
Learn the Use Cases of NFTs
While the early days of NFTs were about art and digital collectibles, 2024 will encompass a whole host of new and innovative use cases. NFTs will integrate with our physical world and change how we perceive ownership, value, and accomplishments.
Action point: Explore platforms beyond that of OpenSea and Blur. Dive deep into a handful of other NFT projects to better understand how they leverage NFTs for their particular use case. There’s no better time to learn this new technology. Below are a list of places to start:
Decentraland – Digital real estate
Wrappers – a legal wrapper for any digital asset
anotherblock – music rights ownership
Regulation and Institutional Adoption
With institutions like JP Morgan and UBS showing great interest in web3 for financial assets, regulatory frameworks around the world are scrambling to figure out the legal response. Understanding where regulation stands in your country and in the global market is crucial.
Action point: Stay updated with laws and regulations through major crypto news outlets such as Decrypt and Cointelegraph. Additionally, you can explore this crypto regulation tracker to get a high level understanding of the current status in each country.
Expansion of Decentralized Finance
In 2024, DeFi won’t just be about lending, borrowing, and swapping tokens across networks. Although this has been a great starting point, DeFi will start expanding into decentralized insurance, synthetic assets, and more robust stablecoins. This will lead the ecosystem into a more familiar state, similar to traditional finance, while bringing all the benefits of web3.
Action points: Although we could write an entire article dedicated to DeFi action plans, here’s a good primer. If you’re not already familiar with staking, lending, and borrowing in web3, use a small amount of tokens to teach yourself the basics. Tools like Uniswap, Aave, and Diva are great places to start. Once you have the foundation, explore more intricate tools such as Ease (decentralized insurance) and Synthetix (synthetic financial instruments). Additionally you can explore the Alchemy DeFi store and go on your own DeFi adventure.
Build Your Fortress
Security is paramount in web3. One of the biggest benefits of crypto, self-sovereignty, is also one of the biggest threats. No bank or institution will save you if your money gets stolen. As the space matures, so do the threats. Phishing scams, rug pulls, and more sophisticated hacking techniques emerge every day. It’s time to build your personal security layer.
Action points: The first step is to ensure you have all your seed phrases stored securely and follow private key best practices. You’ll also want to consider investing in a hardware wallet like Ledger. This gives you a robust layer of financial security. Finally, ensure you always double check website URLs and wallet addresses before you engage in any web3 activity.
Continuous Education
The crypto world is ever-evolving. Staying in the loop can be really overwhelming and time consuming. But ensuring you have a steady source of the latest news in the web3 world will keep you at the forefront and always ready to address any challenges or seize new opportunities as they come along.
Action points: We recommend keeping up with a selection of web3 podcasts and news publications. A great selection of sources are Bankless Podcast, Decrypt, CoinDesk, and Unchained. Set aside some time each week to consume the latest in the web3 world. But remember, crypto is a very divisive space. Where you get your information will significantly impact your views and decisions. Try to stay open to new sources and ideas and always keep exploring.
BONUS: According to a survey conducted by CoinFund, the Founders and/or CEOs of 30 portfolio companies see Web3 x AI as the top sector positioned to grow in 2024. bitgrit is well positioned to reap the benefits from this growth. Read our whitepaper & sign up for our newsletter to find out how you can be part of this revolution.
Happy New Year!
