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
Shift is cryptocurrency that was launched in August 2015 based on Ethereum by a group of cryptocurrency enthusiast. Shift Storage Cluster - The default state of the IPFS infrastructure is represented as a globally shared network. This can lead to problems when it comes to verifying data integrity, availability, and custom implementation details such as earning token rewards for running a storage node. For this reason, Shift runs a private swarm. The storage nodes use a custom swarm key to ensure that they can only talk to other nodes using the same key. This also prevents Shift nodes being used to host and deliver content that was added outside of the Shift network which should improve reliability and performance. In order to store data permanently, IPFS implements a concept called pinning. Pinning content means that the content will be available permanently (or until it is unpinned). By default the pinning only applies to a single peer that it is pinned to, but that means if that machine goes offline, the content can be lost. The way around this is by using an IPFS cluster: a subnet (or private net) running the IPFS daemon, containing only Shift peers. The Shift cluster runs as a wrapper around the IPFS daemon. It allows the end user to connect a group of IPFS nodes together so that content can be stored and replicated within the group. The cluster elects a leader to be in charge of keeping track of which content is available in which locations. Shift is meant to disrupt the web hosting industry. The company has created Phantom which is a decentralized app to host websites. It does so through the Shift IPFS rather than the normal way a website is hosted. By using this ‘killer dApp’, the company is of the opinion that a business gets a chance of succeeding in the current competitive world. Because Shift is an open-source platform, developers of dApps are free to use the company’s script. This is made even easier by the fact that Shift Company has used Javascript which is popular language among dApp developers. According to the company, every dApp created using the Shift script can access the IPFS cluster to store data. This will be made possible by the use of a P2P hypermedia distribution protocol, an interplanetary file system which the company created. Even though the Shift has been around since 2015, the team only released the whitepaper on March the 5th 2018. The whitepaper is a bit technical but well detailed. Remember that the crypto is built with dApps developers in mind. It might not be a very good investment opportunity for a person who doesn’t understand dApps and Javascript. But at the end of the day, it is a volatile crypto which is one of the most important features to look for as a trader.