The DappRadar platform has quickly become one of the most popular NFT and DeFi resources in the industry. Here, its CEO discusses how they got here, the benefits of the current bear market, and where they plan to go from here.
A number of decentralized applications use DappRadar as one of their most popular resources. With a peerless, actionable, and multichain data aggregator on a variety of NFT collections, dApps, DeFi projects, and so forth, DappRadar has become a popular destination for many in the industry.
During our interview with Skirmantas Januškas , CEO and co-founder of DappRadar, we discussed everything from the non-fungible token hype play-to-earn to DeFi, the ongoing bear market, and much more.
The Crypto ‘Aha!’ Moment: CryptoKitties
DappRadar was co-founded by Skirmantas and Dunica Dragos Valentin, but they knew each other for more than ten years before that.
Skirmantas used to do back-end development, while Dragos used to do front-end development. The two met online and started to work on “little projects” here and there. Things start to get interesting here.
Dragos kept urging me to do something with Bitcoin probably seven or eight years ago. His interest in Bitcoin was much earlier than my interest in crypto, in general. I had the same understanding of crypto during these few years as most people nowadays – I didn’t get it, it looked shady, I didn’t understand – so I didn’t touch it.
He said it took him probably four or five years to really understand the power of the blockchain since he first heard about it.
It happened with CryptoKitties – in 2017 – when they launched and saw high volume. Then, being a back-end developer, I decided I needed to learn more about smart contracts.
He described this moment as his “Aha!” moment – one that he described as “mindblowing.” From a very simplistic perspective, he imagined a straightforward yet powerful concept – fixing transparent verifiability in online poker.
Having clicked on the power and potential of blockchain, he and Dragos came up with the idea for DappRadar. They developed DappRadar’s first version and put it online within three to four days of conceiving it. He shared that they received over 5,000 new users overnight. Currently, they have a team of about 80 people, having hired 30 people this year alone.
NFTs Are Definitely Here to Stay
While interest, volume, and valuation in some of the most popular NFT projects have declined, Skirmantas remains positive about the industry as a whole.
Non-fungible tokens were also one of the biggest on-ramps to cryptocurrency in general, as they onboarded thousands of people in search of their next BAYC project. In spite of the fact that many of them got burned, Skirmantas argues that this was a big deal for the industry as a whole.
There is a big difference between those who joined because of NFTs versus those who joined because of SHIB and other coins – when you want to buy SHIB, you buy it on a centralized exchange, using fiat, with no connection to blockchain at all. The reason for this is that your tokens are all listed on a spreadsheet with Binance.
NFTs, on the other hand, require you to have a wallet, to put some crypto in it, and to learn how to use MetaMask – that was a massive opportunity for the market.
According to him, one of the biggest challenges is lack of information and education, which is why mass adoption hasn’t yet taken place.
‘We Kind of Like the Bear Market’
The elephant in the room is the ongoing crypto winter as prices remain far below their highs. Talking about the similarities and the differences between the situation now and back in 2018, Skirmantas said:
Many people live in this state of “what bear market?” Prices are down, but what is the bear market?” narrative. I think that’s the main difference between 2018 and now.
As he shared, he joined the market when it was at its peak back in 2017 and 2018 and bought his first ETH at about $1,500. Talking about the current situation, he revealed that it doesn’t affect us and that:
“To some extent, we even like it because it brings some clarity to the industry. Projects that are hyped and without any backing are pushed away. As soon as these projects are done, we get to focus on projects that are really valuable.”
Additionally, the CEO said they are still hiring, unlike some distressed companies.
Watch the entire video above to find out what he thinks about what could spark a new bull run, his overall outlook on the future of the industry, and what DappRadar has in store for its users!
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