Decentralized applications (dapps)

Ethereum-powered tools and services

Dapps are a growing movement of applications that use Ethereum to disrupt business models or invent new ones.

Explore dapps
What are dapps?

Get started

To try a dapp, you'll need a wallet and some ETH. A wallet will allow you to connect, or log in. And you'll need ETH to pay any transaction fees. What are transaction fees?

1. Get some ETH

Dapp actions cost a transaction fee

2. Set up a wallet

A wallet is your “login” for a dapp

3. Ready?

Choose a dapp to try out

Beginner friendly

A few dapps that are good for beginners. Explore more dapps below.

Uniswap

Swap your tokens with ease. A community favourite that allows you to trade tokens with folks across the network.

finance

Open Uniswap(opens in a new tab)

OpenSea

Buy, sell, discover, and trade limited-edition goods.

collectibles

Open OpenSea(opens in a new tab)

Gods Unchained

Strategic trading card game. Earn cards by playing that you can sell in real life.

gaming

Open Gods Unchained(opens in a new tab)

Ethereum Name Service

User-friendly names for Ethereum addresses and decentralized sites.

social

Open Ethereum Name Service(opens in a new tab)

Explore dapps

A lot of dapps are still experimental, testing the possibilties of decentralized networks. But there have been some successful early movers in the technology, financial, gaming and collectibles categories.

Choose category

Decentralized finance

These are applications that focus on building out financial services using cryptocurrencies. They offer the likes of lending, borrowing, earning interest, and private payments – no personal data required.

Always do your own research

Ethereum is a new technology and most applications are new. Before depositing any large quantities of money, make sure you understand the risks.

Lending and borrowing

Aave
Lend your tokens to earn interest and withdraw any time.
Goto Aave website(opens in a new tab)
Compound
Lend your tokens to earn interest and withdraw any time.
Goto Compound website(opens in a new tab)
Oasis
Trade, borrow, and save with Dai, an Ethereum stablecoin.
Goto Oasis website(opens in a new tab)
PWN
Easy loans backed by any token or NFTs on Ethereum.
Goto PWN website(opens in a new tab)
Yearn
Yearn Finance is a yield aggregator. Giving individuals, DAOs and other protocols a way to deposit digital assets and receive yield.
Goto Yearn website(opens in a new tab)
Convex
Convex allows Curve liquidity providers to earn trading fees and claim boosted CRV without locking their CRV.
Goto Convex website(opens in a new tab)

Exchanges

Uniswap
Swap tokens simply or provide tokens for % rewards.
Goto Uniswap website(opens in a new tab)
Loopring
Peer-to-peer trading platform built for speed.
Goto Loopring website(opens in a new tab)
Balancer
Balancer is an automated portfolio manager and trading platform.
Goto Balancer website(opens in a new tab)
Curve
Curve is a dex focused on stablecoins
Goto Curve website(opens in a new tab)
DODO
DODO is a on-chain liquidity provider, which leverages the Proactive Market Maker algorithm (PMM)
Goto DODO website(opens in a new tab)

Demand aggregators

KyberSwap
Swap and earn at the best rates.
Goto KyberSwap website(opens in a new tab)
Matcha
Searches multiple exchanges to help find you the best prices.
Goto Matcha website(opens in a new tab)
1inch
Helps you avoid high price slippage by aggregating best prices.
Goto 1inch website(opens in a new tab)

Bridges

Multichain
The ultimate Router for web3. It is an infrastructure developed for arbitrary cross-chain interactions.
Goto Multichain website(opens in a new tab)
Rubic
Cross-Chain tech aggregator for users and dApps.
Goto Rubic website(opens in a new tab)

