Op-ed by Pepper, Head of Marketing & Growth, Alephium. The views expressed for this talk na him own and e no necessarily represent Alephium.
If you look well well, the longer you don dey for this space, the more hype cycles you go don see wey later burst and reality come show face as people eyes clear.
• Prediction markets industry blow last year and the money wey e peak reach like ~$60bn, plenti platforms make money wey reach around ~$10bn for revenues. But the matter wey dey for ground be say, most of the success wey happen, happen for centralised spaces. (The matter dey funny well well because this thing suppose happen for sector wey be decentralised).
• Decentralized Finance lending promise financial inclusion, but many times e lead to over collateralised silos, poor User Experience, oracle dependency, and even worse as people no expect.
• As for Decentralised Exchanges (DEXs), I dey see am say dem don mature well well as time pass, but many DEX still dey chase short-term liquidity mining instead of sustainable economics wey go last, plus other systemic problems.
From where I dey sit down dey look, too many corners of Web3 dey allow centralisation sneak come back, dem also dey reduce trust, hold back innovation, and undo plenty progressive work we don already dey established. Na why I dey knack hand for chest and dey very encouraged — even bullish if you wan put am like that — by the decentralised synergy wey dey happen between Alephium dApps.
Genuine Momentum During Bearish Downturn
For every Kalshi and Polymarket wey dey, we get Aura. For every semi-centralised lending platform wey dey for internet, we get Linx App. For every rushed-to-market DEX wey dey, we get Powfi. The fact say every quality dApp dey exist for Alephium na better news for the ecosystem. But the way wey the dApp carry converge for recent time na him be the main headline for me for here. Dem dey build one self-reinforcing loop wey dey decentralised, fast and economically aligned — something wey be like dream for people to see.
This one no be blind optimism from me. As Head of Marketing, I dey see everything well well from front seat for the ecosystem where I sit down, and na position wey I no dey take lightly. Recent milestones and achievements wey don tanga, dey address real-world problems, with better accessible lending, community-driven prediction resolution, and fee-generating trading all dey connect together into one better system.
For the previous articles wey I don write, I don criticise centralised, corporate-backed L1s wey I no believe say dem good for the industry or even the world (no matter wetin their billionaire backers dey plan). But wetin I believe be say Alephium dey position himself as responsible blueprint for Web3, where better utility dey drive adoption, no be speculation, VC money, random airdrops, or extractive campaigns.
Aura Farming
Make I start with Aura, wey be like say e dey solve the prediction industry resolution problem if you look am well well. Centralised oracles don always be problem for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) gon gonr — na the weak point for prediction markets be that, and a clear single point of failure for people wey wan manipulate the system. Polymarket, Kalshi, and plenti wey dey for ground still dey carry mind put for admin-controlled resolutions, which dey go against trustless system.
Aura, na decentralised prediction market protocol wey build ontop Alephium, e turn the oracle problem upside down and how e carry do am be say e bring community-incentivised resolution. Dem launch am for Public Testnet around late 2025, and e allow users create markets, trade outcomes wey commot, and settle predictions together using $AURA token incentives.
E smart, but e still dey realistic. No oracle dey perfect, so by decentralising resolution with bonded $AURA, dem dey reduce bias and increase resilience. If prediction market really grow waka reach over $100bn before end of this year wey we dey, Aura fit capture better share of the entire crypto market, and how e go carry do am be say e go focus on verifiability instead of speed.
No More Missing Linx
To support wetin Aura dey do, Linx don improve well well for this past few months wey waka pass. Wetin most people dey see na app wey fine well well with TVL wey dey grow and APYs wey dey attractive, but wetin I dey see na strong provider inside unstable lending market. Overcollateralisation and liquidation fear don push many normal users commot, and while collapse of big platforms for the market like Voyager, Celsius, and Three Arrows don scatter the trust of many DeFi users (including people like me).
Linx App don stand gidigba come become the main lending powerhouse for the ecosystem, e carry future plans for mind to become the super dApp wey go combine borrowing, earning, trading, looping, aggregation, and plenti more features — all inside one chainless experience. Users fit use their hand set custom loan terms, negotiate directly with customer, do trustless atomic swaps, and more. Plus, everything fit happen on mobile devices wey person fit carry dey waka.
