Blockchain basics, part four. What’s out there? A rundown of existing blockchain projects.
Introduction
For part 4 of our blockchain basics guide, we’ll be looking at projects outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum, discussing their features and purpose.
Many terms used in this article will have been explained in previous articles, so please make sure to read them beforehand if you’re interested in learning about Blockchain!
Blockchain basics part 1.
Blockchain basics part 2.
Blockchain basics part 3.
I’ve chosen six popular blockchain projects that are within the top 50 as per market capital (as listed on CoinMarketCap). I tried to choose coins that are very different in their aims, structure, and popularity in order to demonstrate the wide range cryptocurrencies cover and to provide a rounded view of the world of blockchain.
BNB, Binance Coin
We’ve discussed Binance before in Blockchain basics part 2, where we talked about centralized exchanges. Binance was created in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao. Originating in China, it spread globally and is the largest crypto exchange in the world by activity [1]. It offers various financial services related to cryptocurrencies, part of which involves its native token, BNB. BNB allows users to pay fees on the platform at a discounted rate. It can also be used to pay for fees on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC, released 2020), a chain that allows developers to create their own smart contracts. This is particularly attractive for token creators who want to pay fewer fees than Ethereum.
SOL, Solana
Solana was created in 2019 by Anatoly Yakovenko and his team. Anatoly himself has worked in tech for decades and led the development of the VR/AR functionality of Qualcomm phones.
Solana boasts smart contract functionality and a high TPS (approx. 65,000 transactions per second, or the same as Visa[2]). SOL is a decentralized project and utilizes PoS (Proof of Stake) for its validation. Recently, SOL has seen a boost of popularity due to its ability to create NFTs cheaply compared to Ethereum, which has both a high price and high gas fee due to its demand. It competes with BSC for token creation but has recently started narrowing down this gap. [3]
XMR, Monero
Monero was created in 2014 by Nicolas van Saberhagen. The main draw for XMR is its privacy, users can anonymously conduct transactions with each other and keep their identity hidden throughout.
XMR is similar to Bitcoin in that it has a maximum amount that can ever be generated and costs resources to obtain through ‘mining’. This has led to its comparison with gold, which also is finite in its supply and costs to mine from the ground. There is divided opinion on whether this is a fair comparison, but for those interested, more information can be found here.
The downsides of XMR are rooted in its strengths. The privacy it provides makes it a gateway for illegal activity as transactions can’t be traced. It’ll be interesting to see how the situation progresses, as the arguments for both sides have merit.
LINK, Chainlink
Chainlink was created by Sergey Nazarov in 2017. Its core idea is to provide oracles (a service that connects smart contracts with the outside world/other chains) to act as a bridge for different blockchains to work together, envisioning a world where multiple blockchains exist together, rather than a single chain dominating the rest of the competition. The popularity of Bitcoin and Ethereum has meant its full potential is yet to be seen but with the growth of the other chains listed in the article, who knows what could happen in the next few years. Oracles will be vital for mass adoption due to their ability to connect existing infrastructure with cryptocurrency systems and will act as the backbone for a blockchain-integrated future.
DOT, Polkadot
Polkadot was created in 2017 by Gavin Wood. It features a parachain system, where blockchains are universally linked to one another, regardless of the role they provide. This allows a system of distinct but interoperable chains that work both together and independently to create a highly functioning efficient single system. DOT is used as the fuel for these different blockchains, meaning it can be used for all kinds of services within the parachain system.
ADA, Cardano
Created by Charles Hoskinson starting 2015 and released in 2017, Cardano (ADA) was built as the “next-generation blockchain” over Ethereum. Charles himself was a core member of the Ethereum team and Cardano was his next project [4]. It provides higher transaction speeds, less fees, and various other tools for developers to use (such as the online identity kit “Atala PRISM”) that Ethereum lacks. Its downside is mainly due to being beaten to the post in almost every way by Ethereum. It only recently introduced smart contracts and there is little activity on-chain when compared to Ethereum. This could change as more and more developers move to the platform, something that ETH’s gas fees have accelerated, but could also see competition from projects such as Solana.
Thanks for reading through the 4th part of the series.
There are so many other projects out there, with more being added every day. Blockchain is far from being a fully fleshed out sector and I’m sure there are still some exciting developments to be had. The idea of blockchain being used in relation to other fields such as AI and data science is still in its infancy, which is why we’re currently developing a blockchain system for our platform and will be releasing our native token, BGR (bitgrit token) in the coming months.
For more information, please check our token page on our website, found here.
Be sure to also check out our new competition in association with NASA, NIH, NCATS and NCBI through the link below!
https://bitgrit.net/competition/13
References:
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binance
[2]: https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/a-quick-overview-and-comparison-solana-and-bsc
[3]: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/solana-ethereum-rival-price-rising-bitcoin-000139765.html
[4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hoskinson
