Stratis
Stratis is a Blockchain-as-a-service Platform, created to provide solutions for corporations in the financial sector that want to enjoy the benefits of Blockchain technology. Stratis allows companies to create their custom blockchain applications with the features they require, making the development process simpler and accelerating the development lifecycle for blockchain projects.
Corporations can take advantage of the Stratis sidechains to launch their blockchain applications without the inherent costs and complications of building and maintaining their own blockchain network infrastructure. Furthermore, these companies can also take advantage and combine pre-existing features found in other blockchains like Ethereum or Waves.
The Stratis platform will be built on the C# Stratis Bitcoin Full node platform and framework, which will be developed on top of the NBitcoin library, a near-complete port of Bitcoin Core written in C# and .NET by blockchain developer Nicolas Dorier. Since NBitcoin was developed in pure C# and utilizes the .NET framework it is easier to maintain and develop when compared to the traditional C++ Bitcoin Core source code.
Furthermore, the Stratis team will also provide consultancy services, advising companies on which features to use and how to implement them. Stratis will start off as a London-based consultancy firm and move to the international playing field if the demand requires it. Stratis is also backed by Microsoft (C#).
Missed the jump!
Looking at the chart below, it's easy to see in the last month that I completely missed the jump and am probably an idiot for buying in now. The coin was trading below $1 a week ago and is now at $10:
I swapped some ETH and some Monero (XMR) to hold in a Stratis wallet. I can't stop thinking about the similarities between ETH and STRAT and the use of C# as the language. The ease of use Stratis will give to business is the main reason I decided to get on it. C# is a widely used programming language backed by Microsoft as opposed to solidity which people are having to learn to build on the Ethereum platform.
I still strongly believe in Ethereum, but Stratis is just too promising to pass up. The Blockchain as a Service model, backed by consultants will appeal to industry and large companies and drive revenue into the company. As more companies are signed up, the network effect will increase and more programmers will jump on board. I'm bullish on Stratis and I think there is movement to be had.
I'm also a big fan of the Proof of Stake model, and I even stake my coins using the official wallet on a Raspberry Pi. I think I will earn 1 coin every 100 days, but whatever it's better than nothing! Proof of Stake mining is incredibly energy efficient compared to Bitcoin's Proof of Work (Ethereum is switching to Proof of Stake later this year) and much fairer on the miners. It encourages everyone to participate in maintaining the blockchain without the need for an epic mining rig.
In short, I bought some Stratis at $10USD. I hope to see it continuing to grow, just as Ethereum has been. I don't think it will overtake Ethereum, but I believe that it has it's own niche to fill.