Month: November 2018

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EarthCoin

What is EarthCoin?

EarthCoin is cryptocurrency, but one of a kind. This particular coin is taking cryptocurrency and blockchain to the next level, perhaps where very few people ever would imagine.

Most people see the use of blockchain confined in financial matters and, perhaps the digital sphere. However, EarthCoin is making attempts to introduce blockchain technology in the one area that matters most, the environment.

If there is a topic that has been exhaustively discussed over the years, it has to be environmental conservation. From global summits with world leaders to local discussion forums, there is a consensus that we need to take better care of our environment, albeit for the greater good of generations that will come after us.

EarthCoin is built on the Scrypt algorithm. The idea behind EarthCoin is to provide a near-accurate value or estimate of all the natural resources we have on the planet.

This makes EarthCoin one of the cryptocurrencies that are poised to take the world by storm. Ideally, EarthCoin is supposed to foster fairness, trust, and openness.

The goal behind EarthCoin is to ensure sustainability and equitable development, alongside quantification of the natural resources we have on the planet. Therefore, through EarthCoin, we should be able to assign a digital asset unit to each of the natural resources in question.

What is the problem that EarthCoin Solves?

Over the years, interference, influence, and intervention by humans have been on the increase, resulting in drastic changes to the environment. As a result, the quantity and quality of some of the natural resources and the layers of the earth have been depleted or ended up evolving to a point where they cause potential threat and harm to the biological sphere.

It is our role as a higher species in the evolution ranks to find ways of solving some of these environmental concerns. The world never runs short of environmental problems on a global scale, both in the social environment and natural environment. These problems eventually end up causing dangers that are either interlinked or interrelated, and the consequences are far-reaching.

Imbalanced Ecosystem

There is an imbalance in the energy flow and circulation all over the world. All this is associated in one way or the other, by the action of human beings. A good example is the use of pesticides. These are effective in killing pests. By killing these pests we can look forward to bountiful crop yields, and save a lot of people from the scourge of hunger.

However, the pesticides are eventually passed down the food chain, and as the accumulation continues, they become dangerous to humans and other animals in the food chain.

This, in the long run, affects the ecosystem, causing severe damages. It increases radiation energy on the earth, which has dire consequences to the ecosystem, and for humans, the effects can be as far-reaching as hereditary biological mutations.

Global Warming

Owing to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 100 years, the global temperatures have increased by 0.6%. Global warming is actually a disaster whose effects are already being felt in so many parts of the world.

As a result of global warming, oceans are expanding their territories, and the ice caps are melting at a faster rate. What this means is that we end up with rising sea levels, which eventually has a damning impact on the livelihoods of people who live along the coastal areas.

Other than that, rising sea levels also have a terrible impact on the natural ecosystem and agricultural practices along the affected areas. Metrological disasters like droughts and floods have become commonplace.

Climate change is not restricted to the environment, but humans are also feeling the adverse effects. There has been an increase in mortality rates, the prevalence of infectious diseases, and an increase in disease risks.

Limited Biodiversity

We are currently witnessing the fastest decrease in biodiversity in the history of mankind. Compared to the undisturbed world, we are experiencing a mammal and bird extinction rate that is up to 1000 times higher. Some of the activities we engage in, like cutting down trees, excessive hunting of wild animals, urbanization and industrialization constantly pollute the environment.

Other than these, tourism is at an all-time high, and a number of countries have resorted to limiting the number of tourists that visit their countries, or specific tourism spots. This is because tourism brings about vegetative destruction. In the long run, we end up with near-extinction or mass extinction. As the biodiversity decreases, in the long run, we are looking at prospects of an erosion of the basic human existence.

Ozone Sphere

Since 1985, there have been studies into the depletion of the ozone layer, especially right above Antarctica. This has been linked by several scientists and researchers to the production of chlorine atoms. Depleting the ozone layer means we have little protection from UV rays.

