## Τι Είναι το Toncoin (TON);

Το Toncoin (TON) είναι ένα αποκεντρωμένο [blockchain επιπέδου 1](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/layer-1-blockchain) που αναπτύχθηκε το 2018 από την πλατφόρμα κρυπτογραφημένων μηνυμάτων Telegram. Στη συνέχεια, αφού το έργο εγκαταλείφθηκε, το ανέλαβε το Ίδρυμα TON και το μετονόμασε από «Telegram Open Network» σε «The Open Network».

Από το 2020, η τεχνολογία αναπτύσσεται χάρη σε μια μη εμπορική ομάδα υποστηρικτών και μια ανεξάρτητη κοινότητα λάτρεων που αυτοαποκαλούνται το Ίδρυμα TON. Το Toncoin, παλαιότερα γνωστό ως Gram, είναι το εγγενές κρυπτονόμισμα του δικτύου TON.

Η αρχική ιδέα ήταν να ενσωματωθεί το TON σε μια εύχρηστη εφαρμογή που επιτρέπει στους χρήστες να αγοράζουν, να στέλνουν και να αποθηκεύουν κεφάλαια. Οι πελάτες πληρώνουν τέλη συναλλαγών και χρησιμοποιούν TON για τον διακανονισμό πληρωμών ή την επικύρωση συναλλαγών. Το Toncoin χρησιμοποιεί το συναινετικό μοντέλο [απόδειξης συμμετοχής](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos) (PoS) για την επεκτασιμότητα και την αξιοπιστία του δικτύου. Σύμφωνα με την ιστοσελίδα του έργου, η πλατφόρμα παρέχει στους πελάτες της γρήγορες, διαφανείς και ασφαλείς υπηρεσίες πληρωμών, διευκολύνοντας τις συναλλαγές με εφαρμογές τρίτων με ελάχιστες χρεώσεις.

Οι προγραμματιστές έχουν σκοπό να δημιουργήσουν ένα πλήρες οικοσύστημα με αποκεντρωμένη αποθήκευση, αποκεντρωμένες υπηρεσίες, ένα σύστημα ονομάτων τομέα (ισοδύναμο του DNS), ένα ανώνυμο δίκτυο, μια πλατφόρμα άμεσων πληρωμών και προσιτή/γρήγορη διεκπεραίωση συναλλαγών.

Το Open Network είναι ένα blockchain με γνώμονα την κοινότητα, με ευέλικτη αρχιτεκτονική και εστίαση στην εξυπηρέτηση ενός τυπικού καταναλωτή. Το TON ξεχωρίζει λόγω της γρήγορης διεκπεραίωσης/επικύρωσης [συναλλαγών ανά δευτερόλεπτο](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/transactions-per-second) (TPS). Τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2021, κατά τη διάρκεια ενός διαγωνισμού, το δίκτυο διεκπεραίωσε 55.000 TPS, αριθμός που αποτελούσε παγκόσμιο ρεκόρ τότε, αν και το τρέχον TPS θα είναι εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες ή και εκατομμύρια. Αυτό το χαρακτηριστικό επιτρέπει στο έργο να αναπτύσσεται γρήγορα, αποφεύγοντας απώλειες απόδοσης. Παράλληλα, το έργο δεν βλάπτει το περιβάλλον.

### Ποιος Ίδρυσε το Toncoin;

Αρχικά, η πλατφόρμα blockchain δημιουργήθηκε από τους αδελφούς Nikolai και Pavel Durov και αναπτύχθηκε από την ομάδα του Telegram. Το Telegram σχεδίαζε να λανσάρει ένα token εντός αλυσίδας που θα ονομαζόταν Gram και να δημιουργήσει μια πλατφόρμα για [αποκεντρωμένες εφαρμογές](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps) (dApps).

Το Gram κέρδιζε όλο και περισσότερη προσοχή, γεγονός που άρχισε να προκαλεί προβλήματα. Η ανάπτυξή του απαγορεύτηκε από την Επιτροπή Κεφαλαιαγοράς των ΗΠΑ (SEC). Το Gram θεωρήθηκε τίτλος και η SEC απαγόρευσε την κυκλοφορία των token Gram.

