Ethereum is often regarded as so much more than just a simple P2P digital cash system, and for good reason, as the platform is also known for its smart contracts and dApps (short for decentralized applications). In fact, Ethereum currently hosts somewhere around 90% of all the world’s dApps and smart contracts.
An Ethereum dApp functions by meeting the following criteria: it has to be open source, decentralized, incentive, and able to generate tokens and has an in-built consensus mechanism. In short, a dApp has to have its source code made available for everyone to see, it has to use blockchain-specific technology, and it has to have its own digital assets for fueling itself.
The dApps from the list below don’t only follow the criteria above, but they are also the best in their specific field.
Ethlance
Ethlance is an innovative, Ethereum-based marketplace for job posting and hiring specifically aimed at freelancers. The most praise-worthy aspect of this platform is the fact that it is fully transparent (since it is on the blockchain) and that it charges no registration or contractual work fees or commissions. Better yet, the team behind the platform make it very clear that it will never take a cut from transactions between employers and freelancers.
The platform allows anyone to either become an employer and create jobs, invite freelancers, accept job proposals, and pay invoices in Ether or become a freelancer and apply for jobs, get hired, create invoices, and get paid in Ether.
LocalEthereum
LocalEthereum’s motto is “The smartest way to buy and sell ether.” Regardless of you agreeing or not, LocalEthereum is a valid alternative to the popular LocalBitcoins platform. The service in question allows its users to buy and sell Ether worldwide without any associated fees.
It’s currently available in over 130 countries and has a user base of well over 60,000 traders. LocalEthereum works by locking up a seller’s Ethereum until he or she can accurately confirm that they’ve received fiat currency from buyers. The accepted transfer methods include cash, bank transfer, PayPal, and others.
IDEX
IDEX is one of the most popular decentralized exchanges on the Ethereum network. IDEX is a dApp created by Aurora, a company that owns and still wants to develop various financial services. Since IDEX is built on the Ethereum network, it’s no surprise that the service focuses only on Ethereum and ERC-20 token trading.
One of the main advantages of IDEX is the fact that it can be used with MetaMask and even the popular crypto hardware wallet, the Ledger Nano S.
CryptoKitties
CryptoKitties is at the top of the popularity charts when it comes to Ethereum dApps. It’s a game that allows players to buy, sell, breed, and collect virtual cats. The role of the game, besides entertainment, is the allow users to collect and breed cryptokitties in order to grow their collection. The game requires users to spend part of their own Ether in order to improve the breed line.
The game becomes very renowned after it was responsible for one of the biggest congestions on the Ethereum network, pointing out the platform’s scalability weaknesses.
Aragon
Aragon is an ambitious project built on top of the Ethereum platform that aims to revolutionize the business management sector. The dApps’ main goal is to build and manage decentralized autonomous organizations known as DAOs. What’s most interesting about this project is the fact that its DAOs can be applied to any organization, company, non-profit or foundation creating global, bureaucracy-free organizations, companies, and communities.
Golem
There are many crypto enthusiasts out there that regard Golem as the “Airbnb of computers.” Be that as it may, Golem can be regarded as a decentralized marketplace for supercomputers. Users can sell the extra computing power in return for rewards paid in the platform’s native token, the GNT.
This harnessed power can then be used for projects and organizations that require a high output of computational power such as CGI rendering, machine learning, protein folding simulations, video transcoding, and photogrammetry reconstruction, to name a few.
Gnosis
Gnosis is the last Ethereum dApp on our list. It’s a prediction market platform that includes a multi-signature wallet and a Dutch exchange. As most prediction markets, Gnosis also takes advantage of the so-called “wisdom of the crowd.” The main idea behind this concept is that the collective prediction of a group of people is usually more accurate than that of an individual, regardless of his or her knowledge on the matter.
There are still a plenty of well-designed Ethereum-based dApps. Make sure you make a proper research prior to using them.
