Let’s face the truth: whenever we do something for money, we want our reward as quickly as possible. The same goes for the crypto niche — long-term investing is a decent strategy, but it means putting off earnings for an unknown period. This isn’t always a good fit for our financial goals.
For those who don’t like to wait long, short-term trading and predictions market are an indispensable alternative. In 2024, a growing number of decentralized apps allow general and skilled users to make fast trades — and, if luck favors, gain quick profits.
“HODL strong,” crypto enthusiasts say when convincing you not to sell a tumbling token — believing it will grow in the long run. This strategy is reasonable to some extent: the more the price swings, the higher the potential gain from a given cryptocurrency. But will it ultimately bring returns?
People invest in major assets and diversify their portfolios to mitigate risks and maximize earnings. Yet, no one really knows what the profit will be or when it will come. Crypto investing is nowhere near a bank deposit, where you can put your money in and receive a fixed, almost 100% predictable interest rate. The level of risk in crypto is much higher. With rewards often significantly delayed, this strategy doesn’t suit everyone.
Short-term trading serves as an alternative to millions of users who prefer quicker gains. Also known as day or swing trading, it is all about buying and selling assets rapidly to make a profit from small price changes. In crypto, these trades can happen in minutes or hours — and since the market runs 24/7, you can trade any time of day.
Quick trades have been possible on centralized exchanges ever since crypto started to exist. Today, we’re seeing the rise of decentralized apps — platforms that don’t hold user funds and let them trade using smart contracts. These run automatically without human involvement, creating a transparent environment that inspires trust.
Some short-term trading DApps are designed for experienced users — they mimic the functionality of centralized exchanges, allowing you to set different types of orders, track asset prices in real time, and more. For example, dYdX is a decentralized derivatives trading platform where you can profit from price swings on over 140 cryptocurrencies.
Another type of platforms offers engaging mechanics for a broader audience. Some of them aren't directly related to trading. For example, Polymarket has gained significant popularity ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections — it lets users bet crypto on the outcome of various events, from the presidential race to the content of public OpenAI announcements or Elon Musk's tweets.
One app that has garnered particular attention recently is UPvsDOWN — a Bitcoin prediction game developed by Playnance, a platform known for merging the world of GameFi and trading. In this app, users can predict whether the Bitcoin price will go up or down within a short timeframe, allowing them to profit even from small price movements.
To start playing, users don’t even need to have their own crypto wallet — registration is possible through social media, and the game creates a new wallet automatically. The gameplay is utterly simple: users join the Up pool if they think Bitcoin's price will rise in the next 30 seconds, or the Down pool if they believe the opposite. Then, they choose an amount to bet, from $5 to $1000, and the round begins. If the user joins the Up pool and the price goes up, they win — and vice versa.
Before a new round starts, winners receive their rewards directly in their wallets — automatically through smart contracts. Instant payouts are made in USDP, a stablecoin used in Playblock, the gaming ecosystem created by Playnance. All transactions run without any network fees — users don’t need to pay anything for gas. The negligible fees are fully covered by Playblock: the blockchain leverages the account abstraction technology to remove the hassle of wallet management and gas fees, making the experience as smooth as traditional gaming.
Playblock is an example of how blockchain evolves today. For a long time, the need to pay gas fees, manually sign transactions, and other blockchain-related hurdles ruined the user experience and created barriers to the mainstream adoption of blockchain games. Ecosystems like Playblock are now removing these obstacles, showcasing a gasless blockchain solution and making Web3 gaming accessible to millions of crypto novices.
Short-term trading through DApps like UPvsDown or dYdX offers a way to predict market movements and profit from the volatility of crypto. With quick trades, users can see the impact of their decisions almost instantly — which is a great alternative for long-term trading and an option for those looking to engage with the market without waiting for distant returns.