Η ομάδα του Telegram έκανε το TON ένα σχεδόν πλήρες προϊόν. Ωστόσο, το 2020, ο Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος του Telegram, Pavel Durov, αποχώρησε από το έργο και η ανάπτυξη παραδόθηκε σε ανεξάρτητους λάτρεις των κρυπτονομισμάτων.

Από την αρχή, το έργο ήταν ανοιχτού κώδικα, ώστε ο καθένας να μπορεί να συνεχίσει την ανάπτυξη. Το τρέχον δίκτυο ξεκίνησε και αναπτύχθηκε από τους Anatoliy Makosov και Kirill Emelianenko, μέλη της κοινότητας που ονομαζόταν NewTON (αργότερα Ίδρυμα TON).

### Τι Κάνει το Toncoin Μοναδικό;

Το TON έχει μια δομή πολλαπλών επιπέδων που βασίζεται στην αρχή του κατακερματισμού ή της τμηματοποίησης («blockchain within a blockchain»). H δυνατότητα [κατακερματισμού](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/sharding) (sharding) περιλαμβάνει τη χρήση πολλαπλών υποδικτύων ([shards](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/shard)) στο ίδιο blockchain, όπου κάθε shard έχει έναν συγκεκριμένο σκοπό. Επιτρέπει στο δίκτυο να αποφύγει τη συσσώρευση μη επαληθευμένων μπλοκ και επιταχύνει τις εργασίες. Το δίκτυο TON αποτελείται από τις αλυσίδες master, work και shard.

Οι προγραμματιστές επικεντρώνονται στην επεκτασιμότητα, την αποτελεσματικότητα και τη μαζική υιοθέτηση. Λόγω της καθιερωμένης αλληλεπίδρασης μεταξύ των τμημάτων, το δίκτυο παρέχει εξαιρετικά γρήγορες συναλλαγές, επαληθεύοντας και διεκπεραιώνοντας ένα τεράστιο αριθμό TPS.

Το δίκτυο TON προσφέρει τις ακόλουθες υπηρεσίες: TON Wallets, μια ενσωματωμένη λειτουργία πορτοφολιού που έχει σχεδιαστεί για τη μεταφορά κεφαλαίων και την αλληλεπίδραση με υπηρεσίες πλατφόρμας και προσφέρει δύο κατηγορίες πορτοφολιών: [θεματοφυλακής](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/custodial) και [ανεξάρτητα](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/non-custodial)· TON Services που επιτρέπουν στους προγραμματιστές να δημιουργούν διάφορα [dApps](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/decentralized-applications-dapps), ενώ οι χρήστες μπορούν να έχουν πρόσβαση σε εφαρμογές τρίτων μέσω μιας φιλικής προς το χρήστη διεπαφής· TON Storage που προσφέρει τα πλεονεκτήματα της ιδιωτικής κρυπτογράφησης χρησιμοποιώντας το ιδιωτικό κλειδί του πορτοφολιού του κατόχου· TON Proxy που χρησιμοποιεί όλα τα στοιχεία της πλατφόρμας και επιτρέπει στους πελάτες να έχουν πρόσβαση στο blockchain TON μέσω αποκεντρωμένων VPN· TON DNS (αποκεντρωμένο σύστημα ονομάτων τομέα) που επιτρέπει στους παραδοσιακούς ιστότοπους να λειτουργούν στο δίκτυο TON, δίνοντας τη δυνατότητα στους χρήστες να ορίζουν μικρά, ευανάγνωστα ονόματα.

#### Σχετικές σελίδες:

Διάβασε για τα [Zilliqa (ZIL)](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/currencies/zilliqa/) και [Harmony (ONE)](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/currencies/harmony/).

Ακολούθησε το [Toncoin στην Κοινότητα CMC](https://coinmarketcap.com/community/profile/Toncoin) για τις πιο πρόσφατες ενημερώσεις.

