Blocknet (sometimes referred to as Block) is a decentralized, platform-as-a-service protocol that connects the nodes of different blockchains. As you probably know, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blockchains that currently exist, and this number is showing no signs of slowing down its growth anytime soon. Many of these chains, though, are unable to communicate and interact with each other, creating small groups of siloed ecosystems. And, the inability of these groups to work together is holding back the entire blockchain industry. To solve this problem, Blocknet is working to make blockchains interoperable, mobile, and modular. This enables different chains to provide microservices to each other in a peer-to-peer fashion at higher security, faster speeds, and more efficient scalability than today’s current options. Blocknet is aiming to be the “Internet of Blockchains” through inter-blockchain connective services. Simply put, Blocknet enables you to develop on one blockchain, Ethereum for example, but access the functionality of other chains, like NEO. The team is building the infrastructure using three core components that work together to provide three primary services for these inter-chain decentralized applications (dapps). The XBridge, a blockchain router, is the backbone of the Blocknet platform. It’s the first peer-to-peer protocol to connect nodes on different blockchains, allowing them to communicate with one another. Using the XBridge, you’ll not only be able to perform cross-chain atomic swaps, but you’ll also be able to transfer additional data and execute smart contracts across chains. Blocknet uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm with three types of nodes to maintain the network. Service nodes collect and distribute trade fees on the platform as well as prevent spamming and DDoS attacks. To run a service node, you need to hold at least 5,000 BLOCK and keep your node computer running at all times. The Blocknet team recommends that, if you plan to run a service node, you should also run multiple full node wallets of whichever coins you want to support. This maximizes the trading fees you receive. Staking nodes confirm network transactions. When running a staking node, you’ll receive 9-14% annual returns from block rewards as well as a portion of the trading fees. There’s no minimum BLOCK amount you need to keep in your wallet to receive these, but you need to keep the wallet running at all times. There’s limited information available on the Blocknet team. Dan Metcalf and Arlyn Culwick founded Blocknet in 2014 as a fork of PIVX. According to his LinkedIn page, Metcalf was a Bitcoin developer for 5 years as well as a Senior DevOps Engineer at Philips. Outside of Blocknet, Culwick is also the PR and Media Liaison for XCurrency. Blocknet launched the service nodes on their main net in September 2017, and on March 1st, 2018, the team will release the beta version of the DEX. The project has also partnered with the 0x protocol to add ERC20 token support on the platform. Blocknet is connecting the isolated blockchain systems that currently exist to create one, cohesive ecosystem. Through the platform’s XBridge, the team is building a blockchain Internet in which you can build dapps that utilize features from several different chains. Starting with a DEX, the project has a lot on its roadmap including a service delivery system for blockchains to provide and receive payment for providing functionality to other chains. This is a complex project, but Blocknet already has the partnerships in place (0x, Poloniex) to see it through to the end. Blocknet consists of the following coins: XCurrency, Stealth, SonicScrewdriver, Fibre, Librexcoin, APEXcoin, BitSwift, XCash, UtilityCoin
SingularityNET is a decentralized marketplace for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The business value of AI is becoming clearer each day; however, there’s a significant gap between the people developing AI tools (researchers and academics) and the businesses that want to use them. Most organizations need a more customized solution than what a single AI project can offer, and research projects oftentimes have trouble accessing a large enough data set to build effective machine learning. SingularityNET closes these gaps. The long-term vision of the SingulairtyNET team is to build a network of complex AI Agent interactions primarily using resources from the OpenCog Foundation. To look at this further, let’s check out their in-house built humanoid robot, Sophia. Sophia uses a combination of AI Agents that range from natural language processing to physical motor controls to operate. You tell Sophia to summarize a video that’s embedded in a webpage. To do this, Sophia sends a request to Agent A. Through its AI, Agent A knows that Agent B specializes in analyzing and transcribing video while Agent C specializes in summarizing text. Agent A pays Agent B and Agent C to perform these tasks while Sophia pays Agent A to coordinate. All the while, each Agent has updated their own AI with the network information gained from these tasks and combines it with their previous experiences and knowledge. Therefore, the collective AI of the system grows at a faster rate than any individual Agent. SingularityNET wants to build a decentralized protocol for creators and users of AI to interact with each other, to not only help individual projects benefit by leveraging the strengths of other AI systems that might handle certain tasks better, but ultimately to develop SingularityNET into a functioning AI system itself, with nodes on the network making their own decisions about how to connect services and proactively provide solutions to academic and business problems. Tokenizing the network creates an AI marketplace where AI developers and sellers can not only link with others who might assist in building more robust AI solutions, but also allow AI services and products to be bought and sold, creating revenue and establishing price points where none have existed before. The SingularityNET team boasts 50+ AI developers and 10+ PhDs. Dr. Ben Goertzel leads the group as CEO and Chief Scientist. He’s also the Chairman of the OpenCog Foundation and the Artificial General Intelligence Society, as well as the Chief Scientist at Hanson Robotics, the partner company helping bring SingularityNET to life. Dr. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics, serves as the Robotics Lead. Most famously, Hanson Robotics built Sophia, the most expressive humanoid robot to date. Sophia is also a proud member of the SingularityNET team. The team recently released the alpha version of the platform and is planning on launching a public beta sometime in the middle of 2018.