A New Rival

Injective Protocol (INJ) is a layer 1 blockchain specifically aimed at WEB3, interoperability, and DeFi solutions. It appears that CoinGecko began tracking INJ during the tail end of 2020. Injective protocol enjoyed a significant rally during the 2021 bull market and managed to peak at $24.89, after rising from an all-time low of $0.65. INJ is available on numerous CEXs, as well as DEXs, and has a healthy trading volume of approximately $220 million.

The recent rally has not only brought about a significant price appreciation but has also managed to propel INJ into the Top 100. At the time of writing, INJ is ranked at number 74 and has a market cap of approximately $730 million. This is somewhat modest, especially when you consider that Avalanche has a market cap of approximately $7 billion, and is one of the smaller Layer 1s when it comes to market cap ranking.

To put things into perspective, Solana has a market cap of approximately $10 billion, while in the case of Cardano, it’s $15 billion. Provided, Injective Protocol continues to “wow” investors, a move into the Top 50 is highly likely. The Injective ecosystem is also growing rather rapidly and features some of the biggest names in Crypto.

POS Protocol

Injective Protocol is also a POS blockchain, in keeping with the typical layer 1 trend. Currently, there are more than 35 million INJ staked via the Injective Hub. The current APR is sitting at 16.35%, which is modestly higher than ATOM, which to my knowledge, offers one of the highest staking returns when it comes to layer 1 POS chains. Injective Protocol also has a weekly Burn Auction.

Injective Protocol burns 60% of all exchange fees each and every week. Staking delegation is a simple process via the Injective Hub and should be rather straightforward for anyone familiar with DeFi protocols. In terms of interacting with the protocol, INJ is compatible with Metamask, Ledger, Keplr, Trezor, and Torus. There are also a number of additional non-custodial wallets available, simply for custodial purposes.

Something that I have mentioned a few times over the past year or so, is the possibility of new layer 1s entering the marketplace, and becoming dominant players in the space. It’s quite possible that Injective Protocol is one such blockchain. If this is the case, INJ could easily move into the market cap bracket of billions.

Final Thoughts

Personally, I think the layer 1 space needs a bit of “new blood”, and am definitely going to be keeping an eye on Injective Protocol, especially in terms of partnerships and the overall growth of the ecosystem. If the Crypto market were to experience a sudden correction, INJ might be a good opportunity to consider. All the best, see you next time!