æternity is a public, open-source blockchain protocol that enables a platform for next-generation decentralized applications with high scalability. Its core components are written in the functional programming language Erlang and its smart contract language - Sophia - is also functional. æternity has a stellar team of developers including Robert Virding - co-creator of Erlang, John Hughes - co-designer of Haskell, and Ulf Norell - co-designer of the Agda programming language for formal verification. Unlike other blockchain platforms, the æternity protocol itself incorporates a number of essential technological features. State channels for off-chain scaling, oracles for real-world information, and a naming system for increased user-friendliness are all implemented on Layer 1. æternity also features SDKs in Javascript, GO, Phyton, Java, as well as a middleware and a development suite that streamline smart contract development. æternity incorporates the Bitcoin-NG consensus algorithm developed by academics from Cornell University and uses the Cuckoo Cycle mining algorithm for Sybil attack protection. AE tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the æternity platform, is used for both - an economic unit of account and as ballots in the community-driven on-chain governance votes.
Bitcore is a cryptocurrency that is a hybrid fork of Bitcoin. Although hard forks are heard of, a lot of people only know of Bitcoin hard forks such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold; instead, a few people know of Bitcore or hybrid forks. Using Bitcoin’s source code and technology, Bitcore created a new blockchain altogether; it made sure that the blockchain size is smaller, the scalability is better. Furthermore, block times are faster than Bitcoin’s while making mining ASIC resistant as well. Bitcore is not that different from Bitcoin as of now. In fact, it is rather inferior to Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies; it has no utility at the time of writing this. It’s only an investment prospect for those who believe the coin will kick on soon and reach great heights. The reason why one would want to invest in Bitcore is that of its unique practices. Bitcore created a new blockchain on November 2, 2017. It took a snapshot of the Bitcoin transaction and created 5 million transactions to fill all the public addresses belonging to people owning 0.01 BTC or more. The funding ratio is 0.5 BTX: 1.0 BTC, but if you had bitcoins at the time of the snapshot, then you can request your share of BTX at a 1:1 conversion until October 30. Bitcore is the first cryptocurrency to be a hybrid fork. But it is more than just a hybrid fork. It has tried to improve on Bitcoin and solve the issues that plague it. For instance, Bitcore uses timetravel10 consensus algorithm which is resistant to ASICs. This means that centralization of mining power is not possible as the playfield is levelled and everyone has an equal opportunity more or less. Moreover, Bitcore has 10 MB Segwit enabled blocks that make the network capable of handling 17.6 billion transactions a year or 48 million transactions per day. Bitcore is a cryptocurrency that has a lot of promise but nothing to show for as of now. Those investing in it believe that it will grow into a major force soon. But even after weekly airdrops, the user base is limited. Handling 46 million transactions per day won’t matter if there aren’t many people to use it. The development team’s efforts will go a long way into ensuring that more people start using BTX. A wallet that is on the way can help change things a little; however, Bitcore’s long-term future might depend on whether it can offer something different or not.