Tezos is a coin created by a former Morgan Stanley analyst, Arthur Breitman. It is a smart contract platform which is does not involve in mining Tezos coins. It is a coin that promotes themselves on major ideas of self-amendment and on-chain governance. It is an Ethereum-like blockchain that hosts smart contracts. It allows the community to vote and improve its flaws. Any token holder may delegate their voting rights to others in the network. The coin uses a generic network shell which allow different transaction and consensus protocols that a blockchain needs to be compatible. The source code is implemented on OCaml which is a fast, flexible and functional programming language which should suit an ambitious project and its technical requirements. Tezos’ proof-of-stake consensus algorithm is different from the delegated proof-of-stake (dPOS) where they go by the name liquid proof-of-stake. This liquid proof-of-stake that Tezos uses focus in filling the gap between both security and decentralization but still being able to take advantage of the benefits that delegated proof-of-stake offers. The staking process in Tezos is called “baking”. In this blockchain, bakers who make deposits will be rewarded for signing up and publishing blocks. However, if a baker commits any bad behavior the deposits will be forfeited. Baking & Endorsing Baking is what Tezos refers to as the action of signing and publishing a new block in the chain. Bakers need at least 10,000 XTZ to qualify as a delegate, and having additional delegated stake increases their chances of being selected as a Baker or Endorser. At the beginning of each cycle (4096 blocks), the Bakers for each block are randomly selected and published. Bakers earn a block reward of 16 XTZ for baking a block. In addition to the Baker, 32 Endorsers are randomly selected to verify the last block that was baked. Endorsers receive 2 XTZ for each block they endorse. Block Rewards & Inflation Block rewards are funded by protocol defined inflation. Rewards are calibrated so that the number of XTZ tokens grows at roughly 5.5% per year. If 100% of Tezos tokens are delegated, the annualized yield will be 5.5%. Currently, 38% of Tezos tokens have been delegated, including the 10% owned by the Tezos Foundation, so the annualized yield is currently 14%. To ensure Bakers and Endorsers act honestly, they are required to post a security deposit for each block they Bake or Endorse. They forfeit this deposit in the event of malicious activity, such as double baking or double endorsing a block. In 2018, Tezos successfully launched their main network after delaying the launch due to corporate governance disputes. The Tezos foundation planned to transition the network to a mainnet, or a more complete version. The foundation has also raised $232 million in July 2017 to build the network and issue a new type of cryptocurrency to its backers in one of the largest- ever initial coin offerings. The founders have also made it clear in their blog that the network is using a new blockchain technology hence unexpected issues may still occur affecting the network. Check out CoinBureau for the complete review of Tezos.
Populous is a peer-to-peer invoice platform founded in 2017 at a high point in the blockchain and cryptocurrency craze. It makes use of blockchain's distributed ledger technology to provide a global trading platform for invoice financing. According to the Populous website, 'invoice finance is a form of funding that instantly unlocks the cash tied up in outstanding sales invoices. Business owners allow invoice buyers to buy invoices at a discounted rate in order to unlock their cash quicker. Once invoices are paid by the invoice debtor, the invoice buyer receives the amount previously agreed upon.' In order to offer funds to invoice sellers, Populous maintains a Liquidity Pool. This is tied in with the Populous cryptocurrency (PPT). An investor securitizes PPT by making an initial purchase. PPT is then held in escrow as collateral throughout the process. Transactions between invoice buyers and sellers take place with Pokens, exchanged for PPT and used as the currency for buying and selling invoices, either drawing from or contributing to the Liquidity Pool in the process. As a result of this built-in liquidity component, Populous at this point requires no transaction fees. In fact, the only fees levied are those associated with late payments. Populous invoice transactions can cover a huge array of industries, including many which are not typically available to traditional financing companies. The PPT tokens not released during the ICO were retained by the founding and development team. PPT can either be held or used as collateral to invest in Populous invoices. In exchange for collateralizing, you’re given an amount of Pokens based on a percentage of market value. Currently it’s the lesser of 50%, or a 30 day market average. These are automatically used to purchase an invoice. If the invoice is repaid, you receive both your PPT investment and Pokens profit.