Particl is an open-source and decentralized privacy platform built on the blockchain specifically designed to work with any cryptocurrency. It allows decentralized applications (Dapps) of all sorts to be built within a secure, highly-scalable environment and be integrated directly into Particl’s flagship wallet: Particl Desktop Particl's mission is to foster a new decentralized, private and democratic economy supported by its platform and native currency (PART). All the fees generated by the platform are paid to the PART coin holders who are securing the network. PART is a privacy coin built from the Bitcoin Core codebase and is always updated to its latest version (currently 0.16.0). Capitalizing on the latest Bitcoin codebase not only allows the Particl platform to benefit from both Bitcoin’s stability and security, but also enables developers to leverage and easily fork any product, service and technology development from the Bitcoin developer community. Particl Cold Staking is enabled by smart-contract functionality and lets users securely delegate staking powers to “staking nodes” which contain no coin. The purpose of these “staking nodes” is to provide a dedicated resource connected to the Particl blockchain and stake on behalf of another wallet without being able to spend its coins. In other words, it allows users to stake offline coins. Particl's decentralized marketplace is built with privacy at its core and offers a low-cost, secure and scalable e-commerce experience. Designed to work with almost any coin, it uses several privacy-enhancing features such as default private transactions, encrypted data, secure messaging, IP address anonymization, metadata stripping, private listings and more. It is exclusively governed by the Particl community which also earns all the fees generated by the marketplace. Particl is designed so that users can easily use and build decentralized applications that can then be integrated directly into Particl Desktop. These applications foster the decentralized, private and trustless Particl economy and are built using native privacy smart-contracts. PART can be sent as three different privacy states, each with their own degree of privacy and cost: Public, Blind, Anonymous. Each state has a purpose within our privacy platform and also provides the user full control of the linkability and traceability of their transactions. Particl is the first coin in history to deploy these privacy protocols on a Bitcoin Core codebase. The Particl platform accepts a wide range of cryptocurrencies and provides maximum privacy at the same time. By using atomic swaps and third-party integrations, all incoming currency transactions are automatically converted into PART, Particl’s native currency. This way, you can use your favorite cryptocurrency while being protected by PART’s powerful privacy features.
The Cosmos network consists of many independent, parallel blockchains, called zones, each powered by classical Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols like Tendermint (already used by platforms like ErisDB). Some zones act as hubs with respect to other zones, allowing many zones to interoperate through a shared hub. The architecture is a more general application of the Bitcoin sidechains concept, using classic BFT and Proof-of-Stake algorithms, instead of Proof-of-Work.Cosmos can interoperate with multiple other applications and cryptocurrencies, something other blockchains can’t do well. By creating a new zone, you can plug any blockchain system into the Cosmos hub and pass tokens back and forth between those zones, without the need for an intermediary. While the Cosmos Hub is a multi-asset distributed ledger, there is a special native token called the atom. Atoms have three use cases: as a spam-prevention mechanism, as staking tokens, and as a voting mechanism in governance. As a spam prevention mechanism, Atoms are used to pay fees. The fee may be proportional to the amount of computation required by the transaction, similar to Ethereum’s concept of “gas”. Fee distribution is done in-protocol and a protocol specification is described here. As staking tokens, Atoms can be “bonded” in order to earn block rewards. The economic security of the Cosmos Hub is a function of the amount of Atoms staked. The more Atoms that are collateralized, the more “skin” there is at stake and the higher the cost of attacking the network. Thus, the more Atoms there are bonded, the greater the economic security of the network. Atom holders may govern the Cosmos Hub by voting on proposals with their staked Atoms.