The ether (ETH) price may not have neared its previous all-time highs in 2019, yet in many ways the year was Ethereum’s biggest to date. The stars are lining up for the reigning smart contracts platform to take even bigger strides forward in 2020.

That’s because several major threads are coming together for the project in the months ahead, not least among them being the start of the high-profile “Serenity” upgrade that will evolve its blockchain in numerous ways.

Other major developments that have been swelling around Ethereum lately include the growing popularity of its top decentralized finance apps and a surge in the creation of decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, toward various ends.

In serving as a strong foundation for “money legos” innovation for several years now, Ethereum has reached a point where the dApp projects building atop it have plenty of great resources to rely on and thus more and more are iterating and releasing new products and services at an incredible pace.

It looks like the genie has been let out of the bottle, in other words. All the robust activity going on around Ethereum, all the things worth knowing or using, can be difficult to keep up with.

As such, we’ve put together this list of Ethereum tools and resources that we think are key highlights heading into 2020. This list doesn’t have every project, of course, but the ones it does have are worth tracking for novices and veterans alike in the coming months.

Arts

The world’s art market may be “unrecognizable ten years from now,” according to artist and tokenized art collector Jason Bailey. And some of the big changes that are nearing will undoubtedly be driven by various technological trends.

One such trend to keep an eye on is the blooming of the “crypto art” sector, which Ethereum is already dominating. Artists of all stripes are using various techniques to turn their pieces into digitally scarce non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on Ethereum.

The possibilities are wide open. Some of the bigger projects that are already making those possibilities happen today, and are poised to continue doing so in the year ahead, include:

SuperRare – NFT art marketplace

– NFT art marketplace CryptoVoxels – Virtual world where NFT art can be showcased; its “plots” are tokenized real estate

– Virtual world where NFT art can be showcased; its “plots” are tokenized real estate KnownOrigin – NFT art marketplace

– NFT art marketplace MakersPlace – NFT art marketplace

Building

The Ethereum community has many extremely gifted developers and entrepreneurs, and for most of them building is a way of life. And what’s so cool about Ethereum is that it’s open to anyone and even Solidity newcomers can get the hang of building on the platform in relatively short order.

Accordingly, there are lots of really helpful tools out there that anyone can use to make building a dApp or a related business that much easier. Some of the best of these resources in 2020 include:

Remix – a popular integrated development environment (IDE) for Ethereum

– a popular integrated development environment (IDE) for Ethereum Truffle – a smart contract development and testing framework

– a smart contract development and testing framework Ganache – part of Truffle, a “personal blockchain” for Ethereum development

– part of Truffle, a “personal blockchain” for Ethereum development Gitcoin – a fantastic portal that, among other things, can be used to crowdfund open-source funding

– a fantastic portal that, among other things, can be used to crowdfund open-source funding Gnosis Safe – an excellent, highly-securable Ethereum wallet that is ideal for business or dApp treasuries

– an excellent, highly-securable Ethereum wallet that is ideal for business or dApp treasuries IPFS – decentralized file storage solution

– decentralized file storage solution OpenLaw – building legal tools of great interest to Ethereum community and beyond

– building legal tools of great interest to Ethereum community and beyond Ethereum Name Service – every dApp needs a name, and accordingly every dApp’s main smart contract could benefit from an official ENS name, too

– every dApp needs a name, and accordingly every dApp’s main smart contract could benefit from an official ENS name, too Solc – a Solidity compiler

– a Solidity compiler Fuel Labs – scaling wizards that have one of Ethereum’s most interesting projects right now

– scaling wizards that have one of Ethereum’s most interesting projects right now Geth – a popular client for Ethereum written in Go

– a popular client for Ethereum written in Go ETH Gas Station – a great resource for all things having to do with figuring out gas prices on Ethereum

Collectibles & Games

Beyond art, NFT-powered games and collectibles are two other fields that have major potential for growth.

