The Cryptosphere is an ever-changing, fast paced new space that is hard to keep up with. Predicting what it may do next is hard, and trying to make sense of everything is more than a full time job for most.

Fortunately, working with crypto has been a full-time job for me and I'd like to share a few predictions on where I think this space is going for people newer to crypto or just those who are curious about where we may be headed. So, without further ado, here are X of my 'outrageous' blockchain trend predictions:

1. Built-in browser wallets

A majority of crypto users currently use browser extensions as their wallet of choice. This is not the best option and built-in browser wallets offer a better user experience and fewer security trade-offs. Metamask is a browser extension that allows you to access your crypto wallet and interact with Ethereum and other blockchains.

For the most part, browser extensions are helpful tools that enable us to work quicker and more efficiently, however, they are also loved by cybercriminals looking for innovative ways to add malicious code onto unsuspecting users’ machines.

Built-in browser wallets require less CPU to operate and are overall much more reliable. For example, the Brave browser has a built-in crypto wallet called Brave wallet. Additionally, Brave's browser emphasizes privacy by blocking ad trackers by default. The built-in wallet's native functionality is much harder to spoof as well, making it a safer alternative to browser extension wallets.

Due to these factors I believe that Chrome, Firefox, Safari and possibly even Edge will all have native crypto wallet's built-in to their products in the near future.

2. DEX's over CEX's

The long arm of the North American and European governments have finally reached entirely around the globe. Gone are the days of spoofing your IP with a VPN to log into a foreign, centralized exchange (CEX) to trade a little bit of crypto. Recent enforcement actions from western countries have seen even the biggest CEX players (like Binance's CZ) being charged and even serving jail time.

As it becomes harder to make CEX accounts, DEX's are able to welcome anyone and everyone to the global, digital economy. In the early days, many believed that Decentralized Exchanges (DEX's) would stand no chance against centralized giants like Binance and Coinbase. Fast forwarding to September 2020 when Uniswap’s trade volume surpassed that of Coinbase's made it obvious that the crypto world had a big appetite for decentralized exchanging. Today, the demand for decentralized financial services is still growing due to these platform's openness, efficiency and user friendliness. DEX's provide transparency, respect user privacy and most importantly, prevent centralized authority from abusing power and censoring dissent.

Additionally, DEX's also offer opportunities for people from traditional investing markets. There is already a strong focus on institutional-grade crypto derivatives within the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space. We are seeing an increase in DeFi Futures, Options, Synths of Stocks & Commodities, Indexes & Staking Protocols. DEX adoption is experiencing a snowball effect where blockchain startups are now choosing to list their tokens on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap because it is cheaper, globally accessible and open to anyone. This strategy shift has had a positive impact on Uniswap's user acquisition as crypto investors are forced to use Decentralized Exchanges when purchasing their favorite tokens. Furthermore DEX's allow anyone to access the platform regardless of their geography, demographics, or background. Fully permission-less DEX's facilitate not just crypto trading but the trading of any security or synthetic commodity.

This equal access is an opportunity for anyone to interact, trade and participate within the blockchain ecosystem regardless of gender, class, race or ethnicity. By including everyone, especially financially under-served people, anyone can build an investment portfolio with assets from around the world using only Wifi, a smart phone and some disposable income. Decentralized exchanges are directly increasing global market participation which in turn drives economic growth and prosperity for everyone.

Meanwhile, the role of CEX's is diminishing for multiple reasons: First, the inconvenience of KYC (Know-Your-Customer) requirements burden the user's experience with finicky verification processes and exclude investors without access to proper documentation. Second, centralized exchanges are rapidly turning into traditional banks. CEX's are already denying customers service for arbitrary reasons, including blocking withdrawals, halting deposits, and providing zero transparency into their decision making which is very similar to how traditional fiat banks currently operate. People are ready for a change and the user experience of DEX's is liberating by comparison. While there is additional responsibility for users to keep their wallet information secret, the trade-off is access to a global, permission-less, provably fair market for investing and trading. I expect DEX's to continue taking market share from centralized exchanges, until the centralized exchanges are regulated into oblivion and lose their relevance completely.

3. One Portfolio to Rule Them All

When using your precious crypto to take out an over-collateralized loan today, most of us choose the trusted decentralized services like Compound or Aave, due to the catastrophe led by the centralized lending services Celsius and BlockFi.

To use the decentralized lenders however, a crypto user may need to deposit funds on multiple websites if they wish to utilize their entire portfolio, as some crypto is not useable as collateral on specific sites or the blockchain it lives on is not supported. They are then responsible for tracking loan health across every decentralized lending platform they've used, causing a user experience that is intimidating, complicated and leads to liquidations that could otherwise be avoided.

The ability to borrow against your entire portfolio is an under served niche within the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem. By having a one-stop shop for all your permission-less borrowing & lending needs, more people are likely to use these services which increases capital efficiency. A good example of this is Prime Protocol, a decentralized, multiple blockchain where you can borrow against the value of your entire portfolio across all blockchains. While there are decentralized loan apps that offer multi-chain deposits like CREAM, I believe that in the future platforms like Prime who offer users the convenient ability to park a percentage of their entire portfolio, across many different blockchain networks, as winning the biggest marketshare.

Imagine a world where you own a multi-chain wallet with a basket of cryptocurrencies used for collateralized loans and yield farming. With a few taps you deposit 5% of the holdings on your self-custody wallet into a multi-chain DeFi app that gives you a single interest rate based on your portfolio's composition and issues your loan on the network of your choice.

While today's decentralized lending environment is fragmented, many projects have identified the need for seamless transitions between different protocols, platforms and networks. Seeing the continued work aimed at solving this exact problem gives me excitement that there will be an improved user experience for lending and borrowing within the "cryptosphere".

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That's it for for my blockchain trend predictions, and only time will tell if they end up being true or not (although I hope they are!). Please let me know if you have any other predictions that you think will absolutely come true in the comments below!

~Matt