A prolonged decline in the cryptocurrency market can be challenging for investors. Still, others see it as a prime opportunity to purchase high-quality digital currencies at discounted prices. There are no guarantees, of course, but those who can maintain a level head and make investments during market turmoil may potentially see the greatest returns when the trend eventually reverses.
Here are some cryptocurrencies to keep an eye on for 2023:
RocketPool
With Ethereum’s upcoming Shanghai Upgrade enabling staked ETH withdrawals, the narrative for liquid staking derivatives is strong going into 2023. Rocket Pool is an open-source, decentralised Ethereum 2.0 staking platform that is designed to make staking more accessible and efficient for individual and institutional users. The goal of Rocket Pool is to make staking more accessible, lower the barriers to entry, and increase the decentralisation of the Ethereum network.
In the past, many ETH investors have been unable to stake due to the minimum 32 ETH requirement. RocketPool allows many small stakers to pool their resources to create a single larger staking node, which can support the network and earn rewards.
“Lido, another liquid staking derivative protocol, has dominated market share in the sector thus far,” Martin says.
“However, Ethereum enthusiasts would prefer to see increased competition to improve the network’s decentralisation. Lido has handpicked 29 node operators, whereas RocketPool’s core value proposition is to ensure those looking to participate in Ethereum’s security can do so without technical expertise or high capital requirements.”
RocketPool looks well positioned to grow throughout 2023 as the trend towards investors staking their ETH heats up.
GMX
GMX is a decentralised exchange specialising in spot and margin trading with low swap fees and minimal price impact upon opening and closing trades. It uses a proprietary multi-asset pool that generates revenue for liquidity providers through market making, swap fees, and leverage trading. This pool allows liquidity providers to provide assets to the platform for trading liquidity, and in return, receive revenue from traders using the platform.
GMX consistently sits in the top five applications and blockchains for most daily fees generated. This implies that people willingly pay to use the platform and shows the great product-market fit for the exchange.
“Unlike most crypto assets that were down 70-90% from 2022 to 2023, GMX ended higher on the year as a result of fee revenue distribution and users seeking alternative venues for leverage in lieu of the FTX collapse,” Martin says.
GMX is well-positioned to continue performing well into 2023 and is worth keeping an eye on.
Frax Finance
Frax Finance is a multi-faceted decentralised finance platform with a lot to offer going into 2023. Frax is a revolutionary fractional stablecoin protocol. Currently accessible on Ethereum and 12 other blockchain networks, the ultimate goal of the Frax protocol is to create a highly scalable, decentralised, algorithm-based currency that can work in conjunction with fixed-supply digital assets like Bitcoin.
The Frax ecosystem has multiple coins, including US-dollar stablecoins, governance tokens, and a liquid staked-ETH derivative.
As Martin said: “Frax’s staked-ETH derivative, sfrxETH, is the fastest growing decentralised alternative to Lido’s stETH in terms of percentage market share. The attractiveness of a staked-ETH derivative comes down to two primary factors; yield and liquidity. Frax currently offers the highest yielding derivative and has a war chest to incentivise liquidity, which puts it in a prime position to continue capturing market share throughout 2023.”
Additionally, stablecoins are one of the core components of the digital asset market, and Frax’s innovative offering could be well-positioned to take advantage of this fact. Coupled with the multi-faceted nature of the project and the committed team, this project is definitely one to watch throughout the year.
