Author: Norah Amboko

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Aragon

 What is Aragon?

Aragon is a DApp (decentralized application) that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. The DApp enables users to easily create and properly manage their Decentralized Organizations.

The project is led by the Aragon Foundation and runs as an open source platform. To make the entire platform complete, it also features a native token referred to as ANT. The token is used like other cryptocurrencies in the market such as sending value and granting voting rights to users in the network.

The ultimate goal of Aragon is to become a completely decentralized application and autonomous organization that all users can easily join and create their organizations in the blockchain.

The platform was created early in 2017 with its tokens going on sale shortly after, in May the same year. In just 15 minutes, the project had raised $24 million. This made it one of the most successful ICOs by then. This was a demonstration of the unique architecture and potential of the project.

In its early stages, most of the operations were spearheaded by the Aragon Foundation. The most notable person of the foundation, who is also a co-founder, is Luis Cuende. He is currently the project manager. However, the whole idea behind Aragon is to eventually dissolve the Aragon Foundation and let the community steer it to further growth. This implies that all the decisions will be subjected to vote by the community spread across the globe.

The price of ANT in the market has done relatively well but it is still vulnerable to the high market volatility. In May 2017, ANT was trading at around $1.49 before shooting to $3.57 in the subsequent month. In January 2018, ANT price grew by about 400% to hit the highest point in its history, $7.51. In six months through to mid-2018, the price took a downward shift, sinking to the figure it held when first introduced into the market.

What is the problem that Aragon Solves?

1. Friction in organization governance and operational difficulties

Aragon platform was created to help decentralize and improve company governance. A closer look at the traditional organizations reveals that they have huge budgetary overheads and a lot of administration activities.

The complexity of running organizations results in numerous costs, delays, middlemen, and fees. The effect of these is increased friction that can compromise the operation of the organization.

The primary goal of Aragon is helping to clear this friction and make organization management seamless.

Almost all companies have some common core administrative functions. They are required to allow shareholders vote on various governance decisions, provide equity, pay staff, raise funds, and follow the required accounting requirements. Aragon is designed with your organization in mind to help provide seamless operation of all activities. You can use Aragon to streamline operations in one section of the organization of plug the entire system.

2. Lack of expertise in blockchain technology slows down organizations’ commitment to joining the blockchain sector

Many companies are interested in joining and testing various blockchain solutions in their different areas such as payment, accounting, and governance.

However, they are held back by some factors including the lack of expertise. For example, many company managements do not have the staff to advise them on various aspects or even how to commence with decentralized operations such as smart contracts and DApps.

In most of the cases, the idea of an immutable public ledger that is so powerful is in itself very frightening.

Most of the organizations wonder what would happen if mistakes that cannot be easily corrected happen. In other blockchain based operations such as smart contracts, the centralized organizations worry what would happen if a bug is planted on the core code. These are the issues that Aragon has come to address.

How does Aragon Solve the problem?

To craft reliable and long-term solutions to the outlined problems, Aragon Core is created using Solidity DAO framework.

It started with the focus on capitalist organizations and then extended to other types of companies. Here is a demonstration of how Aragon works to help address organizational friction and enhance adoption of blockchain technology.

1. The Aragon’s out of the box applications

The design of Aragon provides many core features that allow organization managers to manage identity and implement modules for access, and ownership management. The focus at this point is packaging Applications for organizations that plug into Aragon to make their work seamless. Some of these modules include;

  • Shareholder voting.
  • Fundraising via token generation.
  • Accounts receivable/ payable.
  • Human resources onboarding and payroll.

From the demonstration, it is clear that Aragon core targets making the companies administrative functionalities that the modern organization needs. At this point, it is crucial to appreciate that the design of Aragon does not seek to take over your organization.

This implies you can easily turn on and of the preferred module in line with the organizational needs. Also, all the codes used to drive the modules are open source.

Therefore, they can be edited to better meet the company needs.

2. The Aragon DAO architecture

DAO is an organization created to self-update without losing its core identity. This implies that you can progressively improve some or all components of the organization functionality without altering the eternal overall identity. Here are other qualities of the DAO for the organization.

  • DAO owns internal capital and owns property especially in digital assets such as tokens and cryptocurrency.
  • DAO can take action towards itself or even outside world. These executions are run as smart contracts.
  • While DAO follows the programmed actions, it can easily act on its own. For example, it can facilitate the transfer of tokens in the Aragon network. You only need to set the actions that should self-execute on the network. A good example is an e-commerce store that aims to automatically sell complete orders when clients pick orders and clear payments.

3. The Aragon network token (ANT)

The native Aragon token is designed to represent wealth in the same manner that fiat currencies operate in the conventional setting. The ANT tokens are Ethereum based digital assets which imply that users will be required to pay some GAS when sending value on a peer2peer basis. This also implies that you can hold the tokens in any ERC2O compliant wallet such as MyEtherWallet and Ledger Nano S.

Unlike other tokens such as Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash that are fixed and cannot be increased, the Aragon tokens will be released continuously. This targets helping to cater for the natural attrition such as permanent loss of private keys and death of holders. It will also ensure that more users can access and use the tokens.

The initial tokens were released during the Aragon ICO held in May 2017. The tokens are released through minting. Miners spread in the Aragon network are rewarded with new ANT. The reward is determined through voting by those who already have some ANT.

What makes Aragon better than its competitors?

From the beginning, Aragon was crafted with the primary goal of getting centralized organizations to operate more efficiently.

Here are the main things that make it better than competitors:

  • Aragon has been in the market for a long time. This is a great attribute because many people consider its features to have been tested and proven reliable. This is one of the reasons why a lot of people and organizations have been trooping to the network to enjoy its services.
  • The organization has a continuous model of releasing new tokens. This is better compared to others that have a fixed token such as Bitcoin. What this implies is that the core goal is not to simply get the native token’s price to skyrocket. Rather, it aims at ensuring all organizations can join the network and smoothen their operations.
  • By creating a reliable method of managing decentralized organizations, Aragon has become the better option in the cryptocurrency world. For example, though Bitcoin is a very strong cryptocurrency in the market, its functionalities are limited. However, Aragon allows people to plug their entire organizations into the blockchain and run all concepts from HR to accounting in a professional way.
  • The Aragon development team comprises of some of the top minds in the blockchain industry. Their focus from the beginning demonstrated they have the capability to steer the platform and the entire blockchain industry to the next level. Indeed, they are not interested in clinging to managing the network. Rather, they have indicated they will relinquish the Aragon Foundation and leave the network management to the community.
  • The Aragon system has greatly simplified the blockchain system to ensure that even those with little knowledge about cryptographic solutions can still enjoy the advanced technology in their organizations.

How can Aragon be categorized?

Aragon can be classified as one of the truly decentralized and open source projects targeted at helping the industry grow to the next level. Its architecture and roadmap are carefully designed to ensure that no one is left behind. Whether you have a small organization that only requires a few applications via the blockchain operations or a complex company that targets to cut inventory with a huge margin, Aragon is there for you.

Their commitment to regularly update the network