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5 Crypto Trends that Appeared in 2019
- The crypto space evolved in 2019, moving a bit beyond the immediate hype of price action.
- While some trends and approaches failed, other developments came into the spotlight, offering new types of earnings opportunities.
The crypto space evolved in 2019, moving a bit beyond the immediate hype of price action. While some trends and approaches failed, other developments came into the spotlight, offering new types of earnings opportunities.
In 2019, the top crypto trends expanded to fill the void of previously defunct models.
Futures Trading: The CME futures trading started back in 2017. But in 2019, the market had grown significantly. The launch of Bakkt futures added to the price discovery of Bitcon (BTC) at the end of 2019. Crypto-to-crypto exchanges also expanded their futures markets in many directions. Some chose to offer futures for the most liquid altcoins. OKEx was among the most innovative markets, adding USDT-settled futures.
The addition of futures also meant that not only BTC owners could hope to trade based on the price risk of the leading coin. Futures markets move by a different logic, and do not need to conform to the expectations of long-term BTC “hodlersâ€, hence pressures to dump the price are also possible.
Crypto-based Lending: As more altcoins became inactive, the assets had to find a use case. Lending based on locking up the assets expanded in 2019. Ethereum (ETH) was the top collateral asset. Binance, however, became the leader in offering lending products based on some of the leading altcoins.
Custodial Storage and Staking: Staking coins were big even years ago, but for most, this required some technical knowledge and a dedication to keeping an operational wallet online. Now, it is possible to stake coins while making use of custodial services. Coinbase and more recently, Binance, are adding more proof-of-stake coins, redistributing the rewards. The latest asset to be added was Tezos, which has a relatively complex “baking†process.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Part crypto lending, part staking, DeFi is a separate rendition for the usage of stablecoins. Usually based on Ethereum (ETH), those services aim to replicate traditional finance. Maker DAO grew significantly in 2019, finally releasing its multi-collateral DAI in November. Despite ETH price volatility, DeFi only suffered relatively minor liquidations, and trust remained high enough to continue the decentralized lending pattern.
IEOs: Initial Exchange Offerings were the tamer, curated version of token sales. At the lead, exchanges like Binance and OKEx offered independent projects. Binance went the extra mile to build its own Binance Chain and host some of the tokens. Returns from IEOs varied, and some exchanges rode the trend with shady offerings. Bitfinex also used the IEO hype to place its own LEO token, which did not hold a public sale. IEOs were a new opportunity for tokenization and financing selected projects, but most of the tokens were volatile.
For almost all crypto trends, 2020 may see even stricter regulations. But financial innovation is happening in the sector, potentially building new cases for digital assets.
Source: https://cryptovest.com/news/5-crypto-trends-that-appeared-in-2019/