As co-founder Radu been talk for X Space wey never too tay when e happen, Linx go later connect with Powfi to introduce looping strategies, which go bring more liquidity and increase activity for the chain. For end of March, dem go unlock up to 20m $LINX tokens, share am give their most users from Season 1 campaign wey full for ground well well (I dey for around #180-something, so I need serious step up my game). I happy say dem dey reward organic activity instead of random airdrop farming, that one the share fit no reach person hand — na sign of better economic alignment.
I no go sit down here dey talk say P2P lending no carry risk, or say liquidation no dey happen for volatile markets, but Linx try well well reduce am with transparent terms and cross-chain collateral bridges. Dem don reduce some of the silos wey dey affect multichain DeFi. And since with that waka, you no need dey jump chains before you use am, normal users go find am easier — this one go make Linx one of the best entry points for the ecosystem.
Powfi’s Adhesive Ability
By now, plenti people don understand the vision wey dey behind Powfi. E still dey Public Testnet, but e clear say e go become the main liquidity hub, with CLMM DEX and $ALPH staking dey develop into economic backbone. We don talk about this matter many times, but the goal no hard atall — grow the total TVL and become tool wey every dApp fit plug into.
We already carry for mind say users go: • stake $ALPH to get xALPH • trade ecosystem tokens with low slippage (like $LINX, $AURA, $EX, $ABX, and others) • earn from fees Everything about the Powfi design make better sense — from beginning to end — and na system wey benefit everybody. As I don always talk, this kind design important for long-term survival of any L1, and I believe say e go mark turning point for Alephium.
The Synergy in Real-Time
If you waka back look everything together, you fit or no fit immediately see the synergy, but trust me — dem dey work together smoothly pari-pasu. Part of am na hard work from the ecosystem team, and part na dApps wey realise say dem dey stronger when dem collaborate. As dem dey talk — rising tide dey lift all boats.
Make we imagine small: You borrow $USDT on Linx using $ALPH, use am trade prediction market. You win, collect $USDT, then stake am for Powfi — all without gas fee palava or war, this one na big thanks to scalable shards. You do am because the yield pass your loan cost. Or maybe you swap some winnings to $AURA then continue to dey play, and use the rest wey commot repay loan.
You win again, and this time you lend your profits on Linx to earn yield. Or you go even: • borrow $ALPH • stake am on Powfi for xALPH • stake again earn more $ALPH • repeat process (looping).
You go find the strategy wey fit your style as time dey go, by then you go don become customer for these platforms, and many other figure out your strategy in time, and you’ll become a regular on these platforms, and several other Alephium dApps wey full for ground.
With tools wey full for ground like Henry Coder and AlphLand (wey not too tay tay upgrade to full ecosystem hub with bounties and profiles), e now dey easier than ever to explore Alephium. You fit discover Elexium or Doh.Money and see how dem fit enter your strategy. Or you fit earn starting funds through bounties on AlphLand. Opportunities plenty well well and e yakpa for ground.
Final Thoughts — “Alephium Dey Perfect?”
No o. not atall.. That na even the beauty of am. Like any project wey strong well well, uncertainty dey. Alephium na challenger chain wey dey try prove say Proof of Work (POW) better for DeFi than Proof of Stake (POS) — and that one no easy walahi, especially with big EVM chains dominating. But Phase Two “Aligned Economics” plan don already dey show result, and 2026 fit be turning point.
TVL dey increase, developers dey active for ground. Recently, 7 new concept dApps come out from hackathon for France, plenty new DeFi grant applications enter, and plenti dApps dey public and private testnet. Not to mention games wey dey built on Alephium. More mature and impressive projects wey make sense dey come — some never even launch publicly yet.
The future dey look bullish, no be for just Alephium, but for Web3 builders wey serious. After 8 years for this industry, I don see plenti empty promises. But this one dey different. Substance gidigba for here. Na this kind secure and sustainable DeFi dey reward conviction instead of just hype wey full everywhere.
My mind dey tell me say crypto go soon recover. But my head still dey tell me say connected utility between platforms go be the main driver of that recovery.
This is a community-run blog for third-party contributors. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect the official Alephium project. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal or investment advice. Cryptocurrency carries risk and is highly volatile. Information may be incomplete or outdated. Always conduct your own research. We disclaim liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on this article.
