How to Develop a Crypto App: DeepDAO Case

Salomon Kisters

May 2, 2024

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Crypto app development is still a popular trend in the modern IT industry.

Frankly, at the moment crypto assets and blockchain technologies seem shady for some business owners. However, it is a bias, not a fact.

To make an informed choice on crypto app development, you have to learn the technology first. Thus, understanding how the blockchain and cryptocurrency work not only explains how to create a crypto exchange, but what technologies to choose for crypto app development.

Cryptocurrency Ledgers in a Nutshell

First things first, let’s discuss crypto wallets .

To make it simple, cryptocurrency wallets are similar to your online banking accounts: you have a certain amount of money on your credit card, and can easily transfer it to other accounts, or use them as a payment method. The only obvious difference at the moment is the type of assets, used for financial operations: cryptocurrency vs. virtual money.

Another distinction is that you can withdraw your money from a credit card at the nearest ATM, while cryptocurrency is exclusively digital. In other words, to withdraw money from a crypto wallet, you have to sell your virtual assets and then withdraw money from your bank account.

Just like with bank accounts, there are a few different types of crypto ledgers: cold wallets and hot wallets.

Cold wallets are similar to your physical credit card : it is a hardware-first approach, used to store your crypto keys on a special device offline. It is believed, that cold wallets are the safest way to store cryptocurrency.

Hot wallets, on the other hand, is a software solution, just like your mobile banking app. It is a software-based crypto ledger application. Crypto mobile app development and the creation of web-based crypto platforms are also considered hot wallets.

Also, there are custodial and non-custodial crypto ledgers.

To simplify it, a custodial wallet is a ready-made software solution, that can be easily integrated and operated thanks to API management methods. Non-custodial wallets are similar to crypto app development from scratch. Each has its pros and cons.

However, regardless of your choice between cold and hot crypto wallets, you will still need software applications to perform various cryptocurrency operations like transactions. It is possible to assume, that hot wallets are a preferred choice because they can combine a few functions at the same time: store and transfer digital assets. Yet, don’t forget, that they are not as secure, as cold ledgers in terms of storing crypto.

Crypto Exchange Core Features

The crypto exchange application is a platform for your cryptocurrency operations.

It can serve numerous purposes, depending on your goals. For instance, you can use it as new-age mobile banking to perform payments with cryptocurrency online, or even in some physical stores. Another popular use case for cryptocurrency applications - is an alternative to the online stock market, if you want to gain from investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other crypto coins.

Finally, you might consider crypto app development to create a decentralized autonomous organization , or simply DAO. It is a blockchain-based organization with collective ownership, driven by smart contracts under the hood.

Regardless of the chosen crypto app development approach, is it a hot crypto wallet, a platform for cryptocurrency exchange, DAO, or any other type of crypto app - there are a few common core features, you must learn.

Blockchain Explained

First, we have to define what is blockchain.

Blockchain is a must-have process for any cryptocurrency operation.

Blockchain is a database, that includes an ordered list(i.e. “chain”) of data blocks. These blocks of data are linked to each other with the use of cryptography and contain recorded information about the transaction, as well as a hash of the previous block, and a timestamp.

To make it simple, each crypto operation is a set of data. To perform them means to transfer data between databases. However, this data transfer is performed within a single huge database, i.e. blockchain.

All of the foregoing is the reason, why cryptocurrencies are considered so secure and protected. Fortunately, if you want to create a crypto exchange platform, you don’t need to create a new blockchain.

The short answer to the question “how to create a crypto exchange?” is:

• Learn what cryptocurrency is

• Choose integration type: open-source libraries, APIs, or cloud solutions.

• Define the core features of the crypto exchange platform

• Select the correct tech stack: it varies, depending on the nature of the platform(crypto mobile app development, a web-based app, desktop application, etc)

• Select preferred crypto assets for exchanges

• Ensure security policies

The foregoing crypto app development plan seems obvious and basic. Don’t be fooled. There are some specifics, which can be explained only with the use of an example. For illustration, let’s examine the DeepDao API case on how to manage big data .

Crypto App Development: DeepDao Case

One of the most important facts, you should know about cryptocurrency-related software - it has to manage big data and deal with masses of information.

To simplify, crypto assets are encrypted sets of data, while blockchain is a complicated database. Thus, all cryptocurrency exchange operations are mainly about storing or transferring data. The more operations are performed - the more data you have to deal with.

DeepDao is a platform and engine for DAO ecosystem discovery and analysis. Thus, one of the major tasks it has to perform - is to gather, analyze, and manage big data.

The bare minimum you need to make the foregoing possible - to master API management, and learn how to manage big data, especially gathering data, storing information, and sorting it.

In the case of the DeepDao API and platform, developers used several ready-made solutions.

API Management in DeepDao

First of all, you need to set up the processes of gathering open-source data on cryptocurrency and decentralized autonomous organizations, linked to blockchains.

It is possible to do it by coding from scratch. Still, why choose the hard way?

To automate the process of crawling data and enabling real-time updates of status, the development team decided to prioritize the API management process, while data crawling, sharing, and management are performed by software tools like Zerion API.

Apart from Zerion, developers used:

• DAOhaus API - for DAO-specific procedures

• Aragon API - for integrating certain DAO functionality

• Amberdata API - for real-time tracking of blockchain networks

• Covalent API - for transaction monitoring

The foregoing illustrates, that a) crypto app development is highly modular, and can significantly benefit from open-source tools and software solutions, and b) developing cryptocurrency platforms requires skills in API management.

How DeepDao API Manages Big Data

All previously mentioned APIs are used primarily to share or crawl various types of data and to update the status of various aspects in real-time.

Still, all these data blocks must be stored somewhere. To be more precise - not only stored, but easily accessed, and efficient.

In this case, software engineers decided to combine SQL and non-SQL databases. It is not the easiest task, yet results in great efficiency and performance. PostgreSQL was used as the main DB to store all sorts of data, while the performance is improved with the use of the neo4j database.

One of the biggest pitfalls was data transfer between databases. To do so, you have to:

• Set up APIs for gathering data from third parties

• Code loaders to transfer processed data to PostgreSQL

• Set algorithms to sort complex data and redirect certain arrays to the neo4j database for processing

• Ensure the process of transferring it back for the neo4j database to PostgreSQL.

All the foregoing is suited for any cryptocurrency exchange platform. And can significantly help with crypto app development. The only important thing left - is to deploy the payment gateway.

Fortunately, it is a relatively simple task. For instance, you can once again turn to third-party APIs. There are countless solutions like Stripe, ApplePay, etc. Using API is one of the easiest and fastest ways to integrate multiple payment options and methods.

How to Create a Crypto Exchange Application?

So, how to create a crypto exchange platform?

Long story short, crypto app development has only a few important specifics, that distinguish it from a regular software development process.

Cryptocurrency apps require using blockchain-based technologies, skills to use APIs, and integrating the best practices of managing big data. The rest aspects are similar to traditional application development.

For instance, you can hire a remote dedicated team for white-label software development. Alternatively, it is possible to develop such apps from scratch with the use of in-house teams.

Anyway, during crypto app development, you will face the need to integrate certain APIs or other third-party software solutions due to the nature of the cryptocurrency industry - all crypto assets are linked to each other via blockchain. So, your application must be connected to the global crypto ecosystem. Fortunately, numerous open-source software development kits like Coinbase SDK, BitcoinJ SDK, Blockchain.com API, and many others exist.

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