5 Awaited Mainnet Launches for 2021

The cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem continues to grow and evolve. Numerous projects are on the cusp of launching their mainnet or enhancing the overall experience. More competition and collaboration in this industry will benefit both developers and users globally. 

Creating A More Competitive Landscape

Whereas many people think cryptocurrencies and blockchains don't extend beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, the reality is very different. Despite their popularity, both of these prominent ecosystems have shortcomings that need to be addressed or overcome. That hasn't proven easy, although it is also an opportunity for alternative projects to make their impact on this buzzing industry.

With so many new projects looking to launch their mainnet for the first time, there's ample excitement in the industry. Up-and-coming mainnet launches tend to get users and investors excited. It is a crucial milestone for a project that is in development to bring its existing technology to a broader audience.

For existing projects, upgrades of their existing technology are equally essential. Several teams of developers will be introducing crucial upgrades to their existing ecosystem in the months to come. All of these upgrades and launches will make the crypto and blockchain ecosystem more competitive and appealing.  

Radix 

Radix is building a layer-one network specifically for the DeFi market. The first version of the Radix Public Network will be launching at the end of Q2'2021. Radix released betanet to the public on April 28 2021, marking the start of their vision of supporting a multi-trillion dollar DeFi market. With over $22.7m in financial backing, the team has been able to build an ecosystem using the novel Cerberus consensus algorithm.

The Cerberus consensus algorithm is at the core of Radix's technology, using a highly sharded network to provide theoretically unlimited linear scalability when fully deployed. Combined with the Radix Engine and novel Scrypto programming language, the components of Radix's purpose built DeFi development environment, and their system of on-ledger developer royalties system, Radix aims to be the only decentralized network where developers will be able to build quickly without the constant threat of exploits and hacks, where every improvement will get rewarded, and where scale will never be a bottleneck.

Uniswap V3

As the biggest decentralized exchange on the market today, Uniswap is a household name most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are familiar with. Come May 5, 2021, the developers will release the third iteration of this decentralized exchange to the public. It will feature various upgrades, although the scalable Optimism L2 deployment will happen at a later date. 

The big upgrade to look forward to is the introduction of Concentrated Liquidity positions. Every liquidity provider has full control over the price ranges they want to provide liquidity for. Choosing this option will not reduce fees earned by LPs, yet it provides a way of keeping the portfolio in desired assets longer. A welcome upgrade for those who are active users of this decentralized exchange.

Theta Mainnet 3.0

Although the Theta developers had to push the mainnet 3.0 launch back from April 21 to June 30, there is still ample excitement regarding this upcoming upgrade. With the introduction of TFUEL staking and burning, the native asset will have more appeal. This approach adds a cost for using the Theta edge network to balance against the new TFuel supply. 

The second major upgrade of the mainnet 3.0 launch is the Elite Edge Nodes enabling Uptime mining. It is a big step toward tokenizing internet bandwidth and availability. Elite Edge Node operators can earn TFuel tokens from staking and enabling higher network performance. 

NEO Mainnet 3.0

Many crypto projects constantly evolve and upgrade their infrastructure and technology. For Neo, the main objective is to introduce a native oracle network to enhance existing and future smart contracts on this blockchain. More importantly, the Neo Foundation and Neo Global Development will foster new products and solutions by reliable teams. 

Another crucial aspect of this upcoming upgrade is the introduction of governance. Allowing community members to have a say in matters about proposals and improvements is essential. A total of 21 members will make up the committee, with community members being eligible to run for most seats.  The NEO Mainnet 3.0 launch will occur in late September 2021.

Reef Finance

As a network position itself as the blockchain for next-gen decentralized finance applications, Reef Finance has high expectations to live up to. Its mainnet - the Reef Chain - will go live in late May 2021 and will feature full EMV compatibility for developers willing to port applications from Ethereum. According to the blog post, several developers have already committed to porting their code over. 

The main selling point is how Reef Chain - built on Substrate - will offer high throughput, security, and low fees. For DApps, the option to aggregate liquidity from multiple sources will prove beneficial. Additionally, the ecosystem will provide multiple levels of support for teams building on this mainnet and those who seek out funding. 

There is a lot to look forward to for fans of the cryptocurrency projects mentioned above. Many projects are either dipping their toe into the world of technology for the first time, whereas others are beefing up their ecosystems to remain competitive. The cryptocurrency industry is very competitive, and both existing and upcoming projects need to keep stepping up their game.

Developers can unlock a lot of use cases with the help of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Experimenting with the different options and expanding upon concepts that have proven to attract attention will make it easier for onlookers to become part of these ecosystems.