Quant launched in June 2018 with the goal of connecting blockchains and networks on a global scale, without reducing the efficiency and interoperability of the network. It is the first project to solv ...e the interoperability problem through the creation of the first blockchain operating system.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Quant.
The project is built as an operating system distributed ledger technology— and Overledger Network — for connecting different blockchain networks. The project is billed as the first OS to be built for blockchains.
The main aim of Quant — using Overledger — is to bridge the gap that exists between different blockchains. The backbone of the project is the Overledger network, which Quant bills as the ecosystem on which the future digital economy ecosystem will be built.
Overledger allows developers to build decentralized multi-chain applications (known as MApps) for their customers. For developers to build a Mapp on the network, they must hold a certain amount of Quant tokens (QNT).
Who Are the Founders of Quant?
Gilbert Verdian, one of the founders of the Quant network, had the idea for the blockchain project while he was working in the healthcare sector. Verdian identified the importance of interoperability in ensuring that patients registered on different platforms are covered.
Verdian has over 20 years of industry experience in upgrading the security, technology and business strategies of businesses around the globe in order to achieve tangible results.
Prior to the Quant Network, Verdian served as the chief information security officer (CISO) of Vocalink, a Mastercard card company, the chief information officer of NSW Ambulance, the CISO of eHealth NSW, and the security lead of the Ministry of Justice, UK.
The second co-founder, Dr Paolo Tasca, is an entrepreneur, digital economist who specializes in distributed systems. Dr. Tasca has served as the special advisor on blockchain technologies for the EU Parliament, the United Nations and numerous central banks worldwide.
He is also co-author of several books on fintech and is the co-founder and governing board chair of Retail Blockchain Consortium. Show More
Chiliz is the leading digital currency for sports and entertainment by the eponymous Malta-based FinTech provider. It operates the blockchain-based sports entertainment platform Socios, which enables ...users to participate in the governance of their favorite sports brands. Multiple fan tokens by Socios.com are an example of that. For sports clubs and associations, fan tokens offer a way of connecting with their fans and unlocking new revenue streams.
For instance, fans can participate and influence club-related decisions through surveys and polls, such as messages the captain should wear on his armband. The company aims to bridge the gap between being an active and a passive fan. Chiliz has developed partnerships with some of the biggest sporting institutions in the world: FC Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus Turin, and Paris Saint-Germain. It also boasts partnerships with the UFC and gaming organizations. By purchasing CHZ, fans get access to various fan tokens and literally have a stake in their club. Show More
Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that functions as a platform for decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. It is one of Ethereum’s rivals, aiming to unseat Ethereum as the most ...popular blockchain for smart contracts. It aims to do so by having a higher transaction output of up to 6,500 transactions per second while not compromising scalability.
This is made possible by Avalanche’s unique architecture. The Avalanche network consists of three individual blockchains: the X-Chain, C-Chain and P-Chain. Each chain has a distinct purpose, which is radically different from the approach Bitcoin and Ethereum use, namely having all nodes validate all transactions. Avalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases.
After its mainnet launch in 2020, Avalanche has worked on developing its own ecosystem of DApps and DeFi. Different Ethereum-based projects such as SushiSwap and TrueUSD have integrated with Avalanche. Furthermore, the platform is constantly working on improving interoperability between its own ecosystem and Ethereum, like through the development of bridges.
Show More
Bitcoin Cash is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that aims to become sound global money with fast payments, micro fees, privacy, and high transaction capacity (big blocks). In the same way that p ...hysical money, such as a dollar bill, is handed directly to the person being paid, Bitcoin Cash payments are sent directly from one person to another.
As a permissionless, decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Cash requires no trusted third parties and no central bank. Unlike traditional fiat money, Bitcoin Cash does not depend on monetary middlemen such as banks and payment processors. Transactions cannot be censored by governments or other centralized corporations. Similarly, funds cannot be seized or frozen — because financial third parties have no control over the Bitcoin Cash network.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is an alternative to the oldest and most traded cryptocurrency - Bitcoin (BTC), only the BCH network is much faster and cheaper. In 2017, BCH developers modified the BTC code, releasing their own version of the software and a full-fledged competitive product, which split Bitcoin into two blockchains: Bitcoin / Bitcoin Cash, and consecutively, two assets - BTC / BCH. Bitcoin Cash is a clear result of a hard fork in blockchain. Moreover, another hard fork, which divided Bitcoin Cash into two parts: Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV, took place in the fall of 2018.
