There's a key transition many cryptocurrency bulls are expecting to unfold over the years and decades to come. That is, that the efficiency and low-cost nature of blockchain technology in facilitating financial transactions will lead to massive adoption, growing network effects, and immense utility both for companies and end users over the long-term.
Quick Read
Hyperliquid commands the largest market share in decentralized perpetual futures trading with sub-second finality and 200,000 transactions per second capacity.
Solana generates over $240M in monthly revenue and processes 65,000 transactions per second.
Aave operates as a leading decentralized lending protocol enabling overcollateralized borrowing for market makers.
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This surging adoption should lead to sky-high growth for a number of the world's leading decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. I'm of the view that finding crypto projects with real-world use cases to invest in over the long-haul should deliver above-average returns for investors. So, let's do that.
Here are three top DeFi cryptocurrencies I think are worth considering right now.
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
Providing a bridge from traditional finance to DeFi using its high-performance layer-1 blockchain and decentralized exchange optimized for perpetual futures trading, Hyperliquid's custom architecture delivers sub-second finality, zero fas fees for trading and up to 200,000 transactions per second. That's among the best metrics in this sector, and has led Hyperliquid to grow its market share in this competitive space to become the leader.
Thus, the fact that Hyperliquid has shot up the crypto market cap rankings to a top-25 project should be no surprise. The fact that that this project solves key pain points for crypto investors, from high costs and slow settlements to opacity, Hyperliquid enables plenty of institutional capital to flow to this project, and has been able to funnel around 99% of its revenue from trading fees back into token buy backs. Over time, I think these should improve the project's tokenomics and lead to token price upside for those who invest in this project today.
With a long-term transition toward scalable and equity-like investments, Hyperliquid stands out to me as a solid long-term bet. With millions of dollars in daily trading volume with minimal staff, one could argue this is among the best business models there is (in and outside the world of crypto). Thus, this is a top project I think long-term investors can consider right now.
Solana (SOL)
In the world of DeFi, Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) provides the plumbing for much of what DeFi currently offers.
Given this platform's ultra-low cost model and its ability to process more than 65,000 transactions per second, Solana is among the best-performing layer-1 networks in the market and is a leader among derivatives and payments networks. Utilizing a proof-of-history consensus mechanism, Solana has found a way to order transactions to best serve its clientele, matching its speed and integrity with the order flow it receives. Other networks simply can't take on this sort of complexity, and that's what's led Solana-based decentralized exchanges to outperform so many others in this sector.
With more than $240 million in monthly revenue, and strong performance metrics from low latency to yield possibilities, Solana stands out as the place developers want to build and users want to buy things. So, for investors looking to put capital to work in the platform that should be the backbone of the future of DeFi, Solana really is it.
As a strategic long-term play, I like Solana's settlement layer and its underlying technology compared to its peers. As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the best layer-1 networks overall.
Aave (AAVE)
Last, but certainly not least on this list of DeFi cryptos I think investors should consider right now is Aave (CRYPTO:AAVE).
Aave is among the leading decentralized borrowing and lending protocols I think can deliver solid long-term gains to investors seeking meaningful upside over the long-term. Notably, Aave allows borrowers to purchase overcollateralized positions (which takes place in the traditional finance world as well, but which is frowned upon in the crypto sector). This lending is more risky, but allows for a wide range of options for money markets and market makers looking for the capital necessary to fund their operations.
One could argue that without Aave, much of the underling plumbing within the crypto sector could go away. Thus, this is a top-tier blue-chip crypto project which has garnered tremendous respect within and outside its community, and which ensures community-driven upgrades drive the future progress investors want.
For innovation and dynamism that can keep up with investor trends, Aave remains a top pick of mine in the DeFi sector right now.
