Here is the difference between a dApp and a protocol (in the blockchain)

A dapper is not a protocol and I prefer to tell you right away because it is a confusion that I hear very often and that I can happen to make if I speak too quickly.

La DeFi is still a new discipline and it is normal that the terms are not yet very clear and understandable by everyone.

Let's use a metaphor to make this simpler, okay?

You know, we use the term "protocol" very often in the Internet domain. So, we talk about SMTP protocols, HTTP for example to talk about email protocols or hypertext transfer protocols. That's for protocols, okay.

At the same time, we have services like Facebook or Linkedin for example. To complete the metaphor, tell yourself that Facebook would be an application, a dApp therefore, like those we have on Ethereum.

Note: Just as on the Internet, applications have more "value" than protocols, on the blockchain, which serves as a protocol of sorts, more "value" than the applications that rely on it.

Likewise, it is technically and scientifically much more difficult and complex to build a blockchain protocol than to create a dApp. Moreover, the way dAPPs can work technically are even thought out and designed upstream on the protocol code.

The companies of dapper also often prove to be more profitable because the technical risk is lower. They don't have to think about a computer program or even manage operations. Companies that create applications use the protocols built for them for free, without having made the initial effort to create the protocol which therefore serves as support.

Basically, remember that there is really a world, if not a gap, between a team that creates a decentralized application and one that will create a blockchain protocol.

For example, take DEXs for example like Uniswap. It is much easier to manage and create than having to create the protocol Ethereum. It's undeniable. And, don't forget that Dapps often have open source codes, this is also what explains why there are so many clones in the DEX, Besides.

The vast majority of services that you discover on the blockchain are dApps and heavy projects like Ethereum, Cardano (ADA) or, Avalanche) conversely are protocols.

Please note:

There is also a very common phenomenon where a company will first simply create a dApp at the beginning and will subsequently build a suitable protocol. This was the case, for example, of Kardia Chain, which initially started as an ERC-20 token before creating its own protocol.

Before investing personally, I always ask myself whether I am dealing with a dApp or a protocol. This to me is the first obvious thing to know before I start doing more in-depth research.

Final word on the difference between protocols and Dapps.

To avoid burdening yourself, tell yourself that a protocol brings together a set of rules that will govern a blockchain or Dapps. It is in the protocol that important decisions regarding the general infrastructure of the project are recorded. While the protocol will define the rules of operations, it is the blockchain which will carry them out.

Fundamentally, protocols are the foundations of the blockchain and are often the first layer on which Dapps are built. They can also be the basis of other protocols on other layers of type layer 2 for example.

Decentralized applications are built on protocols and do not require specific coding. We can define three main families of Dapp:

1 Type: dApps that have their own blockchain. Ethereum and Bitcoin are perfect examples of type 1 dApps.
2 Type: dApps that use an existing blockchain and protocol on top of which they build their own protocol and tokens. We can think of Omni Layer, the protocol built on the Bitcoin blockchain.
3 Type: dApps that are built on a Type 2 dApp (an application that runs on a protocol that runs on a blockchain). For example, SAFE Network uses Omni, which runs on Bitcoin. Likewise, DEXs are very often type 3 dApps.

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