Gifto as a network protocol, is a brainchild of Andy Tian, the co-founder and CEO of Asia Innovations Group (AIG). The team at AIG comprises of crypto-technology and blockchain enthusiasts. Andy saw potential in designing a decentralized network powered by the Ethereum blockchain to fix the current broken content monetization model with a better model. Most people introduced to the global content industry will identify the following problems with the current model: The Gifto network was launched in December 2017 and has been tested along with AIG’s flagship product, Uplive. Uplive is a live streaming mobile application with over 20 million users. An official Gifto report in February 2018, stated that Gifto featured in the top 10 traded cryptocurrencies by volume. The universal blockchain-based virtual gifting protocol has not only bridged the gap between content creators and the audience but has also introduced a way to acknowledge and reward the content creators. Besides monetizing decentralized content, it has revamped the modern creator-audience relationship. It has already received support from a number of large institutional investors including KPCB and Wicklow Capital. This can only be seen a positive for Gifto as it proves that the idea has been scrutinized and accepted by a fairly large number of people.
MonaCoin is an open source digital currency and a peer-to-peer (p2p) payment network. Dubbed by its creators as “the first Japanese cryptocurrency,” the coin has become somewhat of Japan’s national alternative to Bitcoin or Litecoin. Like its predecessors, the coin was created purely to serve as P2P electronic cash, a decentralized digital currency aimed at Japanese citizens. There are a few key differences that set it apart from the coins that came before it, and this guide is dedicated to drawing out these differences. Conceived in December of 2013, Monacoin was officially born on January 1st, 2014 with no premine. A Bitcoin Talk Forum on the same date details the coin’s launch and its specifications. A soft fork was executed at block 937440 to implement Segwit, a move made to keep it in line with Bitcoin, Litecoin, Vertcoin, and other payment-focused cryptocurrencies. In addition, the Monacoin team has reportedly implemented the Lightning Network for their coin. Speaking of soft forks, Monacoin is actually a hard fork of Litecoin, something we’ll take into account further as we look into its specs below. Monacoin was originally founded by the pseudonymous Mr. Wantanabe, no doubt in homage to Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto. Besides this pen name, the rest of the coin’s team is completely anonymous, so there’s nothing to report on here. In addition, the project has no visible roadmap on its site or anywhere else online. The team does seem to stay on top of updates and upgrades, however, as the Segwit and Lyra2REv2 updates and Lightning Network implementation suggest. It is popular in Japan where it was developed. It Uses Lyra2REv2 and Dark Gravity Wave v3 algorithm to ensure fairer mining opportunities, success rate and difficult levels of mining process respectively. Monacoin is the first cryptocurrency from Japan. It has received wide support and success in the country and is not crossing the national boundary to try and become a global phenomenon. While that is not going to happen in the next year or two, it does have the making of a good crypto token. It is steadily improving its service and has constantly strived to give its users the best possible experience. When Scrypt compliant ASIC miners appeared they switched to Lyra2REv2 to ensure the mining MONA remains a fair battle between miners from around the world. The instance of a Japanese national using Monacoin to buy land made news in the country and beyond, spreading the popularity of the coin.