When you transfer funds to a centralized crypto exchange, you lose a part of the control over your finances. Decentralized finance (DeFi) has come to democratize the ownership of digital assets and untie the hands of users in terms of trading, lending and borrowing. Users can now rely on objective and transparent smart contracts. With their emergence, aggregators, derivatives and lending protocols have flooded the blockchain space. The arrival of autonomous services has led to the flourishing of peer-to-peer trading, yield farming and liquidity providers. Meanwhile, low fees and interesting investment offers attracted users to DeFi cryptos.

On DeFi services, lenders and stakers can earn high interest rates, and traders can get quick loans without having to close their positions. However, this also had a reverse side, as projects with poor technical solutions flooded the market. To avoid distractions by high-risk and unpromising decentralized platforms, it is worth focusing on platforms ready to bring benefits to users in 2024.

King of DeFi Cryptos: Uniswap (UNI-USD)

Uniswap (UNI-USD) is rightfully a pioneer and current leader in the field of decentralized exchanges. Introducing an automated market maker (AMM) system and working with liquidity pools has accelerated trading and allowed hundreds of tokens to develop. The platform allows for the free listing of trading pairs without the permission of any central authority, so anyone can create their pair and fill it with liquidity.

The first version of Uniswap caused an explosion in the market, although it had limitations. For example, it wasn’t possible to create liquidity pools. The developers solved this problem with the V3 release, introducing concentrated liquidity and several levels of fees. Historically, the project has meant a lot to DeFi cryptos, but it was included in this list due to its upcoming innovations and commitment to continuous improvement.

The release of Uniswap V4 is scheduled for the second half of this year and is ready to impress users with additions in the form of hooks and customized pools. All DeFi pools will be included in a single contract, making creating a new pool 100 times cheaper. Users can add smart contracts to pools and customize them more precisely thanks to the introduction of hooks. In the third quarter of 2024, the project plans to increase efficiency by introducing the Flash Accounting feature. It will allow combining several actions into one transaction, thereby reducing the cost of fees.

Internet Computer (ICP-USD)

Internet Computer (ICP-USD) aims to redefine the Internet by making it a place for decentralized applications and data. This goes far beyond the standard impact of DeFi cryptos, which focus on the independence of digital assets from centralized authorities. To achieve its ambitious plans, the project has created an infrastructure of independent data centers scattered across several continents. However, the distances do not slow down the system’s speed, as it uses Chain Key Technology. Thanks to this unique approach, the software is updated on time and transactions are instantaneous.

The project brought its token to the wide market in 2021, and its relevance is still growing. A well-thought-out architecture is the main reason for this, as it allows solving problems that still remain unsolved. A balanced consensus mechanism and streamlined workflows have led to the rise of the project as an energy-efficient and scalable solution with endless possibilities for Internet integration.

Digital assets have used the artificial intelligence boom to boost their value. Usually, this was limited to declarations of future implementations, adding “AI” to the name, or using neural networks to create NFT images. The case of ICP is fundamentally different, as the project has integrated advanced AI models (DALL-E and GPT-4) to serve the needs of developers. The crypto community is just beginning to experience the effects of these innovations in the form of interactive applications on the ICP blockchain.

Websea (WBS-USD)

Young people are the target audience of innovative services like blockchain and cryptocurrencies. That’s why many of today’s projects put special focus on meeting their needs. Websea (WBS-USD), a Web3 digital asset platform, is one of them. Powered by Polygon (MATIC-USD), the project overcomes the limitations of Ethereum (ETH-USD). It stands out for fast transactions that do not require significant funds to pay commissions. Websea is beyond trading and is gradually increasing its presence in the blockchain space through games, communication services and other high-frequency activities.

A total of 300,000,000 WBS’ help the system to continue its constant flow. Active participants can interact with the token in various forms, from standard staking to paying for subscriptions and access to premium content. With this ERC-20 analog in their wallet, users get higher trading limits, access to social media functions and a voice in platform development.

In 2024, DeFi cryptos will not surprise anyone with single token application functions or a developed referral program. However, the complexity of the approach makes it stand out because Websea gamifies communication with users. It turns an ordinary trading platform into a playground where crypto enthusiasts can have more fun performing standard Web3 actions.

NFTs, Web3 services and meta-network features extend the functionality of Websea, which serves as a gateway to the decentralized finance space. Despite its still small daily trading volume (about $12 million), the coin is ready to compete, as it provides access to dozens of decentralized finance services in one place.

On the date of publication, Julia Magas did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.