The Skycoin Platform is the most advanced blockchain platform in the world. Developed by early contributors to both Bitcoin and Ethereum, Skycoin’s platform is completely secure, infinitely scalable, and ISP independent. It uses its own specific distributed consensus algorithm, called Obelisk, instead of other commonly used algorithms like proof of work (POW) and proof of stake (POS). Obelisk uses the concept of ‘web of trust dynamics’ which distributes influence over the network and makes consensus decisions depending upon the influence score of each node. Each node subscribes to a select number of other network nodes, and the density of a node’s network of subscribers determines its influence on the network. Skycoin is very fast. With transaction speeds close to 2 seconds and no transaction fees it can rival any other cryptocurrency on the market as a payment method. The transaction costs of Skycoin are covered by Coin Hours. This is value paid to Skycoin holders for each hour they hold a Skycoin. Skycoin is against charging transaction costs and mining incentives as it only drives up the costs of the network. The biggest benefit of Skycoin is that it is energy efficient due to the Web-of-Trust social proof. It can even run on a 30-watt cell phone processor making it great for mobile payments. Centralization becomes less of an issue when anyone can participate in the blockchain. Sia stores tiny pieces of your files on dozens of nodes across the globe. This eliminates any single point of failure and ensures highest possible uptime, on par with other cloud storage providers. A major goal of Skycoin is to promote actual usage of cryptocurrency rather than speculation. Skywire, the flagship application of Skycoin, has the ambitious goal of decentralizing the internet at the hardware level and is about to begin the testnet in April. However, this is just one of the many facets of the Skycoin ecosystem. Skywire will not only provide decentralized bandwidth but also storage and computation, completing the holy trinity of commodities essential for the new internet. Skycoin also has its own ICO platform called Fiber, their own deterministic programming language, CX, derived from Golang, a private decentralized messenger system called Sky-Messenger, and a decentralized social media platform, BBS. Here is another way to think of Skycoin: An open-source, community-owned, hardware-based peer to peer internet designed from first principles and leveraging the incentive system of the blockchain.
Binance Coin is the cryptocurrency of the Binance platform. It is a trading platform exclusively for cryptocurrencies. The name 'Binance' is a combination of binary and finance. Thus, the startup name shows that only cryptocurrencies can be traded against each other. It is not possible to trade crypto currencies against Fiat. The platform achieved an enormous success within a very short time and is focused on worldwide market with Malta headquarters. The cryptocurrency currently has a daily trading volume of 1.5 billion - 2 billion US dollars and is still increasing. In total, there will only be 200 million BNBs. Binance uses the ERC20 token standard from Ethereum and has distributed it as follow: 50% sold on ICO, 40% to the team and 10% to Angel investors. The coin can be used to pay fees on Binance. These include trading fees, transaction fees, listing fees and others. Binance gives you a huge discount when fees are paid in BNB. The schedule of BNB fees discount is as follow: In the first year, 50% discount on all fees, second year 25% discount, third year 12.5% discount, fourth year 6.75 % discount, and from the fifth year onwards there is no discount. This structure is used to incentivize users to buy BNB and do trades within Binance. Binance announced in a buyback plan that it would buy back up to 100 million BNB in Q1 2018. The coins are then burned. This means that they are devaluated to increase the value of the remaining coins. This benefits investors. In the future, the cryptocurrency will remain an asset on the trading platform and will be used as gas. Other tokens that are issued by exchanges include Bibox Token, OKB, Huobi Token, and more.