Bytecoin is the first cryptocurrency created with CryptoNote technology. Bytecoin allows users to make absolutely anonymous money transfers through the CryptoNote algorithm. CryptoNote uses CryptoNote ring signatures to provide anonymous transactions and allows you to sign a message on behalf of a group. The signature only proves the message was created by someone from the group, but all the possible signers are indistinguishable from each other. Even if outgoing transactions are untraceable, everyone may still be able to see the payments received and thus determine one's income. By using a variation of the Diffie-Hellman exchange protocol, a receiver has multiple unique one-time addresses derived from his single public key. After funds are sent to these addresses they can only be redeemed by the receiver; and it would be impossible to cross-link these payments. As a primarily peer-to-peer (p2p) payment system, Bytecoin has many of the same use-cases as Bitcoin. Created in 2012, Bytecoin is one of the earliest developed cryptocurrencies. Until recently, the team behind the coin has kept themselves anonymous. Now, though, they’ve opened up multiple communication channels, removed some layers of anonymity, and even built several local communities. Bitcoin’s PoW consensus algorithm heavily favors miners that use powerful GPU and ASIC machines over those trying to mine with CPUs. This causes the network to centralize around the more powerful miners. Bytecoin attempts to close the gap between these two classes of miners with a new algorithm, Egalitarian Proof-of-Work (PoW). Egalitarian PoW uses a version of skrypt, a proof of work function similar to the hashcash function used by Bitcoin. The difference between the two is that scrypt isn’t memory bound. Because of this, you can produce highly efficient CPU mining rigs. GPUs will always be about 10 times more effective, though. The Bytecoin project has been fairly fractured since its inception in July 2012. Previously, several isolated teams worked on the project without seemingly communicating with each other. This led to numerous forks and versions of the coin. In July 2017, the team decided to change their image and provide more transparency to the community. The team still remains pseudo-anonymous by only providing names and headshots on their webpage – no bios or social media links. But, it’s tough to expect more from a project that’s focused on privacy. The team has been busy at work refactoring their code and are planning to release a new public API on February 6, 2018. They’ll also be entering the Asian, Middle East, and African markets throughout 2018.
Emercoin (EMC) is an open-source cryptocurrency which originated from Bitcoin, Peercoin and Namecoin. Other than being a cryptocurrency, it is also a platform for secure distributed blockchain business services. The EMC coin is used for accessing the blockchain-based services provided by Emercoin. Emercoin inherits the reliability and security of Bitcoin, while at the same time adding more features to its own blockchain by leveraging several innovative technologies. The Emercoin blockchain has been specially designed to provide businesses with the secure blockchain services and also allow them to create their own decentralized apps. Emercoin was founded in the year 2013 by Eugene Shumilov who also serves as the chief executive officer of Emercoin. The Emercoin team also consists chief technical officer Oleg Khovayko, a cryptocurrency & financial expert and Stan Polozov a Blockchain Implementation Specialist. Emercoin is also backed by a decentralized team of nine advisors from across the world. Emercoin has been in the market since 2014, and its past trend in the cryptocurrency market shows that it has followed a steady and stable growth. Emercoin has scored many partnerships. Two of its major partners are Coca Cola and Microsoft. Some other partners are RedHat, LLoyd’s, Bitfury, Aspanta, Deloitte, Authorizers, Foundico, Anteko, etc. Emercoin has also been featured on some prominent media platforms such as Forbes, Digital Trends, Engadget, The Business Times, Aljazeera, Gadgets Now and others. With the sheer variety of services that the Emercoin platform makes available to its users, it would not be surprising to see this currency be viewed as a lucrative investment option by many novice as well as experienced investors in the near future. With the currency’s value currently hitting new highs, it can be said that many people are now beginning to see the true power and potential of this emerging blockchain. However, as is the case with all crypto assets, past performance should not be used to predict the future value of EMC.