How Can Crypto Be Used: Cases and Examples

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The crypto industry is growing rapidly on a global scale. According to a projection report, the market will reach $1125.8 million by 2028. 

Digital assets are considered the future of finance. You can use crypto to buy and sell things, but this functionality is limited to a few coins. There are over 10,000 crypto assets available today. So, what do you do with all this crypto? Do they have any real-world applications? 

Should you invest in crypto? The article will look at different crypto use cases and examples to help you decide.  

Crypto Use Cases and Examples

Let us look at different crypto applications and how you can best invest with these digital assets.

Payment Coins

As the name suggests, you can use these cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services. They are your digital alternative to fiat currency. Moreover, these payment coins have legitimate market value.

Several prominent global companies like Microsoft, PayPal, and Tesla accept payment in cryptocurrency.

Payments coins still have a long way to go compared to the efficiency of established payment networks.

Examples of payment coins are Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, and Digibyte. 

Stablecoins

Stablecoins were developed to eliminate the volatility that comes with cryptocurrencies. Instead, their values are tied to a real-world asset or fiat currency like the US dollar. 

As the value is tied to a stable asset, the investor can easily switch between a volatile cryptocurrency into a stable asset value. It offers investors a safe place to store their assets in times of economic instability that can hurt fiat currencies. 

Tether and USD Coin are two famous examples of stablecoins.

Smart Contract Platform

Typically, a centralized third party verifies and approves the contract in traditional systems. However, smart contracts are different. They are programs that run on the blockchain when their conditions are met.  

But smart contracts run on a decentralized network, where the contract is executed by software according to the conditions pre-determined, making them highly secure.

A smart contract platform provides the necessary framework to execute smart contracts. Examples include Ethereum and Solana.

Internet of Things

There are projects underway to identify how machines can trade and share resources and work together while offering convenience to users.

IOTA is an open-source distributed ledger that aims to be the future of the Internet of Things. It currently has a partnership with a car manufacturer to test the employment of ‘smart wallet’ technology.

For example, drivers can earn credits and make payments using the smart wallet while the vehicle reports back information such as the condition on the road.

NFT

Non-fungible tokens, popularly known as NFTs, have recently gained a foothold in the creative marketplace. Buying an NFT is like having exclusive rights to a unique piece of art, book or game. You can store these NFTs in digital or hardware wallets, just like other crypto assets. 

Decentraland and Enjin are examples of crypto projects supporting the NFT platform.