Author of the original text: Stacy Muur
Original text translation: Baihua Blockchain
My toolbox contains dozens of tools that help me distill market insights, analyze protocols, and validate market data assumptions. You may be familiar with some of them, such as defillama, TokenTerminal, or Dune. However, there are many tools that are specifically tailored for certain tasks.
In this article, I want to introduce you to 50 outstanding research tools.
I have categorized the tools based on their mission and highlighted the best use case for each. Some versatile protocols may appear multiple times, so please keep scrolling to find the mission you are currently interested in.
Let's discover some new tools together and elevate your research capabilities!
1. Fundamentals
Fundamental research is the process of analyzing a project to understand its core value, appeal, and potential. It focuses on key aspects such as product appeal, Token economics, funding, and community.
The goal is to determine whether a project has long-term growth potential by observing these factors, rather than just following market hype.
Product Metrics
Here is a list of the main tools I use to research product metrics, including TVL (Total Value Locked), active users, Token holders, cross-chain net inflows, trading volume, revenue dynamics, and financial data, as well as tools to assess the competitive landscape.
TokenTerminal currently tracks data for over 400 mature protocols, providing one of the most comprehensive sets of analysis metrics. It also offers powerful tools for identifying data trends in Web3 and changes in fundamentals and market attention, whether general or filtered by specific parameters or categories.
defillama closely follows, covering over 3,000 protocols. If I can't find a protocol on TokenTerminal, I turn to defillama, which provides crucial data on TVL, trading volume, and Token metrics. It also facilitates comparing competing protocols and reveals power distributions within specific categories or blockchain ecosystems.
Next is Dune, which provides comprehensive dashboards for most Web3 protocols, outlining their fundamental information.
Tip: If you can't find specific data on Dune, check Footprint Analytics. Their designs are very similar, and Footprint may have unique data that Dune lacks.
The ZKsync Era dashboard on Footprint Analytics
For researching Ethereum Layer 2, L2 Beat is likely the best tool, providing comprehensive data on the state of Ethereum rollups. For Bitcoin Layer 2, Bitcoin Layers is the closest equivalent to L2 Beat.
Nansen is another powerful on-chain analysis tool, covering over 35 networks and nearly 400 protocols. It allows users to track various aspects of networks, Tokens, and Non-Fungible Tokens, and even monitor the activities of investors and traders. The main downside is that most data requires a subscription to access.
Artemis is a blockchain data science platform that monitors key metrics for various projects, including financial, economic, and social indicators. It also provides statistics specific to certain Web3 domains and has a dedicated section to track developer activity.
2. Releases and News
Messari is a very unique tool that I frequently use here. In addition to providing basic fundamental data, its unique strength lies in aggregating the latest updates and news, and offering dedicated research reports. It is one of the few paid research tools I use.
Aptos: Latest news dashboard on Messari.
CryptoPanic is a news aggregation and portfolio tracking platform aimed at serving traders and crypto enthusiasts. It highlights the impact of various events on the market and prices. The website allows users to track crypto-related news as well as broader market news to assess the potential impact of these events on asset prices and investor sentiment.
CoinMarketCal is a cryptocurrency economic calendar that allows users to track key market events. Stay up-to-date on new coin listings, the start of trading on new platforms, NFT collection releases, and major events and conferences.
Coindar is another calendar tool for tracking projects, assets, and Web3 space events. Similar to CoinMarketCal, it also allows users to view the dates of various macro events related to a project or Token.
Web3 alerts is a portal aimed at receiving data and notifications about significant Web3 events. The platform allows users to track the launch of new projects and related events. Investors and venture capitalists can subscribe to receive timely notifications.
3. Funding
Many platforms provide funding data, with defillama being one of the most popular. Here are some other platforms I frequently use to discover funding data.
CryptoRank is an analysis platform aimed at tracking various data, including Token, fund, and project metrics. It allows users to monitor the funding rounds of individual projects, focus on top IDOs and ICOs, and discover current crypto airdrops. Additionally, the platform provides lists of ongoing and potential airdrops, with tasks and detailed guides, as well as data on Token unlocks.
