Author: Maria Shen, Partner at Electric Capital; Translated by: 0xxz@Golden Finance
Electric Capital is pleased to launch the Crypto Market Map (cryptomarketmap.org).
The Crypto Market Map tracks over 1,500 crypto projects. It contextualizes every major project in crypto by organizing them into 6 technology tiers and 137 categories.
Notice:
This underestimates the total number of cryptocurrency projects. This map only includes major projects. The inclusion criteria are at the end of this article.
There are still gaps. The map is in beta and everyone can contribute to it. Contribution details are at the end of this article.
Crypto Market Map
The crypto project map concretizes the role played by each major project. Projects are divided into 6 technical layers from infrastructure to end-user-oriented projects: A. Core infrastructure; B. Extensions; C. Interoperability; D. Development tools and services; E. Protocols; and F. Applications.
A. Core Infrastructure
This base layer includes projects like Bitcoin and other layer 1 blockchains that expand upon Bitcoin’s initial design.
Mining services, hardware manufacturers, and other infrastructure-level projects are included in this layer.
B. Extension
As the use of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other layer 1 public chains increases, a number of projects have emerged to address scalability issues. This layer includes layer 2, layer 3, and modular blockchain projects.
C. Interoperability
As more chains emerge, the ability to transfer information across chains becomes critical. Projects at this layer focus on enabling inter-chain communication, data sharing, and asset transfer.
D. Developer Tools and Services
This layer categorizes the tools, services, and data providers that are essential to developers and users. It includes everything from development frameworks to data analysis tools.
E. Protocol
These projects are characterized by the fact that the rules are mainly executed on the chain. These projects cover use cases such as decentralized finance, NFT and games, social, identity and data sovereignty, privacy, etc.
F. Application
The characteristic of these projects is that most of the rules are not executed on the chain. These projects cover use cases such as DeFi, creator platforms, NFT and games, social, identity and data management, sovereignty, privacy, etc.
Note: The line between protocols and applications is not always clear, and many projects can be considered both. This is because many applications in crypto have both off-chain and on-chain components. There are 138 projects in the Crypto Market Map that fall into the 1+ category.
Why Create a Crypto Market Map?
As cryptocurrency matures, it becomes more professional and complex.
Cryptocurrency has changed significantly since we published the market map in 2019. We created the Crypto Market Map to provide an overview of this rapidly evolving industry.
2019: 500+ projects on our market map (basically any non-scam project we could find)
Today: more than 1,500 projects, although only major ones are considered
The 6 Biggest Changes in the Crypto Market Since 2019
I. DeFi is now a major category
2019: DeFi is not a category in itself, Uniswap and Compound were launched less than a year ago, DAI has not yet been launched, and the TVL of all DeFi is less than $500 million
Today: DeFi’s TVL is $85B, DeFi is the largest category with 394 projects + 14 subcategories
II. NFT now supports many applications
2019: Most apps don’t use NFTs, popular NFTs like Cryptokitties are games
Today: NFT supports applications such as games, music, art, loyalty, finance, identity, and NFTfi appears. 49 projects support NFT lending, borrowing, and derivatives.
III. Extension and interoperability projects are maturing
2019: 17 L2 projects, 8 interoperability projects
Today: 73 major L2 projects, L3 projects emerge, Modularity is a new category with 60+ major projects, Intent and Account Abstraction is a new category with 11 projects
IV. Consumer-facing applications and protocols are growing
2019: Only 30 major game projects, most user-facing apps for resource coordination
Today: 121 games, game platforms, and metaverse projects, 110 social applications and protocol projects
V. Innovative technology moves from theory to practice
Taking zero-knowledge technology as an example...
2019: Zk technology is only used by a few pioneer projects such as Zcash
Today: 159 projects in the crypto market map use zk technology
VI. Categories integrate as they mature
2019: Smart contract platforms and exchanges are the largest categories
Today: Neither is growing significantly as users and developers focus on fewer platforms
We expect other categories to consolidate as they mature.
Project Selection Criteria
The Crypto Market Map aims to include projects with significant industry or cultural impact. The projects in the map are selected from thousands of crypto projects.
The selected projects must meet at least one of the following:
$2M+ in funding and active updates since 2023
$50 million+ in financing and active updates
50+ developers in 2024
Top 100 Market Capitalization
Leading DeFi projects on the chain
10,000+ followers on Twitter
Play an important or significant role in the chain ecosystem
Items not included:
Hackathon Project
Projects that do not demonstrate the original announced product intent
Projects that may take too long to start
How to submit a new project
The crypto market map is not complete yet and is in beta.
We reviewed thousands of projects, but some were missed: projects may have been missed due to gaps in data sources and classifications may be subjective.
Click here to submit a new project: https://airtable.com/appQG8Z7XNVDQzPLX/pageSycxoyB82PiZY/form
