Bitcoin and Ethereum have held their positions as the top two proof-of-work cryptocurrencies for years. However, the cryptocurrency ecosystem has continued to rapidly expand, putting their positions at risk. There is a shift in the industry towards application-specific blockchains. In contrast to Bitcoin, which is designed to be a global currency, projects such as SiaCoin instead trade the right to store data. To address this …

What is NEO? NEO is a Chinese blockchain project out to build a decentralized economy. It runs on a dBFT protocol, a low-cost solution preventing network forks and providing finality for all transactions. Its smart contract and reward systems are backed by a secondary token, Gas. Nodes can execute smart contracts by trading in their Gas and all NEO token holders receive regular Gas payouts. …

Why Privacy? In the Bitcoin whitepaper, anonymous author Satoshi Nakamoto outlined the protocol for the World’s first cryptocurrency. He only briefly addressed the privacy issue of publishing all transactions (and consequently all account balances) on a public blockchain, proposing that all users create a new Bitcoin address for every transaction. However, Nakamoto’s proposal was impractical and only solved part of the privacy issue. There was …

Coinmama and Coinbase are cryptocurrency brokers. Instead of letting users buy and sell directly from each other like a traditional exchange, brokers profit from substantial mark-ups. Whilst the fees are higher, these brokers take out the trust risk associated with peer-to-peer exchanges and the complexity of traditional trading platforms. Coinbase is a giant in the brokerage market, and is a popular choice for casual investors. On …

Overview xCoins.io is a small peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange, but offers secured loans instead of direct Bitcoin payments. The platform is beginner-friendly, and their website handles the transaction all the way through. Conversely however, experienced traders will find the high fees and low minimums restrictive. Most xCoins traders use it as a loophole to buy cryptocurrency through PayPal. Location California, United States Founding year 2016 Fees Very high Lending …

The Need for Privacy Cryptocurrencies provide payment and wealth storage methods independent of centralised actors. Blockchain technology is revolutionary because networks founded on its theory are both decentralized and tamper-proof. Combined with a protocol such as proof of work, a cryptocurrency is formed. Proof of work requires computers to solve complex problems in return for the chance to choose the transactions in the next block. In …

Blockchains may have been conceived in the nineties, but it is only now that we are beginning to see potential applications. Progress in data storage, internet bandwidth and device connectivity opens possibility for online decentralized networks run on trust-less, transparent and verifiable blockchains. Ripple and Cardano are at the forefront of experimental industry decentralised applications (dApps), building their projects around the commercial demand for rigorous, …

Building a Smart Economy Blockchain technology could revolutionize power and control. From music rights to inter-bank transactions, the latest tech entrepreneurs have been trying to bring the blockchain’s benefits to industry applications. Building a blockchain from scratch is expensive and technically difficult, so Lisk and Ethereum provide developers with templates and existing infrastructure to kick-start their ideas. If our future truly is decentralized, then these …

What is Lisk? Lisk, in one sentence, is a cryptocurrency used by developers to make their own blockchain projects.  Some existing projects plan to revolutionise digital privacy, academic accreditation and music.  In comparison to its competitors, Lisk appeals to the wider developer market with an easy-to-use sidechain platform. Sidechains are blockchains backed by the Lisk mainchain, but use different tokens. Lisk tokens can be converted to sidechain tokens, so …

The Case for DigiByte Cryptocurrencies were designed to take every positive attribute of a currency possible, and put them together. DigiByte, is an attempt to build a fast, stable and scalable network to facilitate use of DigiByte as a cryptocurrency, as well as a myriad of other projects being built with its blockchain. In order to achieve this goal, the largest coins make miners try …