The world is in constant change. Bitcoin, Ethereum or Ripple are all great projects, but at the moment Coinmarketcap counts more than 1300 different blockchain startups. Some of might be scams, many of them will fail. But progress through trial and error defines the true spirit of entrepreneurship. In the end, it all leads to the growth of a global crypto community and more captivating cryptocurrency startups. If at least 10% of them succeeds, the world is likely to become somewhat better.
In brief, blockchain enables the development of decentralized, transparent, secure, outage-resistant and accessible applications for everyone with an internet connection. Companies running on blockchain are more transparent, democratic, decentralized, reliable and efficient. As a result, thousands of new generation companies are spiking up, and most of them already are billion-dollar businesses.
Here are some of the hottest blockchain projects that showcase how cryptocurrencies can change the world for good.
Steemit
Imagine a social network where every interaction equals money. That's exactly what Steemit is - a decentralized social media platform which gives you financial rewards for active participation.
Here, users get paid for creating, sharing, liking and commenting engaging, high-quality content. The platform runs on Steem blockchain and uses STEEM and Steem Dollars (SBD). At the moment, one STEEM token is worth $3. The platform launched in 2016 spring. Since then it has accumulated a substantial user base 500.00 of which approx. 80.000 are active monthly participants. This number is very likely to skyrocket in 2018.
In a way, Steemit is like Medium on the blockchain. What took me by surprise is that there's already a YouTube on blockchain analog that runs on STEEM as well. It's called DTube, and it offers an excellent opportunity to get paid for your content, too. Having recent YouTube monetization changes in mind, DTube can become a serious challenger. It already is an attractive hub for content creators, and it is likely to remain one for years to come.
VibeHub
Realistic, volumetric holograms! If that doesn't excite you, it's okay, but I am captivated by this one.
VibeHub is set to deliver social virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences. Imagine visiting your favorite artist's concert or attending a world-class seminar from your coach. Or meeting your friends from all over the world in one virtual space. VibeHub opens fantastic opportunities, and it wouldn't be a surprise if Facebook or Microsoft acquires them anytime soon.
The company has already captured their first musical performance and will sell it at their website from January 20. Besides, it already coined a partnership with Monster and will work together on their 2018 Superbowl ad. Knowing all this, I see VibeHub exploding in 2018 and acquiring a VR headset is on my shopping list.
Cardano
Cardano is one of the most serious cryptocurrency projects. Here's why.
Bitcoin introduced the world first decentralized payment vehicle. Ethereum is the second-generation cryptocurrency that brings in means of payment with smart-contracts. Neither Ethereum nor Bitcoin have proven to be flawless at scaling and here's where Cardano comes in.
People behind Cardano take a 100% scientific, NASA level approach to fix all possible blockchain issues. ADA is set to become the first 3rd generation cryptocurrency. It will have a built-in system of governance, smart contracts, ability to scale, integrate and harness the real power of blockchain.
The scientific process always takes more time. That promises us an exciting race between patient science and enthusiastic entrepreneurs. No matter how it ends, Cardano will leave no room for mistakes and has a chance to become the biggest and most functional cryptocurrency.
The project is lead by Charles Hopkinson, who is a fascinating guy to listen. Although not every mortal can understand what he's talking about, he's a thought leader to follow.
Storj
Storj is one of the purest examples of practical blockchain application. It is an encrypted blockchain cloud-storage which utilizes peer-to-peer technology. In simpler terms, Storj is a place to buy and rent extra hard drive space.
At a glance, it might look scary to distribute your precious files in other peoples computers. In reality, there's no need to worry - the data is safely locked, and only you have access to it. As a decentralized cloud storage, Storj guarantees safety by storing your files at multiple locations instead of a single centralized server. Blockchain also enables Storj to be faster and more reliable compared to traditional cloud storage providers. The pricing is very affordable as well - a gigabyte per month costs only $0.015 and $0.05 per gigabyte of used bandwidth.
Anyone can try Storj right now - the first twelve months of the service are free, and you can store up to 25 Gb of your data.
Syscoin Blockmarket
Syscoin Blockmarket is a wholly decentralized online marketplace. It lets you create a complete online shop and even e-commerce business without any middlemen. Regular users can use it to buy and sell a variety of goods. Syscoin has the potential to become the eBay of the future.