Maybe Ethereum ultimately succeeds, maybe it eventually fails, but there’s no question that the smart contracts platform is dominating the cryptoeconomy’s games and collectibles arena for now. Here are some of the top projects in this space to watch this year:

Axie Infinity – play-to-earn NFT game with adorable, breedable monsters

– play-to-earn NFT game with adorable, breedable monsters Decentraland – a virtual world whose tokenized plots can be customized

– a virtual world whose tokenized plots can be customized MyCryptoHeroes – a role-playing game on Ethereum

– a role-playing game on Ethereum GodsUnchained – the “first real-world-tradable digital” trading card game

– the “first real-world-tradable digital” trading card game OpenSea – a marketplace for all things NFT

– a marketplace for all things NFT Rocket – an under-collateralized loan project that uses NFTs as collateral

DAOs

DAOs made a major comeback in 2019, and their resurgence is only set to continue in the new year and beyond.

Look for last year’s mainstays to become even bigger decentralized institutions, and look for new groups to rise and experiment with these novel organizations. The efforts we’re tracking for the foreseeable future include:

MolochDAO – focused on Ethereum development funding

– focused on Ethereum development funding MetaCartel & MetaCartel Ventures – working with and boosting Ethereum dApps

– working with and boosting Ethereum dApps MarketingDAO – a new effort set to promote Ethereum’s value to the world

– a new effort set to promote Ethereum’s value to the world LexDAO – crypto legal DAO and resources

– crypto legal DAO and resources DAOHaus – helps you find, join, or create DAOs

– helps you find, join, or create DAOs TheLAO – a for-profit limited liability autonomous organization

DeFi

The DeFi sector is Ethereum’s biggest advantage and success today, and it’s not hard to see why. Giving people anywhere in the world access to powerful financial tools, all without the need for permission or paperwork.

There’s still plenty of work to be done, but the potential is big, and 2020 could be another breakout year for the space. Our projects to watch include:

Maker – the largest crypto lending project and DeFi dApp

– the largest crypto lending project and DeFi dApp Compound – major “money lego” crypto lending platform

– major “money lego” crypto lending platform Uniswap – the darling decentralized exchange of DeFi

– the darling decentralized exchange of DeFi TokenSets – automated tokenized trading strategies

– automated tokenized trading strategies Synthetix – for creating on-chain synthetic assets

– for creating on-chain synthetic assets RealT – tokenized real estate platform

– tokenized real estate platform PoolTogether – “no-loss” lottery dApp

– “no-loss” lottery dApp Kyber Network – a popular DEX with good liquidity

– a popular DEX with good liquidity UMA Protocol – synthetic assets project

– synthetic assets project Augur – decentralized predictions marketplace

– decentralized predictions marketplace Chainlink – the decentralized oracles maestros of DeFi

Research & Analysis

There’s no shortage of research and analyses to dig through in the Ethereum community. But some great starting points for anyone are listed below:

Etherscan – the bellwether Ethereum block explorer

– the bellwether Ethereum block explorer EthHub – an Ethereum information portal with a wide variety of educational materials

– an Ethereum information portal with a wide variety of educational materials DeFi Pulse – a great analytics portal for the top DeFi projects

– a great analytics portal for the top DeFi projects DaiStats – offers key real-time data around the Dai stablecoin and MKR token

– offers key real-time data around the Dai stablecoin and MKR token Bankless – an easily digestible DeFi newsletter – an easily digestible DeFi newsletter

The Defiant – a newsletter that covers key Ethereum developments

Social

Let’s say you’re a member of the Ethereum community and want to dive in a little deeper. The resources below are some solid social-focused projects that are good for jumping right in.

Status – private and secure communications on Ethereum

– private and secure communications on Ethereum Cent – an Ethereum social network

– an Ethereum social network Peepeth – Ethereum’s on-chain answer to Twitter

– Ethereum’s on-chain answer to Twitter 3Box – the “shared backend for Web3”

Wallets

There are loads of wallets out there. Many of them suffice. But there are a few standouts worth your attention this year if you plan on interacting with the Ethereum blockchain a lot:

Argent – the future of Ethereum wallets; highly secure – the future of Ethereum wallets; highly secure

MetaMask – the gold standard for readily interacting with Ethereum dApps right now

– the gold standard for readily interacting with Ethereum dApps right now MyCrypto – an excellent web wallet for any Ethereum user

Ethereum Rising

Just a quick glance through the aforementioned list shows that the Ethereum ecosystem is ascending, in multiple ways.

Ethereum isn’t singular, in that sense. It’s many things. It can be used for many things. And 2020 could be the year in which the smart contracts platform reaches escape velocity where adoption is concerned.