The Raiden Network is an off-chain scaling solution, enabling near-instant, low-fee and scalable payments. It’s complementary to the Ethereum blockchain and works with any ERC20 compatible token. The Raiden project is work in progress. Its goal is to research state channel technology, define protocols and develop reference implementations. The introduction of payment channels, specifically the type first described by the Lightning Whitepaper (which introduced the Lightning Network), seeks to fix the scalability and congestion issues that currently plague blockchain technology. While the Lightning Network operates on the Bitcoin blockchain, Raiden introduces a comparable solution for the Ethereum network. There are several key features of the Raiden Network Token. Expedited transfer confirmations (<1 second ). Current transfers on the Ethereum blockchain can take a few seconds to minutes. Private transfers that are not viewable on the global ledger. Solve scalability issues so that Ethereum can create mass adoption, allowing Ethereum to become the peer-to-peer, global payments infrastructure with electronic cash that it was initially designed for. Low fee transactions. Micropayment capability that works in union with any ERC-20 token. The Raiden Network project is being developed by Germany’s Brainbot Technologies AG, a software company devoted to blockchain protocol development. Founded in the year 2000 by Heiko Hees, it currently has between 11 to 50 employees in offices among Berlin, Mainz, and Copenhagen. Also the founder of PediaPress, Hees has been a core developer of Ethereum since March 2014. Being a core developer for Ethereum, it is evident on how the founder sees the flaws in the current its present protocol with ways to improve it. Interestingly enough, the website does not include RDN as one of their main blockchain developments, which could be attributed to the difficulty of highlighting a wide variety of projects they are currently undertaking on one page. However, there are no updates on the status of the Raiden Network Project on either Twitter nor Medium since December 1st, 2017. Raiden can be used for a wide variety of applications and purposes such as Micropayments For Content Distribution, Decentralized M2M Markets, API Access and Fast Decentralized Exchanges.'
IOST is building an ultra-high TPS blockchain infrastructure to meet the security and scalability needs of a decentralized economy. Led by a team of proven founders and backed by $40 million from world-class investors, including Sequoia and Matrix, IOST aims to be the underlying architecture for the future of online services. The powerful consensus algorithm “Proof-of-Believability” enables next-gen transaction throughput speeds while ensuring nodes stay compliant, using factors including IOST token balance, reputation-based token balance, network contributions and user behaviors. A faster grade Byzantine Fault Tolerance mechanism, microstate blocks, Atomic Commit protocol and a dynamic sharding protocol (Efficient Distributed Sharding) all ensure transactions are safeguarded, consistent and lightning fast while reducing storage, configuration costs and processing power for validators. Anyone is able to participate in every layer of our system, from using services on our blockchain to running a node and validating transactions. Our rules and code are open for all to see and no preconditions will limit participation. IOST aims to fundamentally disrupt previous methods of business by creating a self-operated, trustless network that maximizes network value for all parties. The project places great emphasis on decentralized and secure ways of storing information. It also provides for Dapps and smart contracts, and anyone who is familiar with blockchain technology knows just how integral these two concepts have become. Adhering to the quintessential egalitarian values of blockchain technology, IOST is creating a censorship-resistant and trustless network that is open to all, using blockchain technology to cut out middlemen and maximize network value for all parties. Terrace Wang, Kimmy Zhong, and Ray Xiao, who are extremely brilliant, have co-founded the project. In addition to these original three, the project has 12 employees and 4 advisors. It is also worth noting that Ryan Bubiski, a co-founder of CodeAcademy and a winner of Times Most Influential People award plays a major role in the advisory board of the project. The team has partnered with about sixteen blockchain and cryptocurrency oriented companies such as Sequoia, Nirvana Capital, and DFund. The project, therefore, has strong investors.'