NEO is a next generation smart economy platform (formerly Antshares) and China's first open source blockchain that was founded in 2014, is often known as the “Ethereum of China”. What is NEO? NEO uses a smart economy approach to implement its distributed network concept. Its main objective is to digitize assets using the decentralized network of blockchain technology and digital identity. Neo’s main aim is to be the distributed network for “smart economy”. As their website states: 'Digital Assets + Digital Identity + Smart Contract = Smart Economy.' Neo was developed by Shanghai-based blockchain R&D company “OnChain” and funded by two crowdsales: first crowdsale on October 2015 sold 17.5 million NEO tokens for $550,000 and the second crowdsale sold the remaining 22.5 million NEO tokens for $4.5 million. So why NEO? Asset digitization and identity on the NEO platform essentially creates a novel way for asset registration, issuance, and circulation. This means that tangible assets like real estate, company shares or even fiat money can be digitized and traded on the NEO network, thus giving rise to a whole new economy. Its digital identity system allows for integration between the platform and the real world economy. It has custom digital identity standards that enable the creation of electronic identity data for individuals, organizations and even entities. These electronic systems use multi-layered authentication models that include facial and voice recognition as well as fingerprints. All digital assets on the platform enjoy legal protection thanks to the use of digital certificates on its public blockchain. This, in turn, guarantees trust as the system offers an indelible and unalterable record of all entities’ holdings.
Storj is an open-source platform that leverages the blockchain to provide end-to-end encrypted cloud storage services. Instead of maintaining its own data centres, Storj platform relies on a peer-to-peer network of individuals or entities sharing their storage spaces. The Storj project is owned and developed by Storj Labs Inc. Storj intends to facilitate a faster, cheaper, and secure file storage solution than traditional cloud storage platforms. To achieve its goal, Storj deploys several innovative technologies and methods to make sure that users are able to store and retrieve data in a fastest possible way while not compromising the security and integrity of data. Storj Labs Inc was founded in 2014 by Shawn Wilkinson with co-founders John Quinn. The company is headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. Shawn was previously appointed as CEO, but in March 2018, he stepped down from the post to serve as CSO of the company. Shawn was replaced by Ben Golub (Ex-CEO of Docker) who currently serves as the Executive Chairman & Interim CEO. Co-founder John Quinn has been appointed as the Chief Revenue Officer. The company launched its initial coin offering (ICO) of the new tokens on May 19, 2017. At the end of the token sale on May 25, 2017, the company had raised about $30 million. Storj Labs allowed SJCX holders to exchange their tokens with the new ones in a 1:1 ratio through a token conversion campaign which lasted till October 2017. Storj Labs pre-mined its entire supply of tokens at the inception; no new tokens can be created via STORJ mining. Nevertheless, users can obtain STORJ tokens by becoming a farmer in the network. Another obvious way to acquire STORJ is through trading on a cryptocurrency exchange. Up until now, cloud storage companies have dictated the terms of service to their users, and as a result, there has been little to no competition within this digital sector. However, with the introduction of Storj, all of that may change.' Check out CoinBureau for the full review on OmiseGo.