CypherHunter is a comprehensive database, similar to LinkedIn, designed specifically for the crypto world. It aggregates data on blockchain projects, individuals involved in the crypto space, and recent funding rounds.
Crunchbase is a website that tracks detailed project information, including funding rounds, key investors, and total funds raised. It also provides insights into employees, activities, and potential contacts (to connect with founders).
Crypto Fundraising is a valuable resource that tracks the latest funding rounds, events, and news. It provides information on projects that may not yet be covered by other analysis platforms. The website also offers simple and convenient lists of funding, investors, and their contact information.
4. Token Economics
Token Unlocks is a service for tracking Token unlocks and Token economics data. The platform allows users to filter projects and Tokens, making it easier to analyze their potential. It also monitors Token economics data and upcoming supply unlocks.
CoinBrain is an analysis platform that provides on-chain and off-chain data. It offers filtering features to help users search for newly created Tokens. The platform also includes lists of new Tokens, Tokens with upcoming unlocks, and search functionality across various categories.
5. Project Discovery
Many of the tools mentioned earlier are also useful for protocol discovery and narrative filtering. However, there are some unique multi-purpose dashboards that can help assess the current market condition and uncover new investment ideas.
ChainBroker is a service aimed at tracking various financial metrics for networks and Tokens. It allows users to analyze market conditions, investor activity, and platform engagement. The website also provides heatmaps in certain categories, providing a visual assessment of the potential of networks and assets over a period or at a specific time.
Protocol dashboard on ChainBroker
DYOR is another great platform for tracking the pulse of DeFi, providing a range of leaderboard dashboards sorted by specific on-chain metrics.
Moni Discover is a unique tool that leverages social attention trends to help you identify new early-stage opportunities, from meme coins to infrastructure projects.
6. Trading
This category can be divided into three directions: social and copy-trading, meme coin trading, and market analysis.
1) Social Trading
AlphaScan monitors the sentiment of specific Tokens and tracks their mentions on X, showing the frequency on a given date. It also reveals the potential profits that could be earned by following the recommendations of key opinion leaders (KOLs). This information helps assess the trading potential of certain bloggers and communities, and measure the level of hype around certain assets.
Cielo is a platform aimed at monitoring top traders' trades and extracting market insights. It provides the necessary notifications and insights to allow users to track other traders' wallets and apply those strategies for copy-trading.
Scopescan, previously known as Watchers, is the first product that leverages the 0x Scope knowledge graph. This on-chain data analysis platform can create real-time entity profiles with significant connections. It provides comprehensive data on wallet activity, lists projects and tokens ranked by activity and TVL (Total Value Locked), as well as insights into fund flows and smart money signals.
Alphanomics is a multi-functional service that helps you discover real-time decentralized exchange (DEX) on-chain trades, keeping you up-to-date on current trends. It helps users obtain real-time insights to uncover new asymmetric opportunities, track the strategies of the smartest traders and wallets, and see how they manage their portfolios.
Smart money DEX flow data on Alphanomics
2) MEME Coin Trading
The two most popular platforms for finding MEME coins and other newly created trading pairs are DexScreener and DEXTools. These platforms can help you find the best price, liquidity, and activity for specific trading pairs, as well as track wallet activity.
To track potential malicious functions in smart contracts, I recommend using Honeypot (supports Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base), De.Fi, and SolidityScan.
3) Market Analysis
TradingView is the leading platform used by global traders, known for its charts displaying trading data for thousands of assets across multiple trading platforms. You can customize charts in various formats, add personal notes, and seamlessly compare assets.
CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap are among the most commonly used platforms for tracking market data. Additionally, these two platforms provide valuable research centers.
BlockchainCenter is a platform that provides various visualized charts and metrics to help track and compare network data. It allows users to assess market conditions, asset status, and the dominance of specific coins. The platform's standout feature is its visualized charts, which even novice traders can easily grasp the current market trends.