Τι είναι η απόδειξη συμμετοχής (PoS); Μάθε περισσότερα με το [γλωσσάρι του CMC](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos).

Τι είναι το Web 3.0; Μάθε περισσότερα με το [CMC Alexandria](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-web-3-0).

### Πόσα Νομίσματα Toncoin (TON) Υπάρχουν σε Κυκλοφορία;

Το δίκτυο TON έχει το εγγενές token του, το Toncoin, με κυκλοφορούσα προσφορά 1,22 δισεκατομμύρια TON και μέγιστη προσφορά 5 δισεκατομμύρια.

Το Toncoin σχεδιάστηκε για να τροφοδοτεί το οικοσύστημα. Μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για τη δημιουργία αποκεντρωμένων εφαρμογών (dApps), να λειτουργεί ως τέλος διεκπεραίωσης συναλλαγών, ως τέλος συναλλαγών μεταξύ αλυσίδων και ως πληρωμή πονταρίσματος για την ασφάλεια του blockchain και των υπηρεσιών. Η λίστα περιπτώσεων χρήσης περιλαμβάνει επίσης την πληρωμή για αποκεντρωμένη αποθήκευση δεδομένων, TON DNS/TON Proxy και άλλες χρεώσεις εντός αποκεντρωμένων υπηρεσιών. Τα τέλη επικύρωσης καταβάλλονται επίσης σε TON. Επιπλέον, οι άνθρωποι μπορούν να ψηφίσουν με το TON τους για αλλαγές και ανάπτυξη στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος διακυβέρνησής του.

### Πώς Διασφαλίζεται το Δίκτυο Toncoin (TON);

Το δίκτυο χρησιμοποιεί τον μηχανισμό συναίνεσης απόδειξης συμμετοχής ([PoS](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/proof-of-stake-pos)) για την επικύρωση των συναλλαγών. Επιπλέον, το Toncoin χρησιμοποιείται για την επιβράβευση των επικυρωτών. Οι εντολείς μπορούν επίσης να παρέχουν token σε επικυρωτές και να λαμβάνουν ανταμοιβές. Οι επικυρωτές και οι εντολείς διαχειρίζονται με έξυπνα συμβόλαια, παρέχοντας στο δίκτυο επιπλέον προστασία. Τα [έξυπνα συμβόλαια](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/glossary/smart-contract) εκτελούνται με χρήση της εικονικής μηχανής TON (TVM).

### Πού Μπορείς να Αγοράσεις Toncoin (TON);

Το Νοέμβριο του 2022, το Toncoin (TON) είναι καταχωρημένο σε πολλά χρηματιστήρια κρυπτονομισμάτων όπως τα [Huobi Global](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/huobi-global/), [FTX](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/ftx/), [KuCoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/kucoin/), [Uniswap (V3)](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/uniswap-v3/), [Gate.io](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/gate-io/), [OKX](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/okx/), [LBank](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/lbank/), [MEXC](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/mxc/), [EXMO](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/exmo/), [CoinEx](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/coinex/), [Biswap](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/biswap/), [BitMart](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/bitmart/), [Nomiswap](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/nomiswap/), [BitoPro](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/bitopro/), [ACE](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/ace/), [DigiFinex](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/digifinex/), [Tidex](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/tidex/), [Unocoin](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/unocoin/), [Bit.com](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/bit-com/), [BingX](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/bingx/) και [HitBTC](https://coinmarketcap.com/el/exchanges/hitbtc/).

Διάβασε τον αναλυτικό [οδηγό](https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-tokenomics) του CoinMarketCap για τα tokenomics.

Toncoin

XRP and TON Cleared for Use in Dubai Financial Hub

Your Telegram Username Could Be Worth a Small Fortune Soon

Trust Wallet

MetaMask

Binance Chain Wallet

The Open Network (TON) is a global, decentralized blockchain community focused on putting crypto in every pocket. 

Notcoin

bemo staked TON

DeFinder Capital

JetTon Games

Utya Black

Gram

TON FISH MEMECOIN

Resistance Dog

TonUP

STON.fi

Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. While the idea and initial work on the project began in 2017, Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Solana.

The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app (DApp) creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.

Because of the innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike. A significant focus for the Solana Foundation is to make decentralized finance accessible on a larger scale.

Solana

Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency originally described in a 2008 whitepaper by a person, or group of people, using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. It was launched soon after, in January 2009.

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer online currency, meaning that all transactions happen directly between equal, independent network participants, without the need for any intermediary to permit or facilitate them. Bitcoin was created, according to Nakamoto’s own words, to allow “online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.”

Some concepts for a similar type of a decentralized electronic currency precede BTC, but Bitcoin holds the distinction of being the first-ever cryptocurrency to come into actual use.

Bitcoin

NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that was designed as a community-run cloud computing platform and that eliminates some of the limitations that have been bogging competing blockchains, such as low transaction speeds, low throughput and poor interoperability. This provides the ideal environment for DApps and creates a developer and user-friendly platform. For instance, NEAR uses human-readable account names, unlike the cryptographic wallet addresses common to Ethereum. NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism called “Doomslug.”

NEAR Protocol is being built by the NEAR Collective, its community that is updating the initial code and releasing updates to the ecosystem. Its declared goal is to build a platform that is “secure enough to manage high value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”

Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform are examples of projects being built on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR Protocol

Arbitrum is an Ethereum layer-two (L2) scaling solution. It uses optimistic rollups to achieve its goal of improving speed, scalability and cost-efficiency on Ethereum. Arbitrum benefits from the security and compatibility of Ethereum. Another benefit is the higher throughput and lower fees compared to Ethereum. That is made possible thanks to moving most of the computation and storage load off-chain.

Arbitrum’s native token is called ARB and is used for governance. Offchain Labs, the developers behind Arbitrum, announced the shift to a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure — the Arbitrum DAO. ARB holders can vote on proposals that affect the features, protocol upgrades, funds allocation and election of a Security Council.

Arbitrum has an ambitious roadmap for 2023, which includes: Launching its own layer-three solution called Orbit; Enabling developers to deploy programs written in popular programming languages like Rust, C++, and more using Stylus; Expanding its validator set to include more independent institutional validators; Moving its protocol to layer two with Arbitrum One.

On March 16, 2023,  Arbitrum announced their highly anticipated airdrop of ARB. The token will be airdropped to early users and DAOs building on Arbitrum, with 12.75% of the total supply to be distributed. Recipients were rewarded on a point-based system depending on their interaction with the Arbitrum network until a cutoff date of March 1, 2023. The token generation event is on March 23, 2023.

Arbitrum

Aptos is a Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that employs a novel smart contract programming language called Move, a Rust-based programming language that was independently developed by Meta (formerly Facebook)’s Diem blockchain engineers.

Aptos’s vision is a blockchain that brings mainstream adoption to web3 and empowers an ecosystem of DApps to solve real-world user problems.

The PoS blockchain can achieve a theoretical transaction throughput of over 150,000 transactions per second (tps) through parallel execution.

In March 2022, Aptos raised $200 million in a seed round led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other crypto heavyweights like Tiger Global and Multicoin Capital took part in the funding round. Fast forward to July, the startup raised another $200 million in a Series A round with participation from Dragonfly, Apollo Global, Franklin Templeton, Animoca, Jump Crypto and others.

Two months later, Binance Labs made a strategic investment of an undisclosed amount in Aptos.

On Oct. 18, 2022, Aptos announced the mainnet launch, while the Aptos genesis occurred on Oct. 12, 2022.

Aptos

Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that features its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH works as a platform for numerous other cryptocurrencies, as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.

Ethereum was first described in a 2013 whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin. Buterin, along with other co-founders, secured funding for the project in an online public crowd sale in the summer of 2014. The project team managed to raise $18.3 million in Bitcoin, and Ethereum’s price in the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) was $0.311, with over 60 million Ether sold. Taking Ethereum’s price now, this puts the return on investment (ROI) at an annualized rate of over 270%, essentially almost quadrupling your investment every year since the summer of 2014.

The Ethereum Foundation officially launched the blockchain on July 30, 2015, under the prototype codenamed “Frontier.” Since then, there has been several network updates — “Constantinople” on Feb. 28, 2019, “Istanbul” on Dec. 8, 2019, “Muir Glacier” on Jan. 2, 2020, “Berlin” on April 14, 2021, and most recently on Aug. 5, 2021, the “London” hard fork.

Ethereum’s own purported goal is to become a global platform for decentralized applications, allowing users from all over the world to write and run software that is resistant to censorship, downtime and fraud.

Ethereum

Optimism (OP) is a layer-two blockchain on top of Ethereum. Optimism benefits from the security of the Ethereum mainnet and helps scale the Ethereum ecosystem by using optimistic rollups. That means transactions are trustlessly recorded on Optimism but ultimately secured on Ethereum.

Optimism is one of the biggest scaling solutions for Ethereum with over $500 million in TVL. It is home to 97 protocols, the biggest being Synthetix (SNX), a derivatives exchange, Uniswap (UNI), a DEX, and Velodrome (VELO), an AMM. Users can begin their journey on Optimism by adding the chain on their Metamask and bridging tokens like ETH to the L2. On May 31, 2022, Optimism conducted a highly anticipated airdrop of its OP token.

Optimism

Polygon (previously Matic Network) is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Polygon Matic.

Using Polygon, one can create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, stand alone chains or any other kind of infra required by the developer.

Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system (aka Internet of Blockchains). This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

The $MATIC token will continue to exist and will play an increasingly important role, securing the system and enabling governance.

Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer 2 scaling solution backed by Binance and Coinbase. The project seeks to stimulate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by resolving the problems of scalability on many blockchains.

Polygon combines the Plasma Framework and the proof-of-stake blockchain architecture. The Plasma framework used by Polygon as proposed by the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, allows for the easy execution of scalable and autonomous smart contracts.

Nothing will change for the existing ecosystem built on the Plasma-POS chain. With Polygon, new features are being built around the existing proven technology to expand the ability to cater to diverse needs from the developer ecosystem. Polygon will continue to develop the core technology so that it can scale to a larger ecosystem.

Polygon boasts of up to 65,000 transactions per second on a single side chain, along with a respectable block confirmation time of less than two seconds. The framework also allows for the creation of globally available decentralized financial applications on a single foundational blockchain.

The Plasma framework gives Polygon the potential of housing an unlimited number of decentralized applications on their infrastructure without experiencing the normal drawbacks common on proof-of-work blockchains. So far, Polygon has attracted more than 50 DApps to its PoS-secured Ethereum sidechain.

MATIC, the native tokens of Polygon, is an ERC-20 token running on the Ethereum blockchain. The tokens are used for payment services on Polygon and as a settlement currency between users who operate within the Polygon ecosystem. The transaction fees on Polygon sidechains are also paid in MATIC tokens.

Polygon

Dogecoin (DOGE) is based on the popular "doge" Internet meme and features a Shiba Inu on its logo. The open-source digital currency was created by Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon and Jackson Palmer from Sydney, Australia, and was forked from Litecoin in December 2013. Dogecoin's creators envisaged it as a fun, light-hearted cryptocurrency that would have greater appeal beyond the core Bitcoin audience, since it was based on a dog meme. Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted several tweets on social media that Dogecoin is his favorite coin.

Dogecoin

In a nutshell, Cosmos bills itself as a project that solves some of the “hardest problems” facing the blockchain industry. It aims to offer an antidote to “slow, expensive, unscalable and environmentally harmful” proof-of-work protocols, like those used by Bitcoin, by offering an ecosystem of connected blockchains.

The project’s other goals include making blockchain technology less complex and difficult for developers thanks to a modular framework that demystifies decentralized apps. Last but not least, an Interblockchain Communication protocol makes it easier for blockchain networks to communicate with each other — preventing fragmentation in the industry.

