So far, 2022 hasn’t been too kind to the crypto ecosystem. After a $2-trillion market crash, Bitcoin HODLers are still struggling to maintain a stable price. But the FUD won’t last long. A potential saving grace for the crypto ecosystem, the highly-anticipated Ethereum Merge finally went live. The shift is expected to significantly cut Ethereum’s energy use, with the hope that it will make the technology more popular.

Meanwhile, the SEC’s latest actions send clearer signals on how it plans to regulate crypto, a step in the right direction toward ensuring institutions continue to pour into the market.

These developments signal what many industry experts already know: the bear market is temporary, and perhaps might end even sooner than expected. The summer months gave companies an opportunity to focus on building their ecosystems and prepare ahead for 2022’s sunset months. Here are five exciting ones worth following:

Chains: Making every asset transactable

Built by industry pioneers, Chains.com’s highly anticipated digital-assets exchange platform already boasts 500,000 pre-registered users in more than 100 countries, with more than 60 thousand applying to its native $CHA token whitelist during the presale phase.

Chains token holders enjoy exclusive rewards and use a stack of solutions designed to help earn, trade, invest, and spend cryptocurrency without having to understand the underlying technologies.

On Chains’ platform, users can trade crypto for practically anything of value. The company intends to release its most promising tool on the platform later this year, the Prism. A powerful analytics product, Prism empowers users to track cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, equities, and commodities based on the preferred underlying asset.

Mailchain: A viable Web3 version of email

As crypto mongers rack up MetaMask wallets, Etherscan transactions, and accounts on various Web3 platforms, it can be hard to keep track of their Web3 lives the way they have clear records of conversations and transactions in their Web2 accounts—most often through email. Communication between Web3 wallets beyond transactions is virtually non-existent. Mailchain  addressed this issue by launching its unified inbox built for seamless Web3 communication, leveraging an end-to-end encrypted email platform.

Mailchain enables individuals, internal teams, and Web3 projects to send and receive messages between public blockchain addresses in one email inbox. Projects and creators can notify users or followers directly on important developments or on-chain activity, as vital updates and marketing messages can now be communicated directly to the intended audiences without being buried in a social media feed or messaging channel.

Having recently completed a $4.6 million funding round in September, the platform will go live featuring communication and organizational tools empowering Web3 users and companies to track and categorize their activities across blockchain identities, protocols, and networks.

Primex Finance: Making cross-DEX trading seamless

High fees and a confusing user experience make it almost impossible today for investors to perform more sophisticated cross-DEX trading. Set to release its beta in late September, Primex.Finance will soon launch the first-ever cross-chain brokerage liquidity protocol enabling cross-DEX spot-margin trading. 

As lenders provide cross-chain liquidity to pools used for trading, they benefit from higher yield rates compared to other lending protocols as a result of the interest generated from margin fees. The platform implements an AI-based trader scoring system, ensuring high-scoring traders can survive high volatility and save their positions even when they’re approaching the liquidation price.

XBO: Onboarding all investors to crypto

XBO.com’s engaging UI and ease of use make the exchange platform forthcoming to crypto veterans and newcomers alike. With cutting-edge verification measures speeding up the loading process, XBO.com sets itself apart from traditional exchanges by focusing on onboarding new investors to the ecosystem.

XBO.com has partnered with state-of-the-art firms, such as Fireblocks and Chinalysis, in order to protect its users’ digital assets. Following a series of pre-release events, the exchange platform offered newcomers special rewards, including an interesting opportunity for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) owners to become the platform’s brand ambassadors and win $100 thousand. 

XBO is working toward offering engagement-based rewards to constantly make crypto trading alluring, as well as leverage a referral system to grant users the opportunity to make a profit while maximizing engagement. 

EQIFi: Shopping with staking rewards

EQIFi, the only regulated global DeFi services platform backed by a digital bank, is working with Shopping.io to empower investors on its platform to spend their staking rewards on real-world products at retail behemoths like Walmart, Amazon, and eBay. The idea is to not only empower users to grow the value of their $EQX tokens on the EQIFi platform but to go the extra step of letting them use it as a currency for tangible products. 

The collaboration with Shopping.io grants EQIFi users limited free international shipping and discounts on all orders for a certain period of time.

Backed by EQIBank, a licensed digital bank, EQIFi users can pay for a number of services in crypto with a credit card, take loans, and engage in peer-to-peer transfers. The platform’s relationship with EQIBank cements the familiarity and reliability of traditional banking in the world of DeFi.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice