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Blockchain Beyond Cryptocurrencies: 22 Use Cases

Posted on 09/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

If you look back at the Evolution of Blockchain, you will find that the technology only came into the limelight because of its association with the groundbreaking element that Bitcoin is. Bitcoin and Blockchain were the two terms that were used synonymously by a number of people around the world till even some years back. But in the past few years, as the world got clearer with what the technology is about, the space between Blockchain and Cryptocurrency has extended and several best use cases for Blockchain have emerged sans cryptocurrencies.

And today, the non- cryptocurrencies Blockchain has not just established itself as a technology that Bitcoin is just a subset of, it has also marked itself as the solution of the two problems that all businesses, across industries, unanimously face – Security and Lack of Transparency.

In this article, we are going to look into the top use cases for blockchain in different industries, along with some brands that are transforming the question – what is blockchain technology to what are the use cases for blockchain technology in business and life.

Blockchain Technology Timeline

Blockchain Use Cases by Industry

Brands That Help Define the Use Cases For Blockchain Technology

FAQs About the Real World Blockchain Use Cases 2020-21

Let us briefly look back at how far the use cases for blockchain technology be tracked and the route it has charted for itself in the blockchain evolution timeline graph.

Blockchain Technology Timeline

As you can see in the Blockchain Technology Timeline above, the tangent on which Blockchain is walking is an answer in itself to all the naysayers who doubted its worth and called it a hype that would soon die.

The direction in which Blockchain is headed in and the direction it started from is a sign of how far and fast the benefits of the disruptive technology have been accepted and added in a number of processes across a range of different industries, something that we have detailed in our handbook curated especially for businesspersons, called Entrepreneur’s Guide to Blockchain.

Benefits that come attached with the use cases for Blockchain technology have not gone unseen by the industry leaders. The discussions that were earlier focused on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency has now been fixated on to the Blockchain technology.

Here’s what the leading tech evangelists are saying about Blockchain –

Blockchain technology, along with its benefitting features is now playing the main character of successful industries’ growth stories – an event that is triggering the demand for Blockchain App Development Agency that would help businesses achieve greatness and profitability with the disruptive technology. There are several blockchain technology real use cases that show how the technology, even in the absence of cryptocurrency, holds the potential to change the world.

Here are the top use cases for Blockchain that have been recognized in a range of different industries –

Blockchain Use Cases Beyond Cryptocurrency

Here are the Best Uses for Blockchain that have been recognized in a range of different industries –

1. Banking

When it comes to the Banking sector, there can be a number of use cases of Blockchain technology in Banking beyond the exchange of digital currencies. Some of those prominent ones which involve blockchain and cryptocurrency to one extent or the other are:

Fraud Reduction – By bringing all the information on a distributed ledger with a timestamp and batches of specific transactions with a link to another block, the blockchain use cases in banking will make it impossible for the hackers to break into the system without the timestamp of the breach getting highlighted.
KYC – It is estimated that banks spend somewhere around $60 million up to $500 million per year in their ‘Know Your Customer’ project. These practices are followed to lower the money laundering instances and to keep terrorists out of the banking ecosystem. If the KYC process is brought on Blockchain, the verification time and associated cost will get lowered by manifold.

2. Cybersecurity

When it comes to cloud and the typical computer network usage in business, centralized servers are usually used to store the data. Now, when you save all your business data on a centralized system, you open yourself to risks like corruption, data loss, human error, and hacking.

But when you put your data on a distributed, decentralized system by employing Blockchain-as-a-Service model, the instances of hacks reduces by manifold.

3. Internet of Things

The mesh of connected devices, while connecting all the phases of a user’s life with each other, also brings it to a vulnerable position. When you operate in a connected ecosystem, the moment your one device gets hacked the chances of your connected devices to get attacked also increases by manifold.

Through Blockchain infused IoT adds the capability for you to exchange data on the platform instead of a third party. Also, since the devices are addressable with the benefits of the technology, businesses get access to the usage history of the connected devices, which comes in handy at the time of troubleshooting.

4. Unified Communications

Blockchain enables safer, faster, and a lot more reliable set of automated communications. While automated conversations are already a big part of a number of industries, the communication happening in an automated mode is mostly asynchronous – something that Blockchain can change.

With Blockchain, companies would be able to have more bi-directional and authorized communications.

Also, as the world is now moving towards chatbots, Blockchain would be the business solution for the time when bots interact with each other and the problem of transparency and time stamping comes up.

5. Government

The blockchain is a hot-topic in the government and political backdrop. There are several Blockchain government use cases that improve the government service quality, safeguards the citizen’s property rights, and cuts the red tape, all the while improving the transparency element in the system.

While governments all across the world – from Dubai to China and the US are exploring the Blockchain opportunity to better the nation’s lifestyle, the trend of adoption is mostly restricted to Ethereum.

Here are some of the examples of how the different Governments are employing Ethereum Blockchain to better their nation –

Dubai is prepared to become a completely integrated Blockchain based city by 2020.
Estonia matured in a ‘digital republic’ ecosystem by shifting a number of its national system on Ethereum Blockchain.
Chile makes use of Ethereum to track down the finance and data from the energy grid with the aim to curb exploitation and corruption by making the data available for the citizens to see.
Canada is testing the platform for providing transparency to how the government use grants for easing the concerns that citizen’s show related to corruption and misappropriation.

6. Charities

The number one reason that usually keeps people away from making a donation is not knowing whether or not the donations that they are making are even being used for the right reasons. When Blockchain solutions are introduced to the system, the technology helps ensure that the money is being used exactly where it was supposed to.

In order to bring in some transparency in the system, a number of Bitcoin-based charities are coming into existence that ensures that allows the donors to view how their money is being used.

7. Healthcare

The onset of multiple blockchain use cases in healthcare is the example of how disruptive an industry could be when clubbed with revolutionary technology. And this is the reason why Blockchain has found a place in the 10 healthcare trends that would be dominant in 2020.

The fact that Blockchain comes with an immutable architecture makes it possible to store the EHR data in a way that is safeguarded from any or all instances of hacks and breaches. Also, several experienced blockchain app developers are using the technology to help with the creation of new medicine or a more personalized treatment regime.

8. Ride-Sharing Economy

Mixed with the ride-sharing architecture, Blockchain has the potential to make the industry pioneers like Uber make a run for their money. When you look at the Uber ecosystem you will find issues like the brand making a cut from driver’s income or it calling the shots on all the terms and conditions that are majorly partial towards the brand’s profits.

By introducing Blockchain in the ride-sharing economy like what Arcade City does, the control comes in the hand of riders and drivers. They get to make all the decisions without looking up to a ruling agency.

9. Supply Chain

By identifying the production processes and components and then storing the information on Blockchain, a business can monitor their supply chain process from the raw material stage to the end delivery stage.

For example, Walmart uses Blockchain to enable its employees to scan the goods in the store’s app and then track them from the harvesting stage to the time it reaches the store floor. On the other hand, Makers use technology to monitor the cargo ships.

10. Encrypted Messaging

Blockchain takes the end-to-end encryption to a new level by introducing decentralization to the mix. Brands like Crypviser are doing the task of creating of a Blockchain-based communication platform perfectly.

Through a platform of this sort, businesses get to offer their users a place where they can make the to and fro of encrypted messages that have minimal to zero scopes of getting hacked.

A platform like blockchain-based encrypted messaging solutions is especially helpful when incorporated within an Enterprise system.

11. Elimination of Counterfeit Products

The fact that Blockchain technology is immutable, it becomes a lot easier for businesses to find out and trace the chain of asset ownership. By storing the serial number on a Blockchain, all the involved parties are able to verify whether or not the product in question authentic.

De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, has created an immutable digital record using Blockchain which they use to keep the record of registered diamond and lower the conflict diamond transactions.

12. Contracts

The self-executing programs are one of the best offerings of Blockchain to the business world. Smart contracts Blockchain is designed in a way that they check the contract rule, verify, and process the transaction all without the need for an intermediary involvement.

Smart Contracts Blockchain are used in a number of different scenarios and across a number of different industries that deal with the creation of contracts in their processes.

13. Pharmaceuticals

The World Health Organization has estimated that 1 out of 10 medical products that are circulating in the low or medium-income countries are not just sub-standardized but also falsified. To lower the instances of pharma fraud, Verifier – a smartphone app that uses the phone’s camera to conduct a spectral analysis on the drug and loads it on Blockchain for verification of the drug’s medical footprint. It is just one of the blockchain case study, there are a number of other businesses working to make the pharma industry decentralized.

14. Microloans

Through the inclusion of decentralized blockchain ledger getting microloans approved and credited in the accounts have become a real-time, secure practice.

Twigga is an example of how Microloans work with Blockchain technology. The B2B Logistics platform for food stalls in Africa had expanded its services into adding financial services in the suite for their customers, with the help of Blockchain.

While they use AI to find out the credit score on the basis of mobile data, they incorporated Blockchain to manage the complete lending process from the application of loans to getting offers and accepting the conditions of repayment.

15. Advertisement

Delivering timely and relevant ad is every advertiser’s aim. And the answer to how Blockchain will change the world of advertisers lies in using the technology to navigate the tracks of the different service providers and linking them all together – an event that ensures the right people are targeted at the right time.

Also, it saves the advertisers from losing money when the hackers create fake web traffic and make fake bots visit the site in place of real humans by tracking the origin of the visitors and gauging if they are authentic.

16. Affiliate Marketing

The concept of Affiliate Marketing lies in businesses paying a set of the commission to the people who would promote their product on the social media platforms. The concept in itself is based entirely on trust. Trust that the people won’t remove the post after getting a commission or that they won’t use fake ids for promoting a website etc.

Smart contracts Blockchain functionality ensures that the money is transferred to the people only when they have done on ABC task.

Seeing these Blockchain use cases and how perfectly the technology is able to decentralize the various economies, a number of the world’s biggest brands, with the support of the Top Blockchain App Development Companies, have now started exploring the technology with the hopes to turn their business growth story alongside the growth in Blockchain future uses.

In Blockchain Use Cases Beyond Bitcoin, this is the section where we look at the brands that have decided to get involved with Blockchain. As you read further, you will find out that it is not just the B2C brands or ones which are heavily user data centric which uses the technology, but also agencies like NASA and Aerospace are interested in Blockchain technology.

Brands That Help Define the Use Cases For Blockchain Technology

1. Google

The tech giant is known to be the biggest investor and buyer of the startups working in Blockchain technology.

The Alphabet Inc section of Google is building its distributed digital ledger which third parties can make use of posting and verifying transactions. Google plans on offering this service for differentiating its cloud blockchain infrastructures from the competitors.

2. Apple

Apple filed a provisional patent in December which stated that the tech leader would be designing a Blockchain system for creation and verification of timestamps, which would help in fighting the hackers and certifying the digital signatures.

3. Porsche

The leading automobile maker has already introduced Blockchain in its cars. There are a number of benefits that the brand accepted going blockchain brought for it.

Some of them are –

Secure access to the vehicle
Fast data transfer and better security
Autonomous driving

4. Coca-Cola

The beverage leader, along with the US State Department is developing a Blockchain ledger which is designed to remove the state of forced labor from across the globe. Using the technology, they will develop a secure registry for the workers which would help with fighting the forced labor market, globally.

5. IBM

The company recently revealed its chip which they called the world’s smallest computer, that would help brands use Blockchain in verification of authenticity of the products in a supply chain.

IBM also uses Blockchain to deliver distributed ledger services to over 400 different clients around the world including government, banking, logistics, and healthcare.

6. JD.com

Alibaba competitor recently published a white paper where it described its Blockchain ambitions.

The brand shared its plan to build Blockchain protocols for authenticating goods to a better supply chain, protect big data, settle finance, and battle insurance fraud.

EOS vs Ethereum: Which is the Best Smart Contract Platform

Posted on 04/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

Getting into agreements in a sans Blockchain world involves an active participation – which comes attached with a price tag – of intermediaries, something that in one way or the other limits the horizons a business can reach in terms of extending their business relations. Cut to the era of Blockchain. Blockchain, along with its sidekick Smart Contract enable businesses to develop a decentralized ecosystem that allows them to make agreements without the involvement of any third party intermediary – Ergo, New Horizons now comes into the picture for Businesses to penetrate in.

Although Smart Contract seems so have received its fair share of hype only after it came under the shadow of Blockchain Technology, the concept had already made its appearance twenty years ago when Nick Szabo, a cryptographer wrote an article about it.

So what are Smart Contracts exactly?

Smart Contract is a computer program that is stored inside a Blockchain. They are coded in a way to automatically control asset transfer between two (or more) parties, when the predefined conditions are met.

What is a Smart Contract Platform Supposed to Do?

A Smart Contract Platform is a platform which provides support for creation and execution of smart contracts. There are many names in the list of smart contract platforms in the market today – Ethereum, EOS, NEO, Hyperledger Fabric, Cardano, Stellar etc.

Out of all these platforms, today we will be focusing our attention on the oldest and most adopted – Ethereum and the new and hyped platform, which claims to be more efficient than Ethereum – EOS.

In this article, we will be comparing the two powerful platforms – EOS vs Ethereum – head on to fathom which platform has the potential to go farthest.

Both EOS and Ethereum are Turing complete Smart Contract Development Platforms that are leveraged by businesses for Smart Contract and Decentralized Applications Development. While Ethereum charges gas fees in form of Ethereum currency for allowing businesses to run their Apps or Smart Contract on their platform on per transaction basis, EOS charges some EOS cryptocurrency only at the initial stage and don’t charge any network development or transaction fees.

Ethereum

Ethereum is an open blockchain platform that allows developers to build and execute Smart Contract on Blockchain. To enable blockchain app developers to implement smart contracts on Ethereum, the platform has launched its own contract oriented programming language called Solidity.

The platform uses the proof-of-work consensus algo, which it plans on upgrading to the proof-of-stake consensus.

Ethereum, aside from being the leading smart contract and decentralized application development platform, also has its Ethereum cryptocurrency platform called Ether.

EOS

The brainchild of Daniel Larimer (the name behind Graphene Technology and the first developer to have implemented the POS consensus), EOS platform works on a similar model like Ethereum but comes with a number of differentiating factors.

EOS makes it possible to process greater number of transactions on a per second basis than Ethereum. The platform, feature wise, is a lot more scalable and includes elements like sharding, plasma, and the comes with the benefits of the proof of stake (dPoS and TaPoS) consensus.

Like Ethereum, EOS has its own EOS cryptocurrency platform as well, named after the platform itself – EOS Cryptocurrency

With this, you are now up to speed with what both the platforms are and now (finally) it’s time to get on to what we came here for – to answer the question on every Blockchain enthusiast’s mind ‘EOS vs Ethereum: Who Will Win the Title of Best Smart Contract Platform’

EOS vs Ethereum

1. Design Philosophy

Ethereum

Ethereum has been developed as a neutral platform. It doesn’t come packaged with features, which allows users to develop their own feature based sub-protocol within a contract. This prevents instances of bloating in an application.

EOS

EOS comes with functions like app/blockchain communication tools and cryptography implementations. It features a range of different options varying from web toolkit to help with interface development to the self-describing database schemes.

2. Governance

Ethereum

Ethereum is presently working on a Proof-of-Work consensus with the plans to move to a hybrid of Proof-of-Work/Proof-of-Stake. Ethereum makes it mandatory for developers to adhere to the code and solve major disagreements through forks.

EOS

EOS uses Graphene technology that makes use of the delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS and TaPoS) consensus. For resolution of disputes, EOS will come with la egally binding constitution which would establish a common jurisdiction.

3. Scalability

Ethereum

Ethereum network has till date achieved around 25 transactions per second and it can increase to upto 50 to 100 tps.

EOS

EOS has been able to achieve over 10,000 to 100,000 transaction per second in stress testing. The platform, which is based on Graphene technology, uses parallelization to enable scalability and for allowing million of transactions to run together per second.

4. Network Fees

Ethereum

Ethereum charges fees, in the valuation of Ether (the Ethereum Currency), in return of using storage, calculation, or bandwidth. The required fees in Ethereum fluctuates and the miners are given the option of selecting transactions that depend on the fee size.

EOS

EOS will make of ownership model, where the EOS token holders will get a proportionate share in storage, network bandwidth, and in processing power. They will have the provision to upgrade by buying more EOS.

EOS platform though, will charge zero network development and transaction fees. Users will only have to purchase the EOS token in the initial phase.

5. Denial of Service

Ethereum

In Ethereum, Miners select the high fees transactions for adding them to Blockchain and since there is a limited bandwidth and computing power, probability of low fee transactions getting blocked out are very high.

EOS

Ownership of EOS tokens gives the users a proportional stake in storage, network bandwidth, and the computing power. In EOS, even the startups that have a very little stake invested in the platform also get guaranteed, reliable computational power and bandwidth.

So here were the points of difference that define the underlying ecosystem of both EOS and Ethereum.

Seeing this, it is safe to assume that EOS, once fully functional and adopted, holds the potential to replace Ethereum in the near future, if the latter doesn’t introduce updates to make its platform more user centric instead of profit centric.

While that is about the future, if Ethereum wants to come points ahead of EOS sooner, it will have to make amendments in its architecture by introducing features akin to Operating system architecture of EOS. In fact, the DOS incident that happened back in 2016, could have been avoided completely if Ethereum was indeed an Operating System and not a state machine.

While saying EOS will replace Ethereum in the coming future is still a statement less of surety and more of probability, the differentiating factors that EOS comes packaged with, bring the platform very close to winning the race to becoming the best smart contract development platform.

EOS Features that Bring it Points Ahead of Ethereum

1. Zero Transaction Fees for End Users

While EOS users should own or rent some cryptocurrency to use the platform, they don’t have to pay anything to perform a transaction. A factor that works in favour of the B2C users, who no more have to pay to make transactions on their decentralized applications.

Also, since there is no entry fees, businesses that lack the technical know how can also confidently enter the world of Smart Contracts.

2. Scalability

The transaction per second number that EOS is aiming for is far more than what is offered by Ethereum. While in case of Ethereum it is 15 tps, EOS stands at 1000 – 6000 transactions per second.

EOS uses asynchronous communications and separate authentication from the execution itself to achieve speedups.

3. Governance based on Stake

EOS Cryptocurrency Holders have the right to vote on a change of protocol, with the vote count being proportional to the amount of cryptocurrency that they hold.

Are these differentiators enough to validate that Ethereum time is coming to an end? Is Ethereum passing the baton to EOS? Well…. Not in so many words.

It has now become a matter of time. If Ethereum is able to work on its obvious scalability issues and act on its image – that although it works great, it works on a limited scale – through updating its ecosystem while there’s time, it will survive the race.

For now, we will have to leave it on time to declare the clear winner of this smart contract race. Because the current state of both the platforms are that there are some decentralized applications that will need the speed and scalability that EOS offers and there are some that would need the privacy and censorship resistance that Ethereum offers.

Blockchain Consensus Method: What You Need to Know

Posted on 22/02/201921/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Blockchain consensus is a decentralized distributed network that offers higher transparency, security, and immutability.

We all know that.

But, have you ever wondered how it is able to achieve all this?

Who governs this network and verifies every transaction, provided there is no centralized authority?

Well it’s Blockchain consensus algorithms – The core part of Blockchain development world that we will be talking about in this comprehensive guide.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Definition of Blockchain Consensus Algorithm
Objectives of a Consensus Mechanism
Properties of a Good Blockchain Consensus Mechanism
Consequences of Relying Upon a Bad Consensus Protocol
Blockchain Consensus Algorithms that are Popular in the Market
1. Proof of Work (PoW)
2. Proof of Stake (PoS) and Its Variations
3. Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and Its Derivatives
4. Direct Acyclic Graph (DAG)
5. Proof of Capacity (PoC)
6. Proof of Burn (PoB)
7. Proof of Identity (PoI)
8. Proof of Activity (PoA)
9. Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET)
10. Proof of Importance (PoI)

What is Blockchain Consensus Algorithm?

The simplest answer to what is Blockchain consensus algorithm is that it is a procedure via which all the peers of a Blockchain network reaches to a common acceptance or consensus about the real-time state of the distributed ledger.

A consensus mechanism enables the blockchain network to attain reliability and build a level of trust between different nodes, while ensuring security in the environment. This is the reason why it is one of the vital parts of every Blockchain app development guide and every dApp project in the distributed ledger environment.

These algorithms operate on the ground of different objectives, a few of which we will be covering in the next section of this article.

Objectives of Blockchain Consensus Mechanism

1. Unified Agreement

One of the prime objectives of consensus mechanisms is attaining unified agreement.

Unlike centralized systems where having a trust on the authority is necessary, users can operate even without building trustin on each other in a decentralized manner. The protocols embedded in the Distributed blockchain network ensures that the data involved in the process is true and accurate, and the status of the public ledger is up-to-date.

2. Align Economic Incentive

When it comes to building a trustless system that regulates on its own, aligning the interests of participants in the network is a must.

A blockchain consensus protocol, in this situation, offers rewards for good behavior and punish the bad actors. This way, it ensures regulating economic incentive too.

3. Fair & Equitable

Consensus mechanisms enable anyone to participate in the network and using the same basics. This way, it justifies the open-source and decentralization property of the blockchain system.

4. Prevent Double Spending

Consensus mechanisms works on the basis of certain algorithms that ensures that only those transactions are included in the public transparent ledger which are verified and valid. This solves the traditional problem of double-spending, i.e, the problem of spending a digital currency twice.

5. Fault Tolerant

Another characteristic of Consensus method is that it ensures that the blockchain is fault-tolerant, consistent, and reliable. That means, the governed system would work indefinite times even in the case of failures and threats.

Currently, there are a plethora of Blockchain consensus algorithms in the ecosystem and many more are heading to enter the marketplace. This makes it imperative for every Blockchain development company and enthusiastic Entrepreneur to be familiar with the factors that defines a good consensus protocol, and the possible effect of going with a poor one.

So, let’s begin with determining what makes a Blockchain consensus a good one.

Properties of a Good Blockchain Consensus Mechanism

1. Safety

In a good consensus mechanism, all the nodes are capable of generating results that are valid according to the rules of protocol.

2. Inclusive

A good consensus mechanism ensures that every particular node of the network participates in the process of voting.

3. Participatory

A consensus mechanism where all the nodes actively participate and contribute to updating database on Blockchain is called a Good consensus model.

4. Egalitarian

Another trait of a good mechanism is that it gives equal value and weightage to every vote received from the node.

With this attended to, let’s find out what happens when you do not consider these factors and introduce a poor consensus model to your development process.

Consequences of Choosing a Bad Consensus Protocol

1. Blockchain Forks

Choosing a poor blockchain consensus method increases the vulnerability of the chain. One such vulnerability that is faced by the blockchain enthusiasts and developers is Blockchain Forks.

Blockchain forks, in a layman language, is a situation or circumstances under which a single chain diverges into two or more. A detailed explanation about Blockchain fork and its types is available in the video embedded below.

When a Blockchain fork occurs, the application begins operating in an unpredictable manner, creating two or more diverged nodes ahead.

2. Poor Performance

When a bad consensus mechanism is considered, either the node gets malfunctioned or suffer from network partition. This delays the process of exchanging messages between nodes and increases the latency of the application, which ultimately lowers down the performance level.

3. Consensus Failure

Another effect of incorporating a bad consensus mechanism to your business model is consensus failure. In this situation, a fraction of nodes fails to participate in any process and thus, in the absence of their votes, the consensus fails to deliver accurate and desired outcomes.

With the basics of Blockchain consensus methods now covered, let’s dive deeper into the topic and look at the popular types of consensus mechanism.

Blockchain Consensus Algorithms that are Popular in the Market

1. Proof of Work (PoW)

Developed by Satoshi Nakamoto, Proof of Work is the oldest consensus mechanism used in the Blockchain domain. It is also known as mining where the participating nodes are called miners.

In this mechanism, the miners have to solve complex mathematical puzzles using comprehensive computation power. They use different forms of mining methods, such as GPU mining, CPU mining, ASIC mining, and FPGA mining. And the one that solves the problem at the earliest gets a block as a reward.

However, the process is not that easy. A puzzle can be solved only via trial and error method. Additionally, the level of complexity of the puzzle increases with the speed at which blocks are mined. So, it becomes mandatory for one to create a new block within a certain time frame to cope up with the difficulty level.

The Proof of Work mechanism is used by multiple cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, ZCash, Primecoin, Monero, and Vertcoin to name a few.

In terms of its implementations, the Proof of Work (PoW) has not only influenced the financial industry, but also healthcare, governance, management and more. It has, in fact, offered the opportunity of multichannel payments and multi-signature transaction over an address for enhancing security.

2. Proof of Stake (PoS)

Proof of Stake is the most basic and environmentally-friendly alternative of PoW consensus protocol.

In this blockchain method, the block producers are not miners, but they act like validators. They get the opportunity to create a block over everyone which saves energy and reduces the time. However, for them to become a validator, they are supposed to invest some amount of money or stake.

Also, unlike that in the case of PoW, miners are provided with a privilege to take their transaction fees in this algorithm for there is no reward system in this consensus model.

This, as a whole, encouraged brands like Ethereum to upgrade their model from PoW to PoS in their Ethereum 2.0 update. Also, it helped various Blockchain ecosystem like Dash, Peercoin, Decred, Reddcoin, and PivX to function properly.

Now, while PoS solved various issues earlier associated with PoW, there were many challenges still undusted in the market. To mitigate those challenges and deliver an enhanced blockchain environment, several variations of PoS came into existence.

The two popular variations of Proof of Stake (PoS) are DPoS and LPoS.

Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)

In the case of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), the participants stake their coin and vote for a certain number of delegates such that the more they invest, the more weightage they receive. For example: if user A spends 10 coins for a delegate and user B invests 5 coins, A’s vote gets more weightage than that of B.

The delegates also get rewarded in the form of transaction fees or certain amount of coins.

Because of this stake-weighted voting mechanism, DPoS is one of the fastest blockchain consensus models and highly preferred as a digital democracy. Some of the real-life use cases of this blockchain consensus mechanism are Steem, EOS, and BitShares.

Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS)

LPoS is an enhanced version of PoS consensus mechanism that operates on the Waves platform.

Unlike the regular Proof-of-Stake method where each node with some amount of cryptocurrency is entitled to add the next blockchain, users can lease their balance to full nodes in this consensus algorithm. And the one that leases the bigger amount to the full node have a higher probability of generating the next block. Also, the leaser is then rewarded with a percentage of transaction fee that has been collected by the complete node.

This PoS variant is an efficient and safe option for the development of public cryptocurrencies.

3. Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)

Byzantine Fault Tolerance, as the name suggests, is used to deal with Byzantine fault (also called Byzantine Generals Problem) – a situation where the system’s actors have to agree on an effective strategy so as to circumvent catastrophic failure of the system, but some of them are dubious.

Learn more about the Byzantine Generals Problem through this video:-

The two variations of BFT consensus model that are prime in the Blockchain arena are PBFT and DBFT.

Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT)

PBFT is a lightweight algorithm that solves the Byzantine General’s problems by letting users confirm the messages that have been delivered to them by performing a computation to evaluate the decision about the message’s validity.

The party then announces its decision to other nodes who ultimately process a decision over it. This way, the final decision relies upon the decisions retrieved from the other nodes.

Stellar, Ripple, and Hyperledger Fabric are some of use cases of this blockchain consensus mechanism.

Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DBFT)

Introduced by NEO, the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance mechanism is similar to DPoS consensus model. Here also, the NEO token holders get the opportunity to vote for the delegates.

However, this is independent of the amount of currency they invest. Anyone who fulfills the basic requirements, i.e, a verified identity, right equipment, and 1,000 GAS, can become a delegate. One among those delegates is then chosen as speaker randomly.

The speaker creates a new block from the transaction that is waiting to be validated. Also, he sends a proposal to the voted delegates who have the responsibility to supervise all the transactions and record them on the network. These delegates have the freedom to share and analyze the proposals to check the accuracy of data and honesty of the speaker. If, then, 2/3rd of the delegates validates it, the block is added to the blockchain.

This type of Blockchain consensus protocol is also called ‘Ethereum of China’ and can be a helpful resource in building a ‘smart economy’ by digitising assets and offering smart contracts on the blockchain.

4. Direct Acyclic Graph (DAG)

Another basic yet prime blockchain consensus model that every mobile app development services company working with Blockchain must be familiar with is DAG.

In this type of Blockchain consensus protocol, every node itself prepares to become the ‘miners’. Now, when miners are eradicated and transactions are validated by users itself, the associated fee reduces to zero. It becomes easier to validate transactions between any two closest nodes, which makes the whole process lightweight, faster, and secure.

The two best examples of DAG algorithm are IOTA and Hedera Hashgraph.

Though these are the prime consensus models in the development environment, many different blockchain consensus mechanisms have slowly and gradually starting gaining momentum, such as:-

5. Proof of Capacity (PoC)

In the Proof of Capacity (PoC) mechanism, solutions for every complex mathematical puzzle is accumulated in digital storages like Hard disks. Users can use these hard disks to produce blocks, in a way that those who are fastest in evaluating the solutions get better chances for creating blocks.

The process it follows is called Plotting. The two cryptocurrencies that relies on PoC blockchain consensus protocol are Burstcoin and SpaceMint.

6. Proof of Burn (PoB)

Considered an alternate solution to PoW and PoS in terms of energy consumption, Proof of Burn (PoB) consensus model works on the principle of letting miners ‘burn’ or ‘ruin’ the virtual cryptocurrency tokens, which further provides them with a privilege to write blocks in proportion to the coins. The more coins they burn, the more are the chances of picking the new block for every coin they get.

But, in order to burn coins, they are required to send it to the address where it couldn’t be spent for verifying the block.

This is widely employed in the case of distributed consensus. And the finest example of this consensus mechanism is the Slim coin.

7. Proof of Identity (PoI)

The concept of PoI (Proof of Identity) is just like that of the authorized identity. It is a piece of cryptographic confirmation for a users’ private key that is being attached to each particular transaction. Each identified user can create and manage a block of data that can be presented to others in the network.

This blockchain consensus model ensures authenticity and integrity of the created data. And thus, is a good choice for introducing in smart cities.

8. Proof of Activity (PoA)

PoA is basically a hybrid approach designed through the convergence of PoW and PoS blockchain consensus models.

In the case of PoA mechanism, miners race to solve a cryptographic puzzle at the earliest using special hardware and electric energy, just like in PoW. However, the blocks they come across holds only the information about the identity of block winner and reward transaction. This is where the mechanism switches to PoS.

The validators (shareholders appointed to validate transactions) test and ensure the correctness of the block. If the block was checked many times, the validators activate to a complete block. This confirms that open transactions are processes and are finally integrated into the found block containers.

Besides, the block reward is divided so that validators gain shares of it.

The two real-world implementation of this mechanism are Espers and Decred coins.

9. Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET)

PoET was introduced by Intel with an intent to take over cryptographic puzzles involved in PoW mechanism by considering the fact that the CPU architecture and the quantity of mining hardware knows when and at what frequency does a miner win the block.

It is based on the idea of fairly distributing and expanding the odds for a bigger fraction of participants. And so, every participating node is asked to wait for a particular time to participate in the next mining process. The member with the shortest hold-up time is asked to offer a block.

At the same time, every node also come up with their own waiting time, after which they go into sleep mode.

So, as soon as a node gets active and a block is available, that node is considered as the ‘lucky winner’. This node can then spread the information throughout the network, while maintaining the property of decentralization and receiving the reward.

10. Proof of Importance (PoI)

Introduced by NEM, PoI is a variation of PoS protocol that considers the role of shareholders and validators for its operation. However, this is not only influenced by the size and chance of their shares; various other factors like reputation, overall balance, and no. of transactions made through any particular address also plays a role in it.

The networks based on POI consensus model are expensive to attack on and rewards users for contributing to the network’s security.

The information shared so far would have helped you in differentiating the varied Blockchain consensus protocols.

However, to simplify it for you, here’s a blockchain consensus algorithms comparison table.

How Does the Price of Cryptocurrency Change in the Market?

Posted on 18/02/201921/06/2021 by Tushar

If we had to make a list of some of the top volatile elements of the world, the one name that would top even Mercury is Cryptocurrencies.

Ever since their launch in 2009, cryptocurrencies have found themselves being counted as one of the most fluctuating and volatile topics of the world seeking to get to the bottom of what is cryptocurrency.

There is hardly any investment enthusiast who has not tried to crack the code of why cryptocurrencies fluctuate and how to take that understanding and convert it into insights that would make the investment successful.

While the industry has managed to make itself one that is extremely difficult to gauge in terms of cryptocurrency price movement, let us try to decipher how the price of cryptocurrency changes in the market by understanding how and why the cryptocurrencies move.

But let us first start by drawing parallels between Cryptocurrencies and Fiat Money.

Cryptocurrency vs Fiat Currency: How the Two Compare Against Each Other

The biggest comparative factor that stands between the cryptocurrency vs fiat currency debate is their backing. The fiat currencies are backed by the central governments and its value are derived from the fact that central government states it has value and then the parties transacting in the value are putting their trust in them. In the case of fiat currency, central banks control the entire supply of money and thus inflation.

Cryptocurrencies, on the other side, was brought into existence to not let central government have the autonomy to regulate the funds of an individual. And because they have a fixed supply, the devaluation through inflation is next to nonexistent.

Apart from this, both cryptocurrency and fiat currency come with similar characteristics: they both can be used as the medium to exchange services and products and they can store value.

Why Does Cryptocurrency Prices Fluctuate So Much?

A single statement answer to the question of what drives cryptocurrency price movement would be – because it is still a nascent stage.

Being a market that is yet to find its set of logical use cases, cryptocurrencies are still at a very nascent stage. And the result of this newness is the high volatility in the industry, which is majorly driven by the heightened experiments that investors make to get a sense of how the prices fluctuate.

Factors That Affect The Changing Cryptocurrency Values

The factors affecting price of cryptocurrency could range from the scope of cryptocurrency application in the present day to the future uses of cryptocurrency coin and a series of other linked elements falling in the development of the cryptocurrency space. Here are some of those reasons that bring about a cryptocurrency price movement in the market

1. Utility of the Coins

Any sound Blockchain development company would tell you that a cryptocurrency should have a strong use case in order to incentivize people to hold the coins.

Let us look at Ethereum as an example to explain it further. For executing the commands and developing applications on the Ethereum blockchain, one would need to have ETH to convert into gas and represent the ‘fuel’ of Ethereum.

Thus, the more the people who execute transactions and develop applications, the more would be the demand for ETH and greater would be the prices. In short, the bigger role of cryptocurrencies, the greater would be the cryptocurrency market cap.

2. Scarcity

Scarcity denotes the finite mechanism of cryptocurrencies.

In economics, a stable supply of any item increases its value in the long term for it is assumed that the demand would also increase. This, in turn, creates a scarcity for there are only a few coins in circulation. Some brands even use a burning mechanism, which means destroying a part of the coin supply. This in turn, increases the coin value for there is lesser coin supply.

3. Assumed Value

A cryptocurrency can only be as valuable as the market deem fit and the market values it on the basis of factors which are at the center of the project development. Here are some factors that determine the value of projects –

One that constantly achieve the milestones mentioned in its whitepaper
Partnership and collaboration with credible companies
Launch of MVP or beta version
The growth of the cryptocurrency market

4. Deflation of Fiat Currency

When the price of fiat currency declines, the price of cryptocurrency would automatically go up with respect to that currency. This happens because you would be able to get more currencies with your cryptocurrencies.

5. Mass Adoption

Driven by the sentiment that the more a product is demand, the greater would be its cost, the cryptocurrency price movement goes up with greater adoption that it sees in the market. This one formula has been the core reason behind the rise in prices of Bitcoin. So the more use cases a coin will see (like in case of Bitcoin) the greater would be its overall cost.

6. Whales

As the term denotes, Whales are those Bitcoin wallets that have around $1 billion in them. They make it very difficult to put any price target on the cryptocurrency. Per Wimmer, the founder of Wimmer Financial LLP, explains: “The crypto market is dominated mainly by ten big whales or privates. They are massive in the market and take up a lot space and volume so if you take the top 10 or even 50 you will have a lot of the volume covered already. It is too easy to manipulate the market so far”.

One way these ‘whales’ fuel price manipulations is through the rinse and repeat trading technique. Under this approach, a whale carrying huge crypto holdings begins selling them at lower than the market rate, which in turn causes a panic situation where small-time traders start selling off their holdings. The whale, meanwhile, waits through the panic state till the cryptocurrency value reaches rock bottom. And just when the price is low, they swoop in and buy more cryptocurrencies.

Besides these factors, if there is one thing that is and would continue to affect the cryptocurrency price fluctuations greatly is the regulations’ set. Presently, the speed at which governments are passing out regulations are limited to a huge extent, thus keeping cryptocurrencies reaching their mass adoption potential. But the more regulations, the greater would be the adoption and thus the rise in cryptocurrency prices.

Beyond Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), An Overview of Blockchain Funding Models

Posted on 10/02/201919/06/2021 by Tushar

2017 was the year when Blockchain first entered the investment world.

The prevalent situation of confusion about the genuinity of Blockchain projects is what enticed the technology enthusiasts to take the matter in their control and create their own funding model to initiate some traction in the adoption of decentralization.

This need to get a new class of investors on board is what conceptualized Initial Coin Offering (ICOs). A model that went on to become a major hit in 2017 with the funding rounds now hitting new heights.

By the end of 2017 and starting of 2018, ICOs had now reached a point where the industry was now passing comparative lines and questioning if ICOs are replacing Venture Capital funding rounds.

In 2018, however, we saw a slight setback in the ICO adoption in the market, in terms of the picture that was now coming on the forefront – a picture of scams in funding bitcoin development. The market though kept rising to the occasion, even when the accusation of scams were surrounding it, with only a slight downfall. Something that now made people question if ICOs are still worth investing.

Came 2019 and we saw new types of Blockchain funding models entering the industry – promising to help Blockchain entrepreneurs and investors get into the decentralization world with more confidence. These models soon became the most renowned non-traditional funding models operating in the market today. In this article, we are going to introduce you with the world of Blockchain funding types that are now slowly moving away and beyond from Initial Coin Offerings. For in no way, there is a shortage in demand for Blockchain fundings, if at all, the decentralization range getting funded is only increasing. Giving the question – will investment in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups continue to rise or stagnate? An answer in Yes.

But since the whole Blockchain powered funding process was conceptualized with ICOs, we will not make it sit out of the list of Type of Blockchain Funding Models. Just like we have not excluded it from our Blockchain guide for entrepreneurs.

So, here we go.

The Top Blockchain Funding Models

A. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)

The concept is first to initiate funding powered by Blockchain ecosystem. Working mainly at the back of Whitepapers, the model invites investors to put in their money in the decentralized project in return of cryptocoins, which is expected to see a rise in the time to come – thus increasing with it the investors’ money and eliminating the need to explain how does ICOs work.

B. Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs)

Being one of the most closely similar to ICO Blockchain funding types, the core of IEOs lies in the basic concept of Initial Coin Offering – with the only difference being in the fact that unlike ICOs, where the whole funding round and an event happens on the company’s website, it happens on the crypto-currency exchange.

The crypto-exchanges are meant to develop a platform in which the developer pool is minting and selling their token to the individual contributors in return of either fiat or any other cryptocurrency.

The primal answer of how IEO differs from ICO is that the investors need not send their cryptocurrency to some smart contract. Instead, they will have to open an account on a platform on which the IEO will take place.

The next step would be to fund in their crypto-exchange wallet and then make use of those coins for purchasing the company’s digital money.

The benefit of this is that the whole IEO model becomes tradable almost instantly, while in the case of ICOs, the investors are made to wait for months to sell their coins. In addition to it, the exchange is also interested in marketing their tokens for they receive a percentage of tokens which are sold in the offering.

What it Means for Your Business?

While only minutely different from ICOs (at least seemingly) the benefits that IEOs have to offer are very huge in comparison.

