A Sign of Expanded Use of Blockchain Apps
An increasing number of blockchain app marketplaces, which gather blockchain-based decentralized applications (dapps) to help users download them at one sitting and provide usage data, are attracting funding from major investment companies.
Considering the fact that mobile apps enjoyed a boom following the emergence of Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store, investors’ growing interest in dapp marketplaces is seen as a sign of a large-scale expansion of blockchain-based apps.
Dapp.com and DappRadar, which provide information about dapps, are expanding their business after attracting investment from major investment firms, according to related industry sources on Sept. 16. In particular, they are expanding their business in the domestic market and increasing the number of users.
Dapp.com has attracted investment from global leading blockchain investment firm Hashed, which jointly invested US$1 million (1.19 billion won) in Dapp.com with Singapore’s crypto fund Du Capital.
Dapp.com is an app marketplace which distributes dapps that run on various blockchain platforms including Etherleum and EOS. Using unique algorithms, it offers dapp ranking services and releases a quarterly market analysis report.
Hashed CEO Kim Seo-joon said, “Unlike traditional app stores, the blockchain app ecosystem needs a new marketplace which creates value through minimum platform fees, onchain-based objective data analysis, a fair ranking system and participation by the community. We have decided to take part in rapidly growing Dapp.com as a strategic investor.”
DappRadar has a similar business model with Dapp.com. It attracted a total of US$2.30 million (2.73 billion won) in investment from several investors, including Naspers Ventures located in South Africa.
Naspers Ventures is a venture capital arm of Naspers, the largest shareholder of China’s global information and technology firm Tencent. In addition to Naspers Ventures, Blockchain.com Ventures and Angel Invest Berlin invested in DappRadar.
DappRadar is a platform designed to monitor and analyze decentralized app data. It tracks around 2,500 dapp projects on seven blockchain platforms, including Ethereum, EOS, and TRON. The company aims to become the most sought out distribution channel when users look for dapps.
With Dapp.com and DappRadar leading the dapp market, there is no such company in the sector in South Korea. Only Kakao is preparing for a service that distributes Klayton platform-based blockchain apps through its cryptocurrency wallet service “Klip” to be launched by the end of the fourth quarter.