Unfettered access to UV rays leaves us exposed to skin cancer, cataracts and also inhibits the action of the immune system. Other than the impact on humans, this also affects the crop yield, either reducing it or damaging the existing crops. It does not end there either, as the damage is also felt in the marine ecosystem.

In the long run, we are looking at a serious disturbance in the ecological balance. Some of the challenges that we experience as a result of this include the prevalence of photochemical smog, forest fires, damage to buildings and crops, uncontrollable/unexplained human disorders and poisoning.

Acid Rain

As a result of air pollution, acid rain is an evil that, unfortunately, most parts of the world has come to terms with. It gets worse that it has become a norm. The problem with acid rain is that it does not just destroy the soil and plants, but also acidifies the water bodies. Therefore, all the animals and plants that live off these water bodies are also at risk, as are those who eat the plants and animals in their diet.

What happens next? Plants and animals are endangered, skin irritation and diseases become rampant, including pulmonary sclerosis and pulmonary edema. Acid rain is naturally corrosive to paints, metal products, textiles, leather, and buildings. In China, for example, more than 30% of the country experiences acid rain, especially regions to the south of the Yangtze River.

Desertification

Desertification doubles both as a socio-economic problem and an environmental concern all over the world. More than 6 million hectares of land is left bare each year. Some of the regions that are worst hit include Mongolia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and China. Without the right intervention measures, this will only get worse.

Contaminated Atmosphere

There are different pollutants that find their way into the atmosphere. The ones with the worst impact thus far, are nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and lead. Air pollution is one of the common precursors to ozone depletion, acid rain, and climate change. Plants and animals bear the worst brunt of this vice, though eventually we also suffer health concerns as a result.

How does EarthCoin Solve the problem?

EarthCoin aims to solve the problems highlighted above through data acquisition. The right data, shared with the right people at the right time, can help avert a crisis. Through EarthCoin, it is possible to collect and upload process data automatically in the blockchain ecosystem.

What EarthCoin does is that it takes away the need for manual intervention. In so doing, this improves the credibility of and uniqueness of the data available on such matters. EarthCoin makes use of the data acquisition sensors and the Internet of Things to collect raw data. This data is then uploaded through the API to the blockchain. The role of the EarthCoin blockchain is to authenticate any data that is transmitted through the edge gateway, thereby ensuring that only the authentic nodes transmit data.

As the blockchain evolves and the fusion with advancing information technology proceeds, data that was once difficult to come across is now easily accessible, and recordable and can be applied online.

While the team at EarthCoin is not capable of collecting data, this has not affected the quality of and the results obtained through EarthCoin. There are sensors deployed under IoT which help in monitoring the data available.

What makes EarthCoin better than the competitors?

When discussing EarthCoin, the comparison is not necessarily about the competition, but what makes it unique. As mentioned above, most of the crypto projects focus on technology and financial aspects. EarthCoin, on the other hand, is more geared towards the environment. For this reason, there are features unique to EarthCoin that set it apart from the other crypto projects.

Anonymity

EarthCoin borrows a lot from the concept of trustless computing. This is implemented in the nodes. The nodes do not need trust between them to operate as required. Other than that, there is no need for a public identity, and because of this reason, each of the participating nodes in the EarthCoin ecosystem is secured and protected.

Open Source

Another aspect of EarthCoin that makes it stand out from the other projects is the fact that it is an open source project. One of the reasons for this is because the entire system was designed to be transparent and open. It, therefore, follows that EarthCoin must be an open source program.

Reliability

In order to make reliability a reality, EarthCoin is designed in such a manner that every single participating node is able to get a copy of the entire EarthCoin database. This also raises the concern of 51% vulnerability to attacks that is imminent in all the other crypto projects. However, it is virtually impossible to gain that advantage.

Bearing this in mind, any changes that are made on the database in lieu of a single node are unable to affect any of the data content available in other nodes.

