In this article, we will cover five different blockchain projects which have generated ample proof of the high quality of their leadership. We tried to keep this list filled with functional, value-creating projects that you will find worthy of your attention.
The criteria for selecting them is based on the following list of factors:
- Community
- Leadership
- Business Model
- Userbase
- Not in an ICO stage
- Practical
- Usable
- Unique blockchain implementations
You can expect a short introduction into the projects, together with links to their websites, where you can learn more about them if discovery made you curious. With all this being said, let’s have a look at the first one.
1. DAI
With the fall of Tether from grace, investors, enthusiasts, and experienced cryptocurrency experts are looking for the next stablecoin to succeed USDT in its role. And they don’t have to look further than this article to find it. DAI, a product coming from the Ethereum based MakerDAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization).
It’s a volatile-free cryptocurrency that has a 0% fiat involvement in it’s structure, and only uses USD as a reference. The entire issuance of DAI is 100% backed by ETH collateral, which once deposited is generated through a smart contract and issued to the individual instantly. This creates a direct method for you to evade the volatility of cryptocurrencies which are not regulated by themselves, unlike DAI which has internal management mechanisms. We’ve covered the cryptocurrency in an article before, which is also a great read.
2. CROWN
With a founding team mostly originating from the Czech Republic, the name instantly makes sense to anybody that’s visited this country in the European Union. Their local currency, the crown.
But CROWN is not limited to the Czech Republic. In fact, it is a global community that strives to make the world a better place and help individuals improve their life through the use of blockchain technology. This fully decentralized project stems from Bitcoin. Created through a fork on which significant amount of energy has been invested into further development of the blockchain.
It uses incentivized nodes to secure the platform, with every user having a say in how the development progresses, and even what decisions are being made globally. This world wide community has created a self-sustainable blockchain platform that uses a percentage of it’s own currency to fuel the growth and development of itself.
3. Counterparty
We’ve already reviewed this project in the past where we clearly describe the consensus mechanism behind it. It uses the Bitcoin blockchain to validate its own transactions. More than just a cryptocurrency, it is also a platform for others to build their own tokens upon. Not quite as popular as Ethereum for these reasons, but it is still a very interesting implementation of blockchain technology.
It actually predates Ethereum, which is interesting and makes us think. Where did ETH founder Vitalik Buterin get his inspiration from? It might be from this project, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. Counterparty is still here and alive, it just doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
Oh, by the way, if you are a developer looking for a job, there are often job postings found on the Counterparty forums. It might be a great way to either learn new skills or use the ones you already have.
4. Golem
The world’s first decentralized computer. It leverages users spare computing power to render 3D scenes for requestors. Compatible with leading graphics software Blender, and that’s just the first use case. The team is working strong to continue developing into other areas that require significant amounts of computing power, such as machine learning.
The main point of this project is to provide a real scenario where companies or individuals can leverage the available computing power around the world in a practical and easy manner. This project can be used by movie/animation companies, game developers, and even real estate projectors or architects. These professionals can leverage the processing power and apply it to their own projects at the lowest possible cost, in a completely transparent way, right now.
5. ARK
Essentially the EOS of the past, ARK has already implemented a version of the dPoS consensus mechanism that uses community selected delegates to validate transactions. Users stake coins to provide the network with security and they get rewarded for their confidence.
ARK is here on this list because of their team and the quality and dedication of the delegates. Their system is open-sourced and there is no direct company leading the project or its development. It is 100% community sourced goodness, which is a great invention of the 21st century.
Currently the development team is creating a 2.0 version of ARK which is supposed to further increase the capabilities of the platform. It has the ability to host different tokens i.e. people like you and me can create their own cryptocurrency on top of the ARK blockchain.
Conclusion
The main reason we created this list is to inform the general public and educate enthusiasts and beginners about relatively unknown projects. As you’ve just discovered, there are many other projects that deserve your attention. ICOs are really interesting, and we all love to guess how far a project will go based on their website or community.
At the same, it’s amusingly fun to see how projects have developed over the course of years. It is difficult to say whether or not there are any patterns to success for ICOs, but one thing is for certain. They need a working business model that solves real, tangible issues for people.
Without a practical application, the user base is limited and unmotivated to continue using the cryptocurrency or token. Conversely, a real problem solved is a blessing for projects which thrive on top of their own solution. More people join in, and that drives up the value of the token itself.
This is in itself a great motivator to invest in the projects you support. To involve yourself in their communities and to provide them with valuable input, feedback, or services. Of course, your time is limited, but there is always room to support a better world. Whatever you really care about, it will be reflected in the project you choose to support, if you support any at all.
What are your thoughts about the projects presented in this list? Did you know about them? Do you find them interesting and relevant? Were there any projects you were hoping to see on this list, but that haven’t been included?
Featured Image via Pexels.