Ubiq and Expanse are two cryptocurrencies that are using the Ethereum
go client and Mist wallet source code for their platforms. I am going to talk
compare them to each other and to Ethereum.
I tried Ubiq wallet (which has been around for a while as Jumbucks and
other coins) and they have implemented and extended the Geth 1.5 series client
source code. They have a significantly longer blocktime than ETH, their Main net
was only about 90K blocks long with 36 Million UBQ already available. I have not
seen figures on what their cap on coin creation is.
Ubiq chose to implement the Ethereum Mist Browser wallet instead of the Resident
wallet first and that was a problem for me working with them. The Browser wallet for
Ethereum is still having development issues of its own and I have had ETH's browser
wallet crash on me multiple times. I have been able to recover. Ubiq's wallet crashed
on me and I was not able to get back into Ubiq Wallet mode.
Both Ubiq and Expanse currently only offer Private Testnets, which means that of
you want to be able to test smart contracts, you will have to set up your own nodes
for testing. Neither altcoin currently offers a sandbox like Ethereum does.
It looks like the Expanse team has a better handle on the Ethereum source code,
because not only did they implement the Ethereum Mist resident wallet, which is
more robust if you want a stable platform for smart contract development, but they
are also currently using the latest Ethereum Geth 1.6 series client source for their
blockchain.
The 1.6 series is much faster and more compact than the 1.5 series, so syncing their
Main net (which was around 600K blocks when I began testing their wallet a week or
so ago) was a breeze. There are only ~7 Million EXP compared to ~36 Million UBQ and
it is clear from their website that they have placed a firm cap on coin creation at ~13
Million coins. EXP has a 1 minute block time compared to ETH's 0.2 block time.
The Expanse wallet also offers the cryptocompare feature that allows wallet users to
see EXP currency valuation in Finney, BTC, USD & Euro, where UBQ did not incorporate
this feature.
I expect both currencies will do well in the long run, but right now, Expanse offers the better
features and platform stability between these two Ethereum knockoffs (And I'm not using that
in a derogatory sense, it is testament to how well the Ethereum source code works right now
that two other alts are using it), but Ubiq has a small lead in overall market cap.
If you feel you have been priced out of using Ethereum or even ETC for smart contract
development, either of these two look like good emerging altcoins to use the Ethereum
architecture.
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