There are several distinctive features that separate BCH from the origin. The main one remains about the block size. Blocks in the BCH blockchain can be larger, which means that more transactions can be processed at a time, so that the additional space helps to avoid higher fees. However, since the potential block size is larger, storage & audit become more costly and users may find it troublesome to download a copy of the blockchain.
From the technical perspective, Bitcoin Cash is very similar to the Bitcoin algorithm, namely: both projects have a hard cap of 21 million coins, and also use Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus framework and nodes to verify transactions. Thus, traders can consider BCH as a hedging tool, investing in which may save them some risk.
On the plus side, due to the larger block size, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) works faster and has lower transaction fees, which makes BCH a better option for small everyday transactions. Furthermore, Bitcoin Cash supports smart contracts and ecosystem apps like CashShuffle, a coin mixing protocol, and CashFusion, a privacy-enhancing solution for the Bitcoin Cash network. These technologies have their pros and cons: thanks to CashFusion, it becomes extremely difficult to trace the path to the user's assets, however one should bear in mind that commissions are charged for each mixing, so making frequent mixed transactions may have a cost.
Bitcoin Cash provides a platform for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) payments between individuals, with the average transfer fee being as low as $0.01, and the settlement is instant. This means that Bitcoin Cash is suitable for money transfers, international trade, everyday transactions and microtransactions. In addition, Bitcoin Cash supports economic freedoms by providing an alternative form of money, protected against confiscation, any other forms of censorship and devaluation (due to inflation).
Bitcoin Cash is a decentralized network where users influence the development of the protocol. One key attribute is fixed in the code: the maximum supply of BCH is capped at 21 million coins, which is likely to remain so. Show More
VeChain (VET) is a versatile enterprise-grade L1 smart contract platform.
VeChain began in 2015 as a private consoritium chain, working with a host of enterprises to explore applications of blockch ...ain. VeChain would begin their transition to public blockchain in 2017 with the ERC-20 token VEN, before launching a mainnet of their own in 2018 using the ticker VET. Show More
Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. While the idea and initial work on th ...e project began in 2017, Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Solana.
The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app (DApp) creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.
Because of the innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike. A significant focus for the Solana Foundation is to make decentralized finance accessible on a larger scale. Show More
Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was designed to provide fast, secure and low-cost payments by leveraging the unique properties of blockchain technology.
To learn more about this project, ch ...eck out our deep dive of Litecoin.
The cryptocurrency was created based on the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol, but it differs in terms of the hashing algorithm used, hard cap, block transaction times and a few other factors. Litecoin has a block time of just 2.5 minutes and extremely low transaction fees, making it suitable for micro-transactions and point-of-sale payments.
Litecoin was released via an open-source client on GitHub on Oct. 7, 2011, and the Litecoin Network went live five days later on Oct. 13, 2011. Since then, it has exploded in both usage and acceptance among merchants and has counted among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization for most of its existence.
The cryptocurrency was created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, who intended Litecoin to be a "lite version of Bitcoin," in that it features many of the same properties as Bitcoin—albeit lighter in weight. Show More
Flow is a fast, decentralized, and developer-friendly blockchain, designed as the foundation for a new generation of games, apps, and the digital assets that power them. Flow is the only layer-one blo ...ckchain originally created by a team that has consistently delivered great consumer blockchain experiences: CryptoKitties, Dapper Wallet, NBA Top Shot. Show More
Cronos (CRO) is the native cryptocurrency token of Cronos Chain — a decentralized, open-source blockchain developed by the Crypto.com payment, trading and financial services company.
Cronos Chain ... is one of the products in Crypto.com’s lineup of solutions designed to accelerate the global adoption of cryptocurrencies as a means of increasing personal control over money, safeguarding user data and protecting users’ identities. The CRO blockchain serves primarily as a vehicle that powers the Crypto.com Pay mobile payments app.
In the future, Crypto.com plans to expand the reach of the CRO platform to power its other products as well.
CRO went live in November-December 2018. Show More
In a nutshell, Cosmos bills itself as a project that solves some of the “hardest problems” facing the blockchain industry. It aims to offer an antidote to “slow, expensive, unscalable and enviro ...nmentally harmful” proof-of-work protocols, like those used by Bitcoin, by offering an ecosystem of connected blockchains.