Collective Capacity

EarthCoin is easily maintained because maintenance is treated as a collective responsibility. How does this happen? Any of the blocks in the system are maintained by the maintenance nodes designed in the system. These maintenance nodes, on the other hand, are easily accessible to all the players within the EarthCoin ecosystem.

Fairness

One of the concerns that have been leveled against industry leaders Bitcoin is that the system by default encourages selfishness and unfairness. The way Bitcoin was designed, it is all about mining. As a result, trust and fairness are two things that you can expect not to enjoy when using Bitcoin.

Operating in the Bitcoin ecosystem can at times feel like an arms race. By concentrating most of the efforts on mining, it is possible that institutions, organizations, and even individuals with some high-res computing capacity are able to gain control over the entire platform.

This is not the case with EarthCoin. In this ecosystem, fairness and trust are enshrined in the core modus operandi. This is a commitment that espouses the vision of an equitable, and sustainable ecosystem, and platform for development. This, unlike the Bitcoin concept, helps to encourage and foster more development in the blockchain realm, by underpinning the concept of decentralization.

How can EarthCoin be categorized?

EarthCoin is a unique digital payment cryptocurrency that is committed to sustainable and fair development, and environmental conservation, preservation, and management.

What’s EarthCoin’s vision on Security?

EarthCoin is build based on the Bitcoin platform. Therefore, it shares most of the security features that Bitcoin has in place. Data processing on EarthCoin is through a consensus method, which classifies and stores data that is collected through any of the devices that run EarthCoin.

Any data that is collected is stored on the blockchain, while product data and pictures are sent to an IPFS distributed storage facility. This is done under the Meckel tree storage.

Examples of EarthCoin use cases/applications

Where has EarthCoin been applied, or where are there intentions to integrate EarthCoin in operations? Since this project is all about natural resources, there are plans to use it in the following spheres:

  • Water, air, and soil; the three most important environmental ingredients.
  • Fresh water, mineral resources, forests, land, fossil fuels, biological species
  • Aquatic ecosystems
  • Terrestrial ecosystems
  • Different landscape resources, such as native plants, water, and cultural heritage
  • Air resources

Resources

https://coincheckup.com/coins/EarthCoin

http://earthcoin.io/

http://newearthcoin.com/

https://medium.com/@getearthcoin

 

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Expanse

What is Expanse?

Expanse is a decentralized smart contracts platform that is powered by Expanse, the cryptocurrency. This is a blockchain platform that has opened an avenue for anyone to create and use decentralized applications that are built to run on blockchain technology.

There is no control or ownership over Expanse, just as is the case with Bitcoin. Therefore, Expanse is an open source project. There are collaborators from all over the world, so users can always benefit from this in one way or the other.

While Expanse borrows from Bitcoin in terms of open source development, one of the primary differences between the two is the fact that Expanse is flexible and adaptable, while Bitcoin is not. It is very easy for users to create new applications on Expanse.

Apart from just creating applications, the introduction of the Honestead release means that anyone who is on the Expanse platform can easily use the applications that have been created, without having to worry about their security.

What is the problem that Expanse Solves?

Expanse is purely aimed at solving the challenge of governance. This is, in fact, one of the reasons why it is different from Bitcoin, and Ethereum, upon which Expanse is built. The idea behind Expanse is to come up with a project that is different from Bitcoin and Ethereum but draws on their best features to establish a governance platform that liberates citizenship and introduces the element of liquidity to it. Therefore, while a project like Ethereum, for example, tries to find solutions to many problems we experience in the world, Expanse is out to solve one problem only – Governance.

Expanse has created an ecosystem where blockchain can be utilized in day to day transactions. This is different from what Bitcoin, for example, was designed for.

Bitcoin was specifically meant to be a form of electronic money. It is important to note, however, that Expanse still shares in some of the core concepts of Bitcoin, relevant to the Expanse cause.

The kind of infrastructural applications that are supported by Expanse are supposed to extend over and above the scope of currency exchange.

How does Expanse Solve the problem?     