You will not have to ask your blockchain development agency to set up your KYC process as the process is already done by the exchange
It gets you the ready-made user base of the crypto-exchange
Getting listed on exchange needs a whole other set of expertise – a step which is easily avoided
The fact that your project is listed on an exchange automatically gives it a trustable reputation.

C. DAICOs

An idea coined by Vitalik Buterin at the beginning of 2018, DAICO is ICO made more trusted and accountable.

The Blockchain funding model starts off as ICO with investors sending their funds to the development team and receiving tokens that are proportionate to the funding. The difference comes when in the way that the funds are all locked away from the development team and they cannot access it – unlike in the case of ICO – thus answering how DAICO is better than traditional ICO.

In the second phase or the phase where the difference in DAICO vs ICO emerges is in the fact that following the DAO model, the token holders vote in favor of or against the project proposal. Meaning, the development team will only be able to implement the proposals which got enough positive votes – an event that happens on the smart contract.

The contract, in case of DAICO, has a variable called ‘Tap’. The tap is set to zero at the initial stage, meaning the development team won’t be able to access funds a.k.a Tap mode. This mode gets activated as soon as your ‘Contribution’ mode ends – the part where funds were given by the investors.

Now, the development team has to submit in resolutions which contain the project development phase while the investors have to unanimously decide whether or not to vote for the rise in Tap value. If they raise the value, funds will be given to the developers, otherwise, it won’t be – a part known as Withdraw mode.

In the case where the investors and the development team are unhappy with how it is all happening, investors can vote for self-destructing the contract, in which case refunds will be made to the investors.

The benefit that DAICO offers over ICO is a complete scam proof ecosystem. Unlike ICO scams where businesses take in all the money and leave the project, DAICO enables the investors to have full control over when to take their money out. And even in case of a scam, their whole investment never gets wasted for they get the refund while the tokens held by the developers are completely destroyed.

What it Means for Your Business?

While on a superficial level DAICOs appear as more of an investor-benefitting funding model, there are some pretty strong for cases from the business front as well –

Since the fund distribution now becomes dependent on the development phases, the motivation level is very high – helping in keeping high-quality quotient intact.
The high accountability that the model promises is something that helps face the scammy image of ICOs at its core, thus not just strengthening your business’s image but of the whole of the Blockchain industry.

D. Equity Token Offering (ETOs)

The funding model that is the sub-section of Security Token Blockchain Offering is a fresh take on the ICOs. Unlike in the case of Initial Coin Offerings where the investors only get coins in return of their investment, Equity Token Offerings get them a pro-rata ownership in the company including the dividend and voting rights. The equity-crowdfunding model enables off-chain companies to issue share on the on-chain platforms in the ETO vs ICO debate. Here are some benefits that Security Token Offerings (STOs) as a whole offers to the Blockchain ecosystem –

What it Means for Your Business?

When you choose to go with the ETO model, you invite off-chain companies like private equity and startups to onboard without relying on caseless utility tokens. Something that opens your blockchain project for the world to invest in. There are some other implications of choosing ETO for your business as well, like:

The transaction cost in the traditional process of investment is reduced
The Reverse Dutch Auction enables gauging of investor demand before the actual ETO, which results in optimizing the price point for issuers.

Here were the four types of Blockchain funding models that are presently operative and emerging in the world to help set up several decentralized projects off the ground.

Now, the question remains how do you decide which funding model is right for your business? Our team of Blockchain experts and Bitcoin Blockchain developers has the answers. Fill in the contact form below to get the answers.

The Roadmap to a More Scalable Ethereum Experience (Ethereum 2.0)

Posted on 09/02/201919/06/2021 by Tushar

Ethereum 1.0 is getting upgraded.
Ethereum 2.0 is going to be the new face of App industry because of its speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and other such benefits.
Ethereum 2.0 will be ready within 18-24 months, in the form of 7 different phases.
Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 is expected to be live this year.

Ever since Ethereum was launched back in 2015, the developers were having sky-high hopes from it. While Buterin and Co., the company behind the evolution of this blockchain-based distributed computing platform, made significant changes in its consensus model and scaling solutions, the developer’s demand for an integrated experience of all these changes was not yet fulfilled.

But this Monday, the history of the Ethereum platform changed. The company announced an OS upgrade, known as Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity) – a glance of which we are going to cover within the next 3 seconds.

Ethereum 2.0: What It Is

Ethereum 2.0, according to Van Loon, is a distinct Blockchain from the existing Ethereum Chain, where the hard fork of the current blockchain is not mandatory for proper functioning. Instead, the value in Ethereum 2.0 is transmitted from ‘Proof of Work’ chain through a one-way deposit Smart contract.

With this attended to, let’s have a look into the reason behind the idea of launching this upgrade, or better say, have a comparison of Ethereum 1.0 and Ethereum 2.0

Ethereum 2.0 vs Ethereum 1.0: What Everyone Ought to Know

When it comes to comparing the two OS versions, the reasons that come up as the igniting force behind the introduction of Ethereum 2.0 are the following challenges associated with current Ethereum:-

Scalability:- Ethereum was launched with an aim to be the world computer that manages all the financial transactions and host dApps and Smart contracts without being impractically slow. However, Ethereum 1.0 is not able to fulfill this requirement while operating with PoW (Proof-of-Work) algorithm – something that gives the scope of introducing other more scalability-friendly platforms in the many Blockchain guide meant for entrepreneurs.
Security:- Though not a major issue, the security level and considerations associated with Ethereum 1.0 are not advanced. They have to be improved, which is what Ethereum 2.0 is focusing upon.
A Solution for Difficulty Bomb:- The developers have been continually compelled to shift from PoW to PoS by slowing down the mining rewards. However, this is increasing the difficulty associated with the process, and in the absence of any solution, it has been resulting in a dead end. Ethereum 2.0, in this case, will come up as a solution for the dApp developers to make better applications.

Now as we are familiar with the secret behind launching Ethereum 2.0, let’s dig deeper into what includes in this upgrade and when it will be live.

Ethereum denotes a series of updates that will make Ethereum make better and faster by focusing on two prime goals:-

Introducing PoS (Proof of Stake) consensus mechanism that will eventually eradicate the need to invest in PoW (Proof of Work) mining.
Introducing Sharding which will boost speed and throughout of the ETH transactions.

Now, when talking about the series of updates, the Ethereum 2.0 is making the update live in different phases. An outcome of which is that the 7 phases of the evolution of Ethereum 2.0 is expected to hit the market – with the Phase 0 just gone live.

Wondering what these different phases are? What will be included in each phase and when are they supposed to be made available to developers? Let’s cover this in the next section of the blog.

Different Phases of Ethereum 2.0

Phase 0: PoS Beacon Chain

The Beacon Chain is a PoS-enabled chain that will run in parallel to Ethereum’s Proof of Work chain and enable a Blockchain app development company to reap the benefits of the network without investing their time and energy into the process of re-learning the parameters of the platform. It is estimated to enter the market this year itself.

