Although Bitcoin may be down so far from its all time high of last year, there have still been many positive developments in the crypto space this first quarter of 2022. To highlight a few prominent examples, play-to-earn gaming has seen a surge in inflow of capital from mainstream investors, while NFT trading has also seen its trading volume reach tens of billions of dollars. There have also been encouraging trends of increasing adoption of digital assets payments with crypto-linked cards, along with global daily dApp usage rising from its 2021 levels.
Meanwhile the Algorand network has also experienced a significant amount of growth, with a whopping 6 million new accounts. Additionally, Grayscale Investments has added Algorand to its list of assets under consideration that coincided with a new release of its protocol on Algorand mainnet. The upgrade has effectively enabled more complex dApps to be built, which can be evidenced in some of the recent projects on the blockchain that include NFT-based tree planting, decentralized digital ownership for content creators, and blockchain-linked air quality sensors.
Quarter 1 Recap
On top of all that has transpired in the crypto space and Algorand blockchain, VerdeX has also had quite a productive first quarter of 2022. The VerdeX mobile wallet has been launched and is now available for download on both Google Play and the Apple Store. With this, users can now easily send and receive funds, view transactions on AlgoExplorer, and also access dApps.
One of the dApps that happens to be accessible on the VerdeX mobile wallet is VerdeX Starter, which is a launchpad dedicated to helping projects with IDOs on the Algorand network. We were able to put VerdeX Starter on testnet this past quarter, and after releasing it officially, it will be able to help aspiring projects launch, raise funds, and gain access to our partner network. VerdeX Starter is almost ready to be rolled out on the Algorand mainnet, and is just waiting on a final audit report from blockchain security firm Certik.
Similarly, VerdeX has completed a finance seed round that saw us raise a comfortable amount of capital that we will use to push our Q2 efforts forward, among other things. Along with this, our next generation AMM VerDEX, has been launched on the Algorand testnet. Within only 24 hours of this launch, we obtained a considerable amount of participation and very valuable feedback from our users.
Quarter 2 Roadmap
The second quarter has started off with a bang for us on the heels of an initiation of an exciting expansion to the NEAR blockchain. Along with being carbon neutral, NEAR is also a decentralized development platform that hosts serverless applications and smart contracts for open finance networks. These capabilities, in addition to its emphasis on inter-operability, make it an ideal solution for us to scale VerdeX on Web 3.0 As such, we are also planning to launch VerdeX AMM and VerdeX Starter on NEAR this quarter.
To boost user experience on VerdeX, we have a goal to enhance the aggregation function on VerdeX Swap, so that people will be able to receive the best rates possible. Additionally we will be creating a VerdeX wallet browser extension, which will also serve to simplify the UI among our products. Meanwhile we are eager to keep building and growing our wonderful and intelligent community. The VerdeX DAO will allow our supportive members to further contribute to our mission, while an upcoming TGE (token generation event) will give people early access to our native token.
In order to finalize on the groundwork laid in Q1, we anticipate on launching both VerdeX Starter and VerDEX on the Algorand mainnet. These steps once accomplished, will go a long way in helping us to towards our mission becoming an all-in-one DeFi suite platform. Along with positioning ourselves on the Algorand blockchain in a favorable manner, our expansion to NEAR will also serve to broaden our audience across the crypto landscape.