A Layer-0 of sorts. Show More
The Internet Computer blockchain incorporates a radical rethink of blockchain design, powered by innovations in cryptography. It provides the first “World Computer” blockchain that can be used to ...build almost any online system or service, including demanding web social media, without need for traditional IT such as cloud computing services. As such it can enable full end-to-end decentralization. Show More
Monero was launched in 2014, and its goal is simple: to allow transactions to take place privately and with anonymity. Even though it’s commonly thought that BTC can conceal a person’s identity, i ...t’s often easy to trace payments back to their original source because blockchains are transparent. On the other hand, XMR is designed to obscure senders and recipients alike through the use of advanced cryptography.
The team behind Monero say privacy and security are their biggest priorities, with ease of use and efficiency coming second. It aims to provide protection to all users — irrespective of how technologically competent they are.
Overall, XMR aims to allow payments to be made quickly and inexpensively without fear of censorship. Show More
Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient, all critical properties for effecti ...ve applications in the real world. Algorand will support computations that require reliable performance guarantees to create new forms of trust.
The Algorand mainnet became live in June 2019, and was able to handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand transaction metrics can be viewed here. Algorand initial coin offering (ICO) was held in June 2019, with the Algorand price of $2.4 per token.
Who Are the Founders of Algorand?
Silvio Micali is a professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the founder of Algorand. He is a recipient of the Turing Award (in 2012) for his fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of secure two-party computation, electronic cash, cryptocurrencies and blockchain protocols. This makes him one of the foremost creators of crypto in the world.
What Makes Algorand Unique?
Algorand was invented to speed up transactions and improve efficiency, in response to the slow transaction times of Bitcoin and other blockchains. Algorand is designed so that there are lower transaction fees, as well as no mining (like Bitcoin's energy-intensive process), as it is based on a permissionless pure proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain protocol. Show More
Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts. Through a decentralized oracle network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely intera ...ct with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.
The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Chainlink. Show More
Polygon (previously Matic Network) is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framew ...ork that supports building multiple types of applications.
To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Polygon Matic.
Using Polygon, one can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, stand alone chains or any other kind of infra required by the developer.
Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.
The $MATIC token will continue to exist and will play an increasingly important role, securing the system and enabling governance.
Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability on many blockchains.
Polygon combines the Plasma Framework and the proof-of-stake blockchain architecture. The Plasma framework used by Polygon as proposed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, allows for the easy execution of scalable and autonomous smart contracts.
Nothing will change for the existing ecosystem built on the Plasma-POS chain. With Polygon, new features are being built around the existing proven technology to expand the ability to cater to diverse needs from the developer ecosystem. Polygon will continue to develop the core technology so that it can scale to a larger ecosystem.
Polygon boasts of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain, along with a respectable block confirmation time of less than two seconds. The framework also allows for the creation of globally available decentralized financial applications on a single foundational blockchain.
The Plasma framework gives Polygon the potential of housing an unlimited number of decentralized applications on their infrastructure without experiencing the normal drawbacks common on proof-of-work blockchains. So far, Polygon has attracted more than 50 DApps to its PoS-secured Ethereum sidechain.
MATIC, the native tokens of Polygon, is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain. The tokens are used for payment services on Polygon and as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Polygon ecosystem. The transaction fees on Polygon sidechains are also paid in MATIC tokens. Show More
Cardano is a blockchain platform for changemakers, innovators, and visionaries, with the tools and technologies required to create possibility for the many, as well as the few, and bring about positiv ...e global change. Show More
ApeCoin is an ERC-20 governance and utility token used within the APE Ecosystem to empower and incentivize a decentralized community building at the forefront of web3.
ApeCoin holders govern themse ...lves via the decentralized governance framework controlling the ApeCoin DAO, and vote on how the ApeCoin DAO Ecosystem Fund should be used. The APE Foundation administers proposals agreed upon by ApeCoin holders. Show More
TRON (TRX) is a decentralized blockchain-based operating system developed by the Tron Foundation and launched in 2017. Originally TRX tokens were ERC-20-based tokens deployed on Ethereum, but a year l ...ater they were moved to their own network. Show More
