Electric Capital: Overview of 1500+ Projects and 6 Major Changes in the Crypto Market

Author: Maria Shen, Partner at Electric Capital; Translator: 0xxz@黄金财经

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 the projects into 6 technical layers and 137 categories.

Note:

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 Overview

The crypto project map details the role played by each major project. Projects are divided into 6 technical layers from infrastructure to end-user-facing 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 such as Bitcoin and other layer 1 blockchains that extend Bitcoin's initial design.

Mining services, hardware manufacturers, and other infrastructure-level projects are included in this layer.

B. Extension

With the increase in the use of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other 1-layer public chains, some projects have emerged to solve the scalability problem. This layer includes 2-layer, 3-layer 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, and privacy.

F. Applications

These projects are characterized by the fact that the rules are mostly not enforced on the chain. These projects cover use cases such as DeFi, creator platforms, NFTs and games, social, identity and data management, and sovereignty, privacy, etc.

Note:The boundaries between protocols and applications are not always clear, and many projects can be considered both at the same time. 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: 1500+ projects, although only the important ones were taken into account

The 6 biggest shifts in the crypto market since 2019

I. DeFi is now a major category

2019: DeFi was not a category in itself, Uniswap and Compound were launched less than 1 year ago, DAI had not yet been launched, and all DeFi TVL was less than $500 million

Today: DeFi's TVL is $85 billion, DeFi is the largest category with 394 projects + 14 subcategories

II. NFTs now support many applications

2019: Most applications did not use NFTs, popular NFTs such as Cryptokitties were games

Today: NFTs support applications such as games, music, art, loyalty, finance, identity, and NFTfi appears. 49 projects support NFT lending, borrowing and derivatives.

III. Expansion 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 applications are used for resource coordination

Today: 121 games, game platforms and metaverse projects, 110 Social Applications and Protocol Projects

V. Innovative technologies move from theory to practice

Take 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 consolidate as they mature

2019: Smart contract platforms and exchanges are the largest categories

Today: Neither has grown significantly as users and developers are concentrated 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 influence. The projects in the map come from thousands of crypto projects.

Selected projects must meet at least one of the following:

• $2 million+ in financing 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

Projects not included:

• Hackathon Projects

• Projects that do not demonstrate the product intent originally announced

• Projects that may take too long to launch

How to submit a new project

The Crypto Market Map is not complete yet and is in beta.

We reviewed thousands of projects, but there are still omissions: projects may be missed due to gaps in data sources and classifications may be subjective.

Submit a new project here: https://airtable.com/appQG8Z7XNVDQzPLX/pageSycxoyB82PiZY/form