Altcoins with Strong Fundamentals (Part 2)

As of now, Arbitrum reigns as the largest L2 network in TVL. GMX, on the other hand, is the largest decentralized exchange in the Arbitrum ecosystem by the same metric. This paints an interesting picture and draws attention to this particular project.

GMX enables both spot trading and leverage derivatives trading. In addition to Arbitrum, the exchange extends support to the Avalanche blockchain. 

The platform's native token, GMX, plays multiple roles in governance, staking, and augmenting rewards. Upon staking GMX, you stand to earn a portion of the exchange's accrued fees. 

Emerging as a trend in 2023, liquid staking has garnered much attention, especially since Ethereum's spring upgrade. This update expanded the pool of stakeholders, though it requires a considerable commitment with a substantial lock-up of 32 ETH.

Liquid staking platforms present a solution to this hurdle, using liquidity even when it's locked. Frax Finance stands out among these platforms for its impressively high APRs. 

The native token of the project, Frax Shares (FXS), accumulates surplus value from collaterals, transaction fees, and seigniorage income. Beyond its financial benefits, it offers holders governance rights within the Frax Finance platform.

By the time you delve into this piece, the L2 network, Optimism, likely would have rolled out its Bedrock upgrade. This much-anticipated development brings along a host of positive transformations, including a significant cut in transaction fees and an uptick in blockchain efficiency. Given these advancements, it's advisable to turn your attention to projects birthed from the Optimism ecosystem, Synthetix being one such standout.

Synthetix is a decentralized liquidity protocol that facilitates the trading of synthetic assets. This protocol is tapped into by various platforms like Lyra, Kwenta, and Thales, among others.

Another influential cryptocurrency narrative in 2023 revolves around the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin NFTs, known as Ordinals, and BRC-20 tokens, have gained significant popularity. Consequently, it might be worthwhile to keep an eye on this emerging trend.

In contrast to Bitcoin Ordinals, there's another competitive solution that enhances the capabilities of Bitcoin's core network. This is the Stacks project, an L2 solution, that introduces the ability to implement smart contracts on Bitcoin.

STX is the native token of the Stacks blockchain that supports its operations. It is used to cover transaction fees and for stacking (note the distinct term, stacking not staking). When you engage in stacking, you are rewarded with Bitcoin.