5 Blockchain Platforms you Should Pay Attention to

Ethereum

Ethereum is an obvious choice for anyone tangentially related to blockchain. Its protocol provides a Turing complete programming language, Solidity, which has allowed nearly 3,000 applications to be built on top. Ethereum is the quickest growing blockchain and currently has the second most valuable cryptocurrency, ETH. Not only is ETH the second most expensive, but it is also the second cryptocurrency in terms of market cap - nearing half a trillion dollars.

Ethereum is looking at upgrading to a new protocol known as Ethereum 2.0, which will switch the consensus algorithm from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). This switch promises to greatly increase transactions per second, decrease transaction fees, and improve scalability – especially concerning electricity usage. For this reason alone, you should keep Ethereum, and the price of ETH on your radar this summer.

Finally, Ethereum has supported the application of Uniswap V2 Core which has helped to popularize automated market maker exchanges (AMMs). These AMMs remove the need for a counterparty to make a price. Instead of a book setting the price, a smart contract can determine this algorithmically. Removing the middle man in markets will continue to revolutionize the DeFi industry.

For a deep dive into what makes Ethereum special, check out my article on Ethereum.

Quorum

Quorum is an enterprise fork of Ethereum on a private chain. Therefore, Quorum should be on the watch for all of the reasons above plus it has been founded by JP Morgan. As such, this implementation is focused on the finance sector. It has three main focuses beyond Ethereum technology: privacy, peer-permissioning, and a flexible consensus algorithm.

Privacy has been enhanced by private transactions. These transactions are only accessible to the nodes involved in the transaction. Instead of posting the contents of all transactions onto the main ledger, only the hash of the transaction is posted -- known as the private transaction identifier.

Peer-permissioning is what allows the blockchain to maintain both public and private states. This permissioning is something that isn't fully possible in Ethereum. With Quorum's implementation, only certain privileged nodes will have access to each transaction. This is achieved by creating private segments of the blockchain, only accessible to said "peers."

Building off of peer-permissioning, Quorum uses a voting-based consensus algorithm, known as QuorumChain. It is flexible because not every node needs to validate every transaction. Because of peer permission, every node cannot process every transaction. Only those privileged in the private portion of the chain may weigh in.

Due to the enhanced control of information and permissioning built off of Ethereum, Quorum has been utilized by numerous companies including Ant Group, LVMH, HSBC, Microsoft, and of course JP Morgan Chase. It even has a coin, JPM Coin, which is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. Dollar.

Corda

Similar to Quorum, Corda is a financially focused distributed ledger. It is backed by R3, a consortium of nine of the biggest banks in the world. Unlike Ethereum and Quorum, however, it does not have a built-in token. It utilizes distributed ledger technology (DLT). Corda has the same benefits including, private transactions and flexible consensus algorithms – so what sets Corda apart?

Through its use of DLT, it doesn't have blocks. Instead, it processes transactions in real-time, which avoids the block waiting time that can take an hour with Bitcoin. Further, since you don't need your transaction included in a block there is less gaming in terms of transaction fees paid to make sure your transaction gets processed.

As a result, Corda provides the framework for private transactions in real-time. This infrastructure will be vital for DeFI and the future of cryptocurrency.

Ripple

Yet another financially focussed blockchain implementation (are we seeing a theme here?). Ripple is built on a blockchain protocol, like Bitcoin, however, it boasts the nearly free and instantaneous transactions at a rate of nearly 1,500 per second. For reference, Bitcoin completes less than 10 transactions per second (TPS) and Visa, 1,700 TPS.

This coin was designed to handle a mass number of transactions in a decentralized manner -- rivaling even Visa. What makes this implementation different is that they do not use a PoW consensus algorithm and you cannot mine its coin, XPR. Its unique XPR consensus protocol operates with a little trust whereas other consensus algorithms do not. Instead of a simple majority of all nodes approving blocks, Ripple designates a subset of trusted validators to do the work. As long as enough of these validators agree (80%) then the ledger can be approved. Although this does not create the same level as distribution, it allows a transaction to be approved much more quickly.

Further, you cannot mine XPR because all 100 billion XPR coins were pre-mined at launch. Instead of using transaction fees, processing transactions cause a small number of these coins to be destroyed. As such, this is a deflationary currency that incentivizes its value to rise as time passes. This approach allows a blockchain implementation of a decentralized system of transaction processing with minimal costs. Speculative buyers have their eyes set on XPR as the next big boom cryptocurrency, currently trending at $.78 per coin.

Hyperledger

This last one has been described as a blockchain, but not really a blockchain. This is because it is a platform that allows organizations to build their own private blockchains. As such, this is a platform you will want to pay attention to as companies continue to build Web3 infrastructure.

Notable instances of Hyperledger include Carbon and IBM. Carbon is one of the first implementations of a non-collateralized stablecoin. Stablecoins were initially started to help combat the volatility of the crypto market. Their solution was to peg the value of cryptocurrencies to tangible assets such as dollars, shares, or even gold. Carbon builds off of the concept of Seigniorage Shares which conceptualized a way to keep this same stability through algorithms. As such, CarbonUSD is a desirable crypto-currency for even the most risk-averse.

Finally, IBM Blockchain has taken the Hypeledger functionality to a new level for the enterprise implementation of blockchain. It will provide a business platform, promising confidentiality and tools to meet every organization's needs. Technically IBM Blockchain isn't a blockchain at all, as it doesn't enforce a chain-wide consensus algorithm. This is another one you should pay attention to due to the mammoth that is IBM's involvement in it, however, you should be wary of what is a true consensus algorithm.

Although, there are new blockchain protocols, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain platforms cropping up every day – the ones we have gone over have some real staying power. You should use this article as a starting point as you build up your knowledge of Web3 and its major players.