Round 2 of Polkadot’s ongoing slot auctions has just wrapped up, bringing six intriguing new projects onboard. Among these is Efinity, which will bring NFTs on Polkadot.
Here we’ll take a quick look at these projects and the tokens attached to them.
Efinity brings NFTs on Polkadot
Efinity won slot #7 last December and plugged in on March 11. About 200 million EFI tokens are now being distributed to crowdloan contributors who provided nearly 7.7 million DOT.
Developed by Enjin, creators of the ERC-1155 NFT standard, Efinity aims to address several problems inherent in NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain: high fees, inflexible smart contracts and poor interoperability.
The project has developed a new token standard called the Paratoken Standard. It supports NFTs on Polkadot from any network and is compatible. It also tackles gas fees and congestion head-on, with recent tests reaching up to 20 million NFT mints/transfers per second.
One of its first upcoming projects since plugging into the network is the imminent launch of NFT.io, a next-generation NFT marketplace described as “a cross-chain version of OpenSea.”
The other winners
Composable Finance won slot #8. Its Cross-Chain Virtual Machine (XCVM) enables multiple smart contracts to run together while communicating and collaborating. As a result, DeFi protocols running on different blockchains can unite to facilitate complex asset swaps and other functions. LAYR (not yet active) will be the platform’s staking, transaction and governance token.
Centrifuge (#9) is a decentralized asset financing protocol that connects DeFi to real-world assets (RWAs) such as real estate, invoices or royalties. Its Tinlake app has been integrated with Ethereum DeFi protocols MakerDAO and Aave since May 2020. Borrowers create on-chain RWA pools and issue tokens representing individual shares. Investors receive income and rewards in CFG tokens.
Interlay (#10) is designed to let users invest, earn and make payments with Bitcoin on any blockchain without sacrificing decentralization, using its flagship product, interBTC. This is a fully-collateralized and insured 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset. The network will eventually be connected to Cosmos, Ethereum, and other major DeFi platforms. INTR, its utility and governance token, will go live later in 2022 via a fair launch.
Nodle ( #11) uses the Bluetooth capability of smartphones and routers to make it possible for Internet of Things (IoT) devices to connect to the Internet (of people) at low cost. Its decentralized, secure and private network already comprises about 5 million clients capturing 100 GB of data from 30 million IoT devices in over 100 countries. Smartphones running the Nodle Cash app to provide connectivity to nearby IoT devices are rewarded in NODL.
HydraDX (#12) is a unique cross-chain liquidity protocol. The project’s mission is to enable frictionless liquidity for all crypto assets via the HydraDX Omnipool, the first multi-asset liquidity pool. Multiple assets аrе priced relative to each other using the HDX token as a proxy for determining value. Thus, the Omnipool supersedes the old liquidity model requiring multiple pools of asset pairs.
As more parachain slots are filled, the competition is slowly heating up to win the remaining spaces. All of this activity makes Polkadot an increasingly valuable protocol for groundbreaking new projects, which might be good long-term news for DOT. And having NFTs on Polkadot is also likely to bring a lot of excitement to this growing ecosystem.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. You should consult a qualified licensed advisor before engaging in any transaction.