The marketplace runs on a Syscoin (SYS) which currently market worth is around $0.75. Its blockchain currency enables users to trade without any fees, state regulations, downtime, special restrictions and other obstacles that apply to the biggest marketplaces. As the Blockmarket is developing, there are also plenty 3rd party integrations and tutorials that help speed up user adoption.
BitDegree
BitDegree lets people earn money by learning and teaching. Most of us can agree that today's education systems are somewhat outdated. By the time you graduate your degree is either worthless or you have to adjust and learn current practices on the go. That's why BitDegree holds the promise to become a major education hub.
BitDegree seeks to become the first decentralized education platform which pays its users. The platform's creators explain it like this: "Imagine if Coursera and HackerRank merged, but on the blockchain." Most courses will be tech-oriented, and you can already try out the introductory course to crypto and cryptocurrencies by Ethos. Click here to try it for yourself.
If BitDegree's vision comes to fruition, many people in the world will get what they wanted for ages - a free, up-to-date education along with monetary rewards. Judging by their hardworking team, it's all coming together nicely.
Stellar Lumens
Stellar Lumens is a cryptocurrency that aims to speed up payments. Along with that, it hopes to equip worlds unbanked people with financial instruments and fight poverty.
Everyone who takes a closer look at Stellar says that it reminds Ripple, which is accurate. After making some critical changes to the consensus nodes, Stellar began as a fork of Ripple. All the transactions are done in two to five seconds. Also, there are no setbacks and delays, and the developers can work with simple, user-friendly software. The network runs on a crypto asset Lumens (XLM) and at the moment has around $4 billion market cap and one Lumens is worth approximately $ 0.20. The organization already managed to land critical partnerships with leading companies like IBM and KlickEx. Together, they will try to create a better financial future for everyone.
IOTA
The ever-expanding Internet Of Things (IoT) needs a safe, fast and reliable network for device data transactions. IOTA is the future's backbone of the IoT. It's a unique technology that moves away from traditional blockchain and uses blockless Tangle ledger.
Tangle technology is perfect for the IoT economy because it enables instant transactions without any fees between the parties. Also, there is no limit to transactions per second. That's why IOTA continually gains loads of attention from the giant IoT tech developers like Microsoft and Fujitsu. In general, IOTA serves an opportunity for B2B companies to explore IoT opportunities by creating a resource sharing service to exchange resources in real-time.
Decentraland
Decentraland is the first decentralized virtual world that runs on open world standards. In Decentraland you can buy a piece of virtual land and do whatever you want. Go to a casino, listen to live music, attend workshops, test drive cars or do anything else - imagination is the only limit. Real world businesses can even use Decentraland to use their original business models in VR - with a real opportunity to earn money.
Decentraland runs on Ethereum network. The official currency of Decentraland is MANA, and at the moment, 1 MANA is worth around $0.10. Of course, as the virtual world develops, its value is likely to increase too.
Recently, Decentraland has its first virtual land auction which total cost was over 154,852,785.15 MANA (=$18,528,131.29 USD). Auction participants had a chance to buy a piece of virtual Genesis city - the central urban area of the hub. With time VR will be more accessible; therefore Decentraland has the potential to grow into a massive project as it opens up new, incredible opportunities for gamers, students, artists and emerging online communities and businesses.
Substratum
Substratum takes on a noble mission to decentralize the very foundation of the web and obliterate content censorship once and for all.
Tor browser and VPN applications require additional software to access uncensored web areas. Meanwhile, Substratum makes everyone a web host. It opens an opportunity for safe, equal, fair and open internet that abides net neutrality rules and goes around content sensors. The blockchain enabled connection is also highly encrypted and secure.
Internet censorship around the world. Source: Substratum website.
The best part is that by becoming a Substratum web host, you can earn Substratum (SUB) which current worth is around $1. All it takes enabling Substratum node on your computer, and you'll be contributing to a noble cause. The current market cap of the project is just over $230 billion and is likely to continue growing in the future.
Of course, this was just a fraction of all the exciting blockchain projects that can make an impact on the global scale and many more plans are still in works and are to be reviewed, funded or developed.
What are your favorite crypto projects and why? Do you use them on a daily basis Which one of them will have the potential to change our world for good? I am eager to hear from you down below.