Bitcoin Rainbow Price Chart on BlockchainCenter
Glassnode empowers traders and investors to anticipate key trends and inflection points impacting digital assets. The platform focuses on advanced blockchain and market data, providing unique insights into capital flows, asset fundamentals, and Web3 blue-chip market sentiment. It offers a range of economic, financial, and network metrics, as well as research and reports on industry conditions.
Coinglass is a comprehensive platform for tracking the financial state of various markets. It monitors the crypto market and other assets, including liquidations, long and short positions, and options trading. Coinglass is well-suited for professional traders.
CryptoBubbles provides a unique service by presenting a market map in the form of bubbles. Here, you can visually track changes in market trading volume, identify which cryptocurrencies are rising or falling in price, see who holds a certain proportion of assets, and observe their dynamics.
CryptoQuant is a powerful community-driven market data research platform that provides rich insights from the CryptoQuant team and users.
MarketCapOf allows you to estimate the price of a cryptocurrency if it shared the market capitalization of another cryptocurrency. For example, if Ethereum had the same market cap as Bitcoin, its price would be around $10,000.
7. Passive Yields
Discovering and managing the best passive investment pools can be challenging. Here are some tools that can help you find and manage these investments.
Revert is a comprehensive explorer and user interface for Uniswap V2, V3, and Sushiswap's AMM liquidity providers. It helps investors track investment efficiency and analyze data.
Other platforms specifically focused on finding good passive yield opportunities include De.Fi and defillama.
8. Airdrops
Although the hype around airdrops is not as high as it was a year ago, they still remain a source of passive income for many users. I mentioned CryptoRank's toolkit earlier for discovering airdrops. Here are some platforms you can use as an airdrop hunter.
1) Airdrop Hunters
DropsTab is a multi-functional tool for tracking your portfolio, analyzing the market, and discovering new airdrops. Its wide range of features allows it to replace multiple analysis tools simultaneously.
Bankless provides a service for tracking airdrops and promising projects. It helps users select projects to participate in and allows them to check for any unclaimed airdrops associated with their wallet addresses.
Alpha Drops is a convenient platform for tracking airdrops across various Web3 domains. It provides user-friendly filters that allow you to select projects by sector. Each project page offers details on available tasks, funding metrics, and project stages, whether they are in testnet or mainnet.
Potential Airdrop tags on Alpha Drops
AirdropsAlert is a website that aggregates current and upcoming Token airdrops, providing detailed descriptions of the steps required to participate. You can sort airdrops by various criteria, including whether KYC is required.
2) Portfolio Tracking
Tracking a diversified portfolio across multiple chains, assets, and pools can be challenging. The following tools will be very helpful for your daily investment management.
DeBank is a platform for tracking portfolios and checking wallets. It allows you to monitor all assets in your wallet, track transaction history, and view historical net worth changes.
CoinStats is a portfolio tracking and analysis platform where users can monitor the status of assets across the entire market and view financial data from their wallets. It conveniently provides access to transaction histories across various networks, including the ability to identify fraudulent transactions targeting your addresses.
Arkham provides powerful tools that connect cryptocurrency activity to real-world individuals and institutions. The platform can track the operations of organizations, including large institutions and government entities.
3) Research
As a research enthusiast, I maintain a broad watchlist of companies that consistently publish valuable market research, focusing on macrotrends, narratives, or specific protocols. In addition to Messari, CryptoQuant, and Glassnode, here are some of my favorite research sources.
Delphi Digital is a research-driven firm with a global team dedicated to accelerating and enhancing the development of cryptocurrencies. It consists of three independent entities - research, lab, and venture capital - that share a common brand and mission.
Delphi's Featured Reports
Chainalysis is a leading blockchain analytics company that provides compliance and investigation tools for banks, crypto companies, and government agencies. It offers a suite of tools for transaction tracing, risk analysis, and data visualization.
