Sia is a decentralized cloud storage platform similar in concept to Dropbox and other centralized storage provider where instead of renting storage space from a centralized entity, clients rent storage space from other peers. The only difference is Sia uses blockchain to facilitate transactions Nodes provide storage to clients using the Sia blockchain as contracts. Before storing the data, the data is encrypted into many pieces and uploaded to different hosts. Siacoin is created by David Vorick and Luke Champine of Nebulous Inc. As the traditional storage platforms are higher in cost, more expensive and data is not well protected. Siacoin promises to offer secured storage transactions with smart contracts which is more affordable and reliable. Moreover, it is completely open source which means many individuals have contributed to Siacoin’s software hence there will be an active community building innovative applications on top if the Sia API. In 2018, Siacoin aims to introduce file sharing and be the go-to cloud storage platform for companies. Their goal is divided into 3 time frames which are short-term, medium-term and long-term development. Short-term development focuses on file sharing between Sia users. This allows Sia users to share files in the platform without having to take it off the cloud while increasing network utilization. Medium-term development’s goal is to enhance partnerships. This means reaching out to large companies like Netflix and Dropbox to hopefully be able to be their storage and distribution framework. Lastly, long-term development aims to expand its horizon to share files with non-Sia users and support mobile wallets.
IONC is the official token of IONChain. It can be utilized by different participants in IONChain ecosystem. The maximum supply of IONC is 800 million. It is going to be released gradually for 20 years. After 20 years, the administrative committee elected by IONChain users using the consensus mechanism will decide whether to re-issue IONC tokens based on the amount of on-chain devices, amount of data being processed and the overall level of IONC abundance in the ecosystem. IoT devices and data access constitute the core parts of IONChain ecosystem, therefore IONC token is going to be used to reward devices and data providers. The yearly supply of IONC tokens increases along with the demand for data access. However, the upper limit is pre-set. IONC token is an indispensable part of the IONChain system as it is a single most crucial part of its ecIONChain aims to solve a wide range of the current problems of IoT networks in terms of data security, data circulation, data sharing and data transactions, thus enhancing the efficiency of the whole IoT ecosystem. IONChain introduces the concept of “One Device, One Coin, One Code” which facilitates the integration of IoT devices with the IONChain blockchain network. With the use of Edge Computing technology, it enables every device on the IoT network to be utilized as a mining machine, making every IoT device that uses IONChain subject to mining rewards. Owing to the use of blockchain technology, the data source will always be reliable and verifiable on the IONChain network. Furthermore, the value ofthe data is quantified and data transfers are fast and secured. This makes it easier for IoT standards to emerge, unlocks a plethora of new IoT application scenarios and boosts the whole industry to enter the next level of development.