During the bear markets, we saw a lot of projects that came with tall promises fizzling out. But as the famous saying goes “ Hard times create strong men”, some projects were there which continued to progress well, hitting the set milestones, releasing MVPs, Launching Testnet and Mainnet, building partnerships and alliances etc.
As we begin the journey of 2019, let’s take a look into some of the projects that pushed ahead irrespective of the market conditions.
Aelf
One of the most active projects I am tracking is Aelf (ELF). One of the best way to asses the progress of a crypto project is following the GitHub activity. In 2018, Aelf was ranked in top 10 regarding GitHub commits.
Based out of Singapore, Aelf is a decentralized platform for cloud computing blockchain network, that is trying to develop be the operating system exclusively for blockchains. As per the team “aelf is planning to be the “Linux system” of the Blockchain.
Aelf is all set to resolve the three core issues current blockchains are facing.
- Scalability
- Resource segregation
- Adaptable governance model
To tackle the above-said issues with current blockchain, Aelf introduced side chains to improve scalability and a unique governance system called DPOS which helped to resolve the problem.
Unlike traditional blockchain which depends upon the main chain for all the processing, Aelf consists of the main chain and innovative side chains, which will be used to run smart contracts. With the introduction of side chains, the network doesn’t get congested which will help the network to efficiently scale.
One more advantage of side chains is the Cross chain Interaction. That means Aelf blockchain will be able to interact with external blockchain networks like Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc which helps the sharing of information.
To tackle the governance issues, Aelf has opted for Delegated Proof-of-Stake process. DPoS is in a way similar to PoS, but has different and more “democratic” features that Aelf feels it makes more efficient and fair. In DPoS, token holders are able to cast votes to elect block or we can say the miners. Votes are weighted by the voter’s stake, and the Block that receives the most votes are those who produce/mine blocks.
This process is more democratic and makes all the token holders the part of the ecosystem and governance more smooth. DPoS also is environmentally friendly because electricity isn’t wasted like in Proof of Work which means Aelf cares for the environment as well.
Notable achievements of 2018
⭐️ The launch of Aelf Testnet: On 8th of August 2018, the aelf development team announced the first results of the aelf testnet v1.0. The initial testnet achieved 15,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is an important development in the commercialised application of public chains. This is the key milestone for the year 2018, and the mainnet is expected to be launched in 2019,
⭐️ Aelf Innovation Alliance: To accelerate blockchain adaptation, Blockchain project Aelf has recently introduced Innovation Alliance. Besides Aelf other members of the Innovation Alliance includes Michael Arrington( creator of TechCrunch), Signum Capital(Singapore-based digital fund), FBG Capital (an Asian blockchain hedge fund), Roland Berger(Strategy consultancy company based out of Germany) and Huobi labs( blockchain incubation wing of Huobi).
Tezos (XTZ)
Tezos was launched as an ico on July 14 2017, which raised around $232 million. The project was co-founded by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman. Year 2017 was a turbulent year for Tezoz which had gone through the power struggle between the cofounders Arthur and Kathleen Breitman versus the former president and board member Johann Gevers. It also has faced from class-action lawsuits by disgruntled ICO participants due to the delay in token issuance.
Tezos is a blockchain that can evolve by upgrading itself. Stakeholders vote on amendments to the protocol, including amendments to the voting procedure itself, to reach a social consensus on proposals. Tezos supports smart contracts and offers a platform to build decentralized applications.
Tezos is similar to Ethereum but does not have the negative sides of Eth. Tezis is far less computationally intensive, requiring less power to mine ( bake) as Tezos define them, still maintaining a reliable PoS consensus mechanism (DPoS).
One of the best features of Tezos is that it’s Auto upgradable which makes them stand out from other blockchains. It allows the blockchain to evolve and improve without the need for complex upgrades or hard forks
Notable achievements of 2018
⭐️ The launch of Tezos Mainnet: On Sept 7th 2018, Tezos Mainnet was launched
Sentinel (SENT)
With over 1200 commits Sent was one of the most active projects in 2018.
As per the their official medium channel
Sentinel Network is a network layer that enables a true p2p and decentralized applications and resources marketplace. Sentinel enables anyone to create Public and Private networks that provide access to both free and incentivized, and also payment method agnostic (pre-paid/escrow/post-paid) services (dApps) & distributed resources, enabling its clients to become both producers and consumers in the network.
Sentinel utilizes locking, staking and multi-sig directly from Tendermint core and Cosmos SDK and aims to fully eliminate the disadvantages of previous generation protocols, that couldn’t scale due to limitations of the blockchain they share with other dApps or that have an unsustainable economic model that reduces usability or access to the product they offer.
In simple terms, Sentinel is a peer-to-peer dVPN network. It helps to provide people with tools to overcome internet restrictions thereby giving them access to the free world. Unlike other projects which only offer VPN services, SENT provides staple VPN services as well as other useful services such as dChat, dVOIP, dDNS, etc.
Notable achievements of 2018
⭐️Sentinel Tendermint Testnet is live with the dVPN Desktop App
⭐️Sentrix — dChat & dVoIP
⭐️Partnership with Metalyfe Browser
SOMA
Soma is a revolutionary decentralized platform that facilitates trade and social interaction powered by blockchain technology and a native cryptocurrency (Soma Community Token, or SCT) for liquidity within the Soma Community. By dis-intermediating the value chain, buyers and sellers can realize greater profits. At the same time, an innovative rewards system incentivizes beneficial collaboration and ensures that value-adding services are compensated — Jacob Andra, CMO@Soma
To put in simple words, SOMA is unarguable “first of a kind” decentralized marketplace wherein sellers, and buyers can securely and reliably trade with each other. Unlike the conventional online shopping portals which rely on product reviews or rating (a majority of them are fakes), SOMA harnesses the goodness of social interaction factor (Liking, Sharing, etc.) to help the buyer with decision making and provide him with genuine feedback.
For participating in the platform, SOMA encourages and rewards the users with SOMA tokens(SCT). Since all the interactions get paid, it will help to create more user engagement, which in turn helps the products to reach more audience. The SOMA Rewarding System also recognises active participants as core elements for promoting the products for the target audience and acting as an escrow agent to secure all transactions.
Notable achievements of 2018
⭐️ Received Round -1 funding worth €50,000 from Business Finland,
⭐️ IKEA’s incubator Bootcamp
⭐️ Tie up with leading watchmakers
imToken
imToken is a digital asset wallet, which is one of the simplest yet feature rich wallet currently available in the market. Launched just two years before, it quickly captured the heart of crypto enthusiasts around the world. It is developed by ConSen Labs and is currently used by millions of users from around 200 countries.
imToken supports multi-tokens which include ETH, BTC, EOS etc. It also features a DApp browser, inbuilt exchange ( Tokenlon), offline signing etc.
Notable achievements of 2018
⭐️ The launch of imToken 2.0
⭐️ Received 10 Million USD funding from IDG Capital
⭐️ Launch of imKey Cold wallet ( shipping expected March 2019).
In conclusion, the above-said projects have soon great promises in delivering results irrespective of tough market conditions. This article is not intended as investment advice. As always DYOR.