Cosmos’ origins can be dated back to 2014, when Tendermint, a core contributor to the network, was founded. In 2016, a white paper for Cosmos was published — and a token sale was held the following year. ATOM tokens are earned through a hybrid proof-of-stake algorithm, and they help to keep the Cosmos Hub, the project’s flagship blockchain, secure. This cryptocurrency also has a role in the network’s governance.

Cosmos

Sui is a groundbreaking layer-1 blockchain platform designed to support the needs of global adoption by offering a secure, powerful, and scalable development platform. At its core, Sui leverages a novel object-centric data model and the secure Move programming language to address inefficiencies prevalent in existing blockchain architectures.

On top of strong technical foundations, Sui prioritizes user experience by eliminating barriers commonly associated with blockchain interactions. Through innovations like zkLogin, sponsored transactions, and programmable transaction blocks, Sui creates a higher standard for user experience within Web3 by ensuring applications are accessible and user-friendly.

Launched in July 2017, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally based on daily trading volume. Binance aims to bring cryptocurrency exchanges to the forefront of financial activity globally. The idea behind Binance’s name is to show this new paradigm in global finance — Binary Finance, or Binance.

Aside from being the largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, Binance has launched a whole ecosystem of functionalities for its users. The Binance network includes the Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain, Binance Academy, Trust Wallet and Research projects, which all employ the powers of blockchain technology to bring new-age finance to the world. BNB is an integral part of the successful functioning of many of the Binance sub-projects.

Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that functions as a platform for decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. It is one of Ethereum’s rivals, aiming to unseat Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for smart contracts. It aims to do so by having a higher transaction output of up to 6,500 transactions per second while not compromising scalability.

This is made possible by Avalanche’s unique architecture. The Avalanche network consists of three individual blockchains: the X-Chain, C-Chain and P-Chain. Each chain has a distinct purpose, which is radically different from the approach Bitcoin and Ethereum use, namely having all nodes validate all transactions. Avalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases.

After its mainnet launch in 2020, Avalanche has worked on developing its own ecosystem of DApps and DeFi. Different Ethereum-based projects such as SushiSwap and TrueUSD have integrated with Avalanche. Furthermore, the platform is constantly working on improving interoperability between its own ecosystem and Ethereum, like through the development of bridges.

Avalanche

Polkadot is an open-source sharded multichain protocol that connects and secures a network of specialized blockchains, facilitating cross-chain transfer of any data or asset types, not just tokens, thereby allowing blockchains to be interoperable with each other. Polkadot was designed to provide a foundation for a decentralized internet of blockchains, also known as Web3.

Polkadot is known as a layer-0 metaprotocol because it underlies and describes a format for a network of layer 1 blockchains known as parachains (parallel chains). As a metaprotocol, Polkadot is also capable of autonomously and forklessly updating its own codebase via on-chain governance according to the will of its token holder community.

Polkadot provides a foundation to support a decentralized web, controlled by its users, and to simplify the creation of new applications, institutions and services.

The Polkadot protocol can connect public and private chains, permissionless networks, oracles and future technologies, allowing these independent blockchains to trustlessly share information and transactions through the Polkadot Relay Chain (explained further down).

Polkadot’s native DOT token serves three clear purposes: staking for operations and security, facilitating network governance, and bonding tokens to  connect parachains .

Polkadot has four core components:

Relay Chain: Polkadot’s “heart,” helping to create consensus, interoperability and shared security across the network of different chains;

Parachains: independent chains that can have their own tokens and be optimized for specific use cases;

Parathreads: similar to parachains but with flexible connectivity based on an economical pay-as-you-go model;

Bridges: allow parachains and parathreads to connect and communicate with external blockchains like Ethereum.

Polkadot

Launched in 2021, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is an open-source, permissionless and decentralized technology. Benefits of the XRP Ledger include its low-cost ($0.0002 to transact), speed  (settling transactions in 3-5 seconds), scalability (1,500 transactions per second) and inherently green attributes (carbon-neutral and energy-efficient). The XRP Ledger also features the first decentralized exchange (DEX) and custom tokenization capabilities built into the protocol. Since 2012, the XRP Ledger has been operating reliably, having closed 70 million ledgers.