Expanse sets itself apart from the rest of the blockchain projects because it is a programmable blockchain project. Instead of pushing pre-defined operations down the throats of the users as is the case with Bitcoin transactions, Expanse creates an avenue where users are able to design unique operations in whichever complexity they can handle.

In so doing, Expanse takes the project away from the limitations of cryptocurrencies alone and allows users to explore other alternative ways of leveraging the blockchain towards solving their problems.

Expanse is a protocol suite that refers to a decentralized set of applications. All this is made possible because of the Expanse Virtual Machine (EVM). The EVM has the technical capacity to execute arbitrary algorithmic complex code. This allows developers an opportunity to build applications which run on the EVM while at the same time using languages that they understand.

This also has helped to widen the scope of developers, given that most of them are now able to code and build solutions in languages that they understand so well, like Python and JavaScript, instead of having to waste time learning languages that are inherent to certain blockchain projects.

Expanse also has a P2P network protocol, just as is the case with any other blockchain project. There are several nodes in the Expanse blockchain database that help to update and maintain the platform. This is also one of the reasons why Expanse has often been referred to as a world computer, because every single node on the network runs the EVM, and can perform similar instructions.

But, why would Expanse have each node in the EVM running this parallelization of computing, especially when it goes against the basic principle of efficiency? As a matter of fact, this parallelization of computing slows down Expanse and makes it relatively slower than a normal computer.

The answer is consistency. Each of these nodes operates in the way they do so as to maintain consensus all over the blockchain. By decentralizing consensus, Expanse has been able to inherit an extreme level of fault tolerance.

This allows users to run their applications on the platform without having to worry about downtime. In fact, it is important to highlight the fact that Expanse has zero downtime.

Other than that, this action further ensures that all data that is stored on the Expanse blockchain is free from censorship, and will forever remain unchangeable.

What makes Expanse better than the competitors?        

There is so much that is shared in terms of features between Expanse and a lot of the cryptocurrency projects that have been released in recent years. However, Expanse still manages to set itself apart from most of these by virtue of the following features:

Dedicated team of experts

Expanse has a dedicated team of experts who are actively involved in all aspects of the development process. These are people who have excelled in different fields of technology and bring to the project their vast experience. Users and investors in Expanse can also look forward to getting prompt updates on the project, and any development thereof.

Industry partnerships

One of the reasons why Expanse has come out to be a consistent player in the market is the fact that it is backed by several authority industry partners. These are entities that have shown commitment to advancing the blockchain agenda for the longest time possible and are heavily invested in other blockchain projects in the industry. Some of these include partners like Microsoft Azure, CenturyLink, and GameBoard.

Therefore, users can look forward to investing in, and being part of a network that is constantly working towards innovation and creating new projects and solutions that are applicable in solving world problems that we are currently experiencing.

Decentralization and open source

Decentralization is key to realizing the blockchain dream. A completely decentralized blockchain platform would help in setting users free from the bondage that they have been tied to, by most of the entities that they work with.

Expanse does not just offer a decentralized blockchain platform, it is also an open source project. Therefore, there is a free exchange of ideas, which further helps to make this a progressive project.

Consistent growth and stability

Expanse boasts as one of the blockchain projects that has experienced a steady growth trajectory since it was started. This level of growth can only mean one thing, that this is a reliable, credible and stable project. This also explains why a lot of people are actively involved in the project, and investors keep pouring in.

Unique decentralized apps

There are several blockchain projects out there that promise one thing but deliver something else. There are also projects whose premise includes solving problems in a theoretical manner. This is where Expanse sets itself apart from the others.

Expanse is offering solutions to real-world problems. These are problems that most people can relate to. Take the case of voting, for example. Almost everyone knows how shambolic voting can be or has been in their jurisdiction. Voting is often marred by violence and other cases of discord, simply because of a lack of trust by the voters, in the voting system that is in use.

