Looking Beyond Ethereum? Cryptocurrencies To Watch in April

The popularity of NFTs and DeFi, which primarily run on the Ethereum blockchain, caused the price of Ethereum to skyrocket in 2021. However, Ethereum, the market leader in smart contracts, appears to be struggling so far in April in regard to price despite the forthcoming ‘Merge’. However, we’ve discovered three projects that have surpassed Ethereum which are worth watching, namely Mina, Moonbeam, and Near Protocol, all of which have risen by at least 25% recently. In comparison, Ethereum has dropped by more than 30% in value since its all-time high in November 2021.

Mina (MINA)

According to CoinMarketCap, Mina is up more than 25% in the last 7 days and 90% in the previous 30 days, an incredible growth rate. Mina has been dubbed “the world’s lightest blockchain” because it was designed to remain constant as usage grows, allowing for quick and cheap transaction settlements, thanks to its zero-knowledge rollup technology. Furthermore, as usage increases, it can maintain a balance of security and decentralization. It runs on the Mina Protocol that is a rival to Ethereum and Solana.

While Bitcoin employs a Proof-of-Work (PoW) model for transaction verification, Ethereum is transitioning to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model. On the other hand, Mina takes an entirely different approach, with on-chain participants checking specific parts of each transaction on its decentralized network. “Unlike Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche, Mina does not have a real ecosystem for now because its SDK is yet to be launched. But the Mina Foundation has provided grants to more than 1,000 developers who will unveil their projects when the mainnet goes live,” confirmed InvestingCube.

Moonbeam (GLMR)

Moonbeam is up more than 25% in the last week and more than 70% in the previous four weeks, which while not as impressive as Mina is still worth considering as a valuable addition to your investment portfolio. Moonbeam is a smart contract ‘parachain’, a network of independent blockchains with different functions and structures that runs on the Polkadot chain, making it fully compatible with Ethereum.

Moonbeam connects various blockchains, including Bitcoin, allowing thousands of developers launching applications on Ethereum to gain access to tens of thousands of users on other crypto networks. Moonbeam’s seamless cross-chain nature makes it an instrumental blockchain network for users and developers. Quite simply, by using Moonbeam, Ethereum developers can bypass the scalability challenges of the Ethereum blockchain network.

Near Protocol (NEAR)

Near Protocol is up more than 40% in the last seven days and more than 80% in the previous 30 days. NEAR is currently trading at around $16.24 per coin.

Like Bitcoin and Ethereum, Near Protocol is a basic layer-one blockchain. It is intended to be a faster, more cost-effective, and scalable community-run cloud computing system than other networks. In addition, its decentralized layout creates a user-friendly environment for developers and designers of decentralized apps. Notably, the Near Foundation received a $150 million infusion of new funding. Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform, are two projects built on the protocol. “NEAR Protocol also improves upon the convoluted onboarding process of other blockchains by having human-readable addresses and building decentralized applications with similar registration flow to what users have already experienced. Moreover, it provides developers with modular components, helping them start projects like token contracts or NFTs more quickly,” according to CoinMarketCap.

BigONE does not provide investment advice. Investors should only invest money they can afford to lose, and they should always conduct their analysis and research on cryptocurrencies they intend to invest in.

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