6 Blockchains better than Ethereum for your ICO
Bitcoin, as the world’s first cryptocurrency, brought in a paradigm shift in the existing economic ecosystem. Still, it was after the price of bitcoin skyrocketed in the year 2017 that people started learning about the underlying technology called Blockchain.
After the launch of Ethereum in the year 2015 people started seeing this technology (blockchain) and the associated cryptocurrencies for their utilitarian use and not only as a financial tool. Ethereum’s blockchain, since then has been utilized by tech startups and enterprises for running smart contracts and thereby putting their innovation in play.
However, 3 years later Ethereum has slowed down due to the extensive load being put on it and is facing severe scalability issues. Such times call for an alternative solution for business owners to run their ICO contracts and carry on their campaign. To help businesses run their campaign slowly as well as with efficiency here are 6 top Blockchains which can be a suitable replacement for the current in-demand, however, slowing down the Ethereum network.
1. QTUM
There cannot be a better contender to the existing Ethereum Blockchain than QTUM (Quantum). Built as a fork of Bitcoin blockchain, QTUM does not only inherit the value storing feature (from Bitcoin) but also supports Ethereum’s smart contract execution. The inclusion of these two features in a single blockchain has made QTUM one of the best choices for developers who are among its largest support base given the level of security, adaptability, and scalability it offers. Founded in the year 2016, this blockchain raised $15.6 million in the period of five days and was the world’s first proof of stake blockchain (an algorithm inspired by the Blackcoin project) running on the UTXO transactions model.
2. NEO
Popularly called as ‘China’s Ethereum’ Neo blockchain has climbed up fast and has risen to the ranks where it is now seen as a direct competitor to Ethereum. This blockchain which is backed by the Chinese government tends to be similar to Ethereum in its value proposition and offers the similar functions of running dApps, smart contracts, and ICOs; however, there is the difference regarding the algorithm used within.
While Ethereum operates on Proof of Work algorithm, NEO is known to work on the decentralised Byzant Fault Tolerance (dBFT) mechanism. dBFT allows NEO blockchain to operate at higher efficiency than the Ethereum blockchain and gives it the ability to handle 10,000 transactions per second. It further allows dApps to be built on numerous languages like C++, C#, Java etc. thereby offering flexibility along with long-term viability to developers and project owners.
3. Hyperledger
While almost every ICO till date has been run on the Ethereum public blockchain, the increased cases of scams and frauds have forced the crypto community to look for a more secure solution. So for organizations who are focussed on improving security as well as are looking for speed and scalability, Hyperledger is a great option. This permissioned blockchain operating on the practical Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm allows only permissioned individuals to be a part of any particular Hyperledger based ecosystem. Created by Linux Foundation, this blockchain follows a role-based consensus system which gives greater control to owners without compromising on the transparency and decentralization aspect which blockchain was created to deliver.
4. Stellar
One of the most straightforward alternatives to Ethereum is the Stellar blockchain. With an average transaction settling time of 5 seconds, Stellar leaves Ethereum far behind which on an average can settle a transaction in 3.5 minutes. Same is the case with the gas charges levied. While Ethereum charges approximately a $1 for each transaction, Stellar charges $.01 for 300,000 transactions. Operating on its very own Stellar Consensus Protocol, this blockchain can handle almost all Turing incomplete problems and solutions built on top of it with ease.
5. Lisk
Released in the year 2016 as a fork of Crypti, Lisk has gained quite a lot of traction from the crowd primarily due to it being coded in Javascript. Using delegated proof of stake consensus mechanism Lisk offers flexibility in terms of scalability and is best suited for the organization who are looking to build easily adaptable solutions on secure side chains at a lower development cost.
6. Cardano
Offering security, safety, and scalability through multilayered architecture, Cardano is one of the newest entrants into the blockchain realm. Operating on a variation of POS (proof of Stake) algorithm called the Ouroboros algorithm, the platform has different computational and settlement layer which provides greater control to the end user. While the CSL (Cardano Settlement Layer) handles the value ledger, the computational layer carries out verification and handles calculation and approval part.
Despite numerous shortcomings, Ethereum still stands tall as the gold standard of blockchains for ICO. Other blockchains most of which are still in their nascent stage need to showcase the potential and adaptability if they wish to reach the same level of mainstream adoption which the Ethereum Blockchain has received.
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Originally published at tokenasia.com on January 1, 2019.