Through Expanse, we are looking at a reality that voting might soon be a streamlined, honest and straightforward process. With projects like Expanse in place, some of the challenges that are often associated with voting processes like violence and unrest might soon be a thing of the past.

Self-funding

A lot of the cryptocurrency projects out there are funded through crowdfunding. They have to rely on donations and contributions from people and entities who believe in their cause, or those who share a similar vision.

One of the problems with this mode of funding is that in the long run, an entity that contributes the most toward the campaign might feel the need to impose their demands and desires over the project. In the long run, the project has to align its goals and objectives to that of the investor.

Expanse, on the other hand, does not crowdfund. Instead, it is a self-funding model that is built on DAO. It uses a reserve for the smart contracts to fund the platform, hence it is free from influence by parties who might feel they have contributed so much to the project’s development.

How can Expanse be categorized?

Expanse is a governance integrate open source blockchain platform where users and developers alike have the freedom to create decentralized applications, all which run on the blockchain.

What’s Expanse’s vision on Security?

In terms of security, Expanse borrows a lot from Bitcoin. Users who have used Bitcoin in the past should have an easy time using Expanse. There are, however, innovative modifications unique to Expanse that have been built on top of the Bitcoin security features.

While Bitcoin simply is a list of transactions that have taken place on the network, the basic unit in Expanse is the account. The algorithm used in Expanse tracks the state of each account. All the transitions in state within the Expanse blockchain are considered as transfers of information and value between the accounts.

In light of the above, Expanse has two types of accounts: Externally Owned Accounts (EOA) and Contract Accounts. EOAs are controlled with private keys. Contract Accounts, on the other hand, are controlled by the unique instructions in their contract code. The Contract Accounts, therefore, can only be made active through an EOA.

The main difference between these is that EOAs are controlled by humans since they have the private keys that control these accounts, while Contract Accounts are maintained and governed by internal code.

Examples of Expanse use cases/applications

Twitch Streaming

The Expanse team has recently started using the live streaming platform, Twitch. This has made it easier to get in touch with the community around Expanse. Users have been able to participate in the discussions, share ideas and learn more about the Expanse project.

Using Twitch is not just about communication, but users are also able to earn Expanse Bits (EXPB) when they view the live streams. These tokens are redeemable in the Streamlabs store.

TokenLab ™

This is a smart contract management and ICO management platform that allows everyone who has access to it, the chance to give their brilliant ideas a shot at the limelight. It does not matter whether you are an issuer or an investor, TokenLab presents scalable and unique technology that gives you the best ICO experience for your project. Other than that, it is a secure, simpler, safer platform that offers one of the best flexibility options so far.

VoteLock ™

Many are the situations where voting has been marred by claims of unfairness, theft and so many other concerns. Through VoteLock, it is possible to get results verified very fast and with the highest level of accuracy. VoteLock also brings a level of transparency to voting that is currently lacking in most, if not all of the traditional voting systems in use all over the world.

Through VoteLock, it is possible to leverage the best of blockchain technology and bring forth a system that will streamline an important activity in the social and civic lives of many societies. It helps to provide one of the most secure systems not just for voting, but also for counting votes.

Borderless Identity Management

Identity management has always been a challenge in so many instances. Many entities actually struggle with this, and it is one of the reasons why for a very long time, identification of accounts or account holders has been a challenge for a lot of these entities, hence making it difficult to prevent fraudulent activities. Borderless Identity Management is a governance system that is not just accessible globally but is fully decentralized.

All the services on this platform are either free or available at a very small fee. It can be accessed from anywhere very easily. This is one of the best governance platforms in the world and is useful in a world where connectivity is happening at a very fast rate.

Resources

https://coincheckup.com/coins/Expanse

https://www.expanse.tech/

https://blog.expanse.tech/

http://docs.expanse.tech/en/latest/frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-questions.html#what-is-expanse

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ITNRmZ0dTse-aZqjbWiC9w1n2XpPvKyl4J9BP-liuxw/edit?usp=sharing