Investment funds

Token Sets
Crypto investment strategies that automatically rebalance.
Goto Token Sets website(opens in a new tab)
PoolTogether
A lottery you can't lose. Prizes every week.
Goto PoolTogether website(opens in a new tab)
Index Coop
A crypto index fund that gives your portfolio exposure to top DeFi tokens.
Goto Index Coop website(opens in a new tab)
Yearn
Yearn Finance is a yield aggregator. Giving individuals, DAOs and other protocols a way to deposit digital assets and receive yield.
Goto Yearn website(opens in a new tab)
Convex
Convex allows Curve liquidity providers to earn trading fees and claim boosted CRV without locking their CRV.
Goto Convex website(opens in a new tab)

Portfolio management

Zapper
Track your portfolio and use a range of DeFi products from one interface.
Goto Zapper website(opens in a new tab)
Zerion
Manage your portfolio and simply evaluate every single DeFi asset on the market.
Goto Zerion website(opens in a new tab)
Rotki
Open source portfolio tracking, analytics, accounting and tax reporting tool that respects your privacy.
Goto Rotki website(opens in a new tab)
Krystal
A one-stop platform to access all your favourite DeFi services.
Goto Krystal website(opens in a new tab)

Insurance

Nexus Mutual
Coverage without the insurance company. Get protected against smart contract bugs and hacks.
Goto Nexus Mutual website(opens in a new tab)
Etherisc
A decentralized insurance template anyone can use to create their own insurance coverage.
Goto Etherisc website(opens in a new tab)

Payments

Sablier
Stream money in real-time.
Goto Sablier website(opens in a new tab)

Crowdfunding

Gitcoin Grants
Crowdfunding for Ethereum community projects with amplified contributions
Goto Gitcoin Grants website(opens in a new tab)

Derivatives

Synthetix
Synthetix is a protocol for issuing and trading synthetic assets
Goto Synthetix website(opens in a new tab)

Liquid staking

Lido
Simplified and secure staking for digital assets.
Goto Lido website(opens in a new tab)
Ankr
Set of different Web3 infrastructure products for building, earning, gaming, and more — all on blockchain.
Goto Ankr website(opens in a new tab)

Prediction markets

Polymarket
Bet on outcomes. Trade on information markets.
Goto Polymarket website(opens in a new tab)
Augur
Bet on outcomes of sports, economics, and more world events.
Goto Augur website(opens in a new tab)
Synthetix
Synthetix is a protocol for issuing and trading synthetic assets
Goto Synthetix website(opens in a new tab)

The magic behind decentralized finance

What is it about Ethereum that allows decentalized finance applications to thrive?

Open access

Financial services running on Ethereum have no sign up requirements. If you have funds and an internet connection, you’re good to go.

A new token economy

There’s a whole world of tokens that you can interact with across these financial products. People are building new tokens on top of Ethereum all the time.

Stablecoins

Teams have built stablecoins – a less volatile cryptocurrency. These allow you to experiment and use crypto without the risk and uncertainty.

Interconnected financial services

Financial products in the Ethereum space are all modular and compatible with one another. New configurations of these modules are hitting the market all the time, increasing what you can do with your crypto.

The magic behind dapps

Dapps might feel like regular apps. But behind the scenes they have some special qualities because they inherit all of Ethereum’s superpowers. Here's what makes dapps different from apps.

What makes Ethereum great?

No owners

Once deployed to Ethereum, dapp code can’t be taken down. And anyone can use the dapp’s features. Even if the team behind the dapp disbanded you could still use it. Once on Ethereum, it stays there.

Free from censorship

Built-in payments

Plug and play

One anonymous login

Backed by cryptography

No down time

How dapps work

Dapps have their backend code (smart contracts) running on a decentralized network and not a centralized server. They use the Ethereum blockchain for data storage and smart contracts for their app logic.

A smart contract is like a set of rules that live on-chain for all to see and run exactly according to those rules. Imagine a vending machine: if you supply it with enough funds and the right selection, you'll get the item you want. And like vending machines, smart contracts can hold funds much like your Ethereum account. This allows code to mediate agreements and transactions.

Once dapps are deployed on the Ethereum network you can't change them. Dapps can be decentralized because they are controlled by the logic written into the contract, not an individual or a company.