Founded in 2017, Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables universally connected smart contracts. Through a decentralized oracle network, Chainlink allows blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events and payment methods, providing the critical off-chain information needed by complex smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital agreement.

The Chainlink Network is driven by a large open-source community of data providers, node operators, smart contract developers, researchers, security auditors and more. The company focuses on ensuring that decentralized participation is guaranteed for all node operators and users looking to contribute to the network.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Chainlink.

Chainlink

TRON (TRX) is a decentralized blockchain-based operating system developed by the Tron Foundation and launched in 2017. Originally TRX tokens were ERC-20-based tokens deployed on Ethereum, but a year later they were moved to their own network.

Initially, the project was created with the aim of providing full ownership rights to makers of digital content. The main goal is to help content creators (who receive only a small part of the income) and encourage them with more rewards for their work. How: invite content consumers to reward content makers directly (without intermediaries like YouTube, Facebook or Apple).

The TRON software supports smart contracts, various kinds of blockchain systems, and decentralized applications aka dApps. The cryptocurrency platform uses a transaction model similar to Bitcoin (BTC), namely UTXO. Transactions take place in a public ledger, where users can track the history of operations.

Therefore, the platform was built to create a decentralized Internet and serves as a tool for developers to create dApps, acting as an alternative to Ethereum. Anyone can create dApps on the TRON network, offer content, and in return receive digital assets as compensation for their efforts. The ability to create content and share it openly without hesitation regarding transaction fees is an undeniable advantage of TRON.

TRON

PEPE is a deflationary memecoin launched on Ethereum. The cryptocurrency was created as a tribute to the Pepe the Frog internet meme, created by Matt Furie, which gained popularity in the early 2000s.

The project aims to capitalize on the popularity of meme coins, like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin, and strives to establish itself as one of the top meme-based cryptocurrencies. PEPE appeals to the cryptocurrency community by instituting a no-tax policy and being up-front about its lack of utility, keeping things pure and simple as a memecoin.

In late April to May 2023, the explosive surge of PEPE caused its market cap to reach a high of $1.6 billion at one point, minting millionaires out of early holders and attracting a strong community of like-minded followers. It has induced what some may dub a "memecoin season," causing other memecoins — some launched within hours — to go on spectacular pumps and just as astounding dumps. It remains to be seen if PEPE and other memecoins will go on to new highs, although that is certainly the hope of many believers waiting for the coming BTC halving cycle praying for a Bull Run.

The PEPE roadmap features three phases, where phase one includes listing on CoinMarketCap, and getting $PEPE trending on Twitter, while phase two includes listing on centralized exchanges (CEXs) and phase three includes “tier 1” exchange listings and what the team terms a “meme takeover.”

Pepe

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform that says its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to bring about positive global change.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of Cardano.

The open-source project also aims to “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals” — helping to create a society that is more secure, transparent and fair.

Cardano was founded back in 2017, and named after the 16th century Italian polymath Gerolamo Cardano. The native ADA token takes its name from the 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer. The ADA token is designed to ensure that owners can participate in the operation of the network. Because of this, those who hold the cryptocurrency have the right to vote on any proposed changes to the software.

The team behind the layered blockchain say that there have already been some compelling use cases for its technology, which aims to allow decentralized apps and smart contracts to be developed with modularity.

In August 2021, Charles Hoskinson announced the launch of the Alonzo hard fork, causing Cardano price to surge, gaining 116% in the following month. On Sept. 12, 2021, the Cardano ‘Alonzo’ hard fork officially launched, bringing smart contract functionality to the blockchain. Over 100 smart contracts were deployed in the following 24 hours after the launch.

Cardano is used by agricultural companies to track fresh produce from field to fork, while other products built on the platform allow educational credentials to be stored in a tamper-proof way, and retailers to clamp down on counterfeit goods.