1. Algorand (USA) https://www.algorand.com
The Algorand project is another attempt of creating a new blockchain system. This protocol aims to solve management problems which decentralized systems are normally faced with. Algorand consists of a digital currency and a transactions platform. The co-author of the protocol on which all this works is Silvio Mikali, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Turing Award winner. The protocol works on the principle of "proof-of-stake".
Algorand is an open source blockchain. The main difference from, for example, Ethereum and Bitcoin is greater bandwidth. Typically, the list of Bitcoin transactions is fully checked on every computer on the network during the upgrade, which greatly reduces the speed, up to 10 updates per second, or even less. The Algorand protocol does not require the solution of mathematical problems, which reduces energy consumption and the cost of transactions and increases the speed of their processing.
The Algorand prototype was implemented in 5000 C++ lines and deployed using EC2 with 1000 m4.2x large VMs, each with 8 cores and a bandwidth of up to 1 Gb / s. Experiments show that Algorand can confirm transactions within a minute - and less! - and scales to a minimum of 500K users in test mode. With blocks of 10 MB Algorand makes about 750 MB of transactions per hour, and this is 125 times higher than Bitcoin's bandwidth.
Compared with its competitors, Algorand is closest to Dfinity. They have similar voting and decision-making mechanisms. While Dfinity, which is based on the Ethereum network, uses those to educate the network and teach it to make decisions, Algorand offers its own independent network.
The team, although powerful, is reluctant to move toward engagement, and refuses to answer questions to do with registration.
The Linkedin profile shows that the team is based in Boston. As far as is known, at the moment the team is focused on launching the testnet. The whitepaper is a pleasant surprise: there are publications in libraries of various universities, many technical details, formulas, and schematic presentations. The first versions of WP were written back in May 2016, which indicates long-standing work on the project.
There is no information about the token sale. According to the information from the admins from the chat, the team will deal with token sales and metrics after launching the testnet. Which, of course, speaks of a thorough approach (that is, conducting an ICO given availability of the finished product). Speaking of the minuses: the team is very reluctant to respond.
The analysts from The Token Fund recommend investment in the project for the medium term after the token sale announcement. The current score is 7.5 / 10 due to lack of a complete picture.
2. HeroNode (USA) https://heronode.io
HeroNode is a platform made compatible with QTUM and ETHEREUM for developing dApps (decentralized applications), which also supports web-based platforms and development tools for iOS and Android.
The goal of the project is to reduce the complexity of developing dApps and increase the number of developers in this field. The ultimate goal of the project will be an expanded market of centralized and decentralized applications.
HeroNode features:
- the Hero Node architecture includes a network of nodes that will be synchronized with public blockchains, such as QTUM and ETHEREUM;
- data for web and mobile applications will be stored in a distributed way via IPFS;
- web applications and mobile applications will access data from IPFS and public networks through Hero Node APIs;
- the Hero Node platform will be built on Javascript to provide mass acceptance by developers.
The project team is mainly from China, and all have great technical experience. Most work together at Dianrong.
Liu Guoping, CEO of the project, has worked in companies NEC, Wind and Dianrong before the creation of Hero Node.
Carl Zhu, CTO of the project, also worked for 3 years in Dianrong, as well as in PAX.
Daniel Lixao, software developer, has more than 5 years of experience in this field.
Ruoxin Zhang, the main developer of the project, has many years of experience in the field of financial applications.
Among the partners of the project are QTUM foundation, Draper Dragon (the fund of Tim Draper, one of the pioneers of venture business in the US), Starwin Capital (Chinese investment firm specializing in fintech), Fenbushi Capital, BNcapital.
The start of the ICO is in May 2018. HardCap is 31.000 ETH, the cost of the token is 1 ETH = 21.000 HER.
The idea of simplifying development for the web and mobile applications is very advantageous. The project team has solid technical experience, but most of the team members cannot boast a lot of experience in working with blockchain. There is also lot of hype around the project. There are already almost 19 thousand people in the official Telegram project group, and this number continues to grow.
Their partnership with QTUM, the participation of the Draper Dragon Foundation and the Fenbushi Capital fund, which Vitalik Buterin has previously participated in, will most likely cause a lot of hype and give the project a great start.
The analysts at The Token Fund recommend the project to invest in both short-term and medium-term. The project evaluation is 7/10.