Phase 1: Basic Sharding

In this phase, shard chains will work in sync with the Beacon chain. They will aid developers with higher transactional speed and instant output delivery in transactions, which will eventually upgrade the scalability.

Shard chains will be responsible for managing transactions and exchange of account data and will be live in the world in 2020.

Phase 2: EVM State Transition Functioning

Proposed to enter the market in 2020-2021, this phase of Ethereum 2.0 Serenity will be related to the advent of new EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) which will be upgraded via the eWASM (Ethereum Web Assembly). This new virtual machine is predicted to perform code execution more swiftly and effectively while supporting many more programming language.

Besides, this phase will also witness the introduction of better protocol standardization to enhance the network security.

Phase 3: Light Client State Protocol

The fourth phase of evolution of Ethereum 2.0 will begin in 2022 and will cover everything related to the improvement of network in terms of security, scalability, and decentralization.

Phase 4: Cross-shard Transactions

This phase will be basically related to mind mapping of the complete architecture and will be seen somewhere around 2022.

Phase 5: Tight Coupling with Main Chain Security

The sixth phase of Ethereum 2.0 Serenity will be associated with internally fork-free sharding and data availability proofs.

Phase 6: Super-Quadratic or Exponential Sharding

The last phase of Ethereum 2.0 (Serenity), which will go live by the end of the year 2022, will be related to managing recursive shards.

The process of evolution of Ethereum 2.0, with 7 seven phases is announced to be completed within 18-24 months. This implies we will be able to enjoy 100 times more scalable network by the year 2022 along with other facilities like transition of Ether tokens from old chain to new one.

Samsung Integrates Blockchain into Their Business Model

Posted on 28/01/201917/06/2021 by Tushar

Blockchain is no longer a hyped technology. It made its own significant identity, beyond the technology behind cryptocurrency, and entered the business world significantly. The domain has made a room for itself in almost every niche industry and business, proving it to be nearly impossible to overlook the charisma of this technology. Seeing this, various startups and established brands entered the exciting space of Blockchain – with Samsung emerging as the torchbearer.

Samsung, the tech giant based in South Korea, took various steps towards establishing its presence in the Blockchain market. A few of the announcements and efforts they put in this direction are:-

1. Investing in Blockchain-Specialized Startups and Tools

Last year, Samsung invested around USD 8.1M in a Blockchain-based company Blocco and $4M in ‘KZen Networks’. While, this February, they partnered with HYPR – a Blockchain biometric encryption firm in the USA – and made an investment of around $1M.

2. Developing its Own Ethereum-Based Blockchain

The tech giant also took a step towards developing its own ‘Blockchain mainnet based on Ethereum platform’, which was announced to be either a private blockchain or a hybrid one. Also, they announced working on their own crypto token, called ‘Samsung Coin’ which would be used for crypto exchange or as a payment solution in the Samsung Pay app.

3. Adding Storage for Private Cryptocurrency Keys

Earlier this February, Samsung added storage for private cryptocurrency keys in their Galaxy S10 model devices. They introduced a wallet that enables users to store Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other such cryptocurrencies on their devices as well as make contactless payments using cryptocurrency.

4. Declaring Blockchain a Part of their Digital Transformation Network

In the month of May, the president and CEO of Samsung SDS disclosed that Blockchain will be one of the top technologies they will focus upon under their ‘Digital Transformation Network’.

5. Announcing Launch of New Products for Blockchain Integration

Also, they announced last month that they will be launching three new products to simplify the process of Blockchain integration with other platforms for entities that are trying to embrace the technology.

6. Releasing a Software Development Kit (SDK)

Samsung also unfolded new opportunities for Blockchain experts. They released a new software development kit (SDK) having a myriad of tools and functions for developing Blockchain and dApps.

This SDK provides developers with an opportunity to handle their Blockchain accounts easily and effortlessly and make transactions seamless by abstracted transfer APIs for every cryptocurrency. It also offers a payment gateway to software developers for cryptocurrency remittance with its UI.

Above all, it gives an opportunity to link not solely to but also to any cold wallet including Ledger and Trezor devices. It renders access to a ‘Blockchain specialized browser’ for decentralized web applications that offers a set of features related to easing the process of crypto payments and tools to predict fees using live crypto exchange rates. And in addition to this, it provides Blockchain and Ethereum developers with a chance to retrieve transaction history from Samsung’s ‘blockchain proxy node’.

These efforts, as a whole, are making it easier to cut down the cost of App development, except when you already have your own wallet logic.

7. Connecting dApps to its Blockchain Wallet

Another significant step that the Samsung team took towards building their presence in the Blockchain arena is the integration of decentralized applications to its Galaxy S10 wallet. The tech giant introduced 4 dApps to its wallet back in March, added 6 more apps into the list the day before yesterday, and today, they announced the addition of one more application into the list.

With this, the list of decentralized mobile applications that entered into the environment of Samsung’s Blockchain wallet are:-

Cosmee – a dApp for sharing beauty content.
CoinDuck – a merchant payment service.
Enjin – a Crypto-based gaming platform.
CryptoKitties – a platform for Crypto-collectibles.
The Hunters – a Crypto-based gaming platform.
MyCryptoHeroes – a Blockchain-powered gaming decentralized application.
Berry Pick – a social media dApp that rewards active users.
Misetoktok – a dApp to monitor air quality and pollution level in real-time.
Syrup Table – a network for reviewing and rating restaurants.
X-Wallet – a decentralized wallet application that supports Ether, Binance Coin, and Bitcoin.
Lympo – a Blockchain-based health and fitness startup that rewards LYM tokens, which can now be transferred to Samsung Blockchain Wallet and converted in real fiat money.

Besides, they also hinted that Pibble, Forecasting, and many more apps might be a part of this list – giving an indication that Samsung is planning to turn its Blockchain wallet into an App Store – just like Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

8.Collaborating for Blockchain-based Self-Sovereign Identification System

Samsung went into a consortium with popular tech giants and banks –Telcos, KT, LGUplus, KOSCOM, KEB Hana Bank, and Woori Bank – to create a blockchain network for deploying mobile authentication service.

With this service, the companies will cut down the intermediaries in the process and add the functionalities of transparency and security. They will empower users to safeguard their own data, including that related to the institutions and companies they have been a part of. Or better say, the will aid users to have a control on their data.

Currently, they are aiming to employ this blockchain-based self-sovereign authentication system to simplify job and hiring process by making it easier for users to verify and upload their documents and apply for a job.

However, they are planning to extend this service to various other domains and processes, such as hospital and insurance services and membership services in holiday resorts.

These efforts and investments have not just brought Samsung into the limelight of innovativeness, but have also established it as an example for other conglomerates to follow.