A Quick Look at 7 Promising New DeFi Projects from the Solana Hackathon
With recent “value discoveries” from projects like Raydium, Kamino, and Drift, Solana’s DeFi ecosystem has taken the spotlight in the market.
Over the past three years, Solana hackathons have drawn more than 60,000 developers and produced over 4,000 projects, raising more than $600 million in total funding. This has led to the rise of notable projects like Jito, Tensor, io.net, Marinade, and Solend.
In search of the next big Solana success story, here’s a breakdown of some of the top DeFi projects from the latest Solana hackathon, Solana Radar.
The DeFi landscape is full of hidden gems, and here’s a list of the top seven projects that show great promise:
1. Neutral Trade
Created by a team of experienced quantitative experts and traders, Neutral Trade offers sophisticated strategies that are accessible to all users. One of its most popular strategies, “Super SOL Staking,” provides an impressive annual yield of up to 37% by leveraging Drift and Jupiter’s JLP protocol.
2. Watt Protocol
A first-of-its-kind on Solana, Watt Protocol is a volatility mining protocol that utilizes diverse strategies to generate returns on staked assets. This protocol allows users to stake any token—such as popcat or retardio—and earn returns from it. Though not yet launched, it’s one to keep an eye on for its unique approach.
3. Titan
Positioned as a direct competitor to Jupiter, Titan has raised $3.5 million and claims to offer better exchange rates. Testing indicates that Titan can provide a more optimal swap route 81% of the time, potentially making it a go-to option once it goes live on the mainnet.
4. Oro
Oro offers a unique tokenized gold solution with an annual yield of 4%, making it an appealing asset for use in the Solana DeFi ecosystem. Oro is compliant with regulations and has established partnerships with leading gold suppliers, providing a reliable on-chain gold investment option.
5. Hylo
Hylo introduces a new generation of SOL-backed stablecoins and could become a key player on Solana. The project includes two tokens: hyUSD, a stablecoin, and xSOL, a tokenized leveraged SOL position. The synergy between these two tokens offers an innovative DeFi solution with attractive potential.
6. Squeeze
Squeeze is one of the most creative ideas within the memecoin/DeFi space. It allows initial token liquidity to be borrowed as soon as a new token launches, enabling both long and short positions from the start. This opens the door to short squeezes on small-cap tokens—a unique addition to the market.
7. Moose Capital
Moving beyond tokenized gold, Moose Capital brings real-world assets (RWAs) like stocks and bonds onto the blockchain. Moose enables users to purchase traditional financial assets within a single app and tokenize them for use in DeFi. With regulatory clearance, Moose is poised to bridge traditional finance and DeFi.
Other intriguing projects, such as Reflect.cx, BulkTrade, Robotter.ai, and The Arena, also show promise but are not covered in depth here. Be sure to explore these projects further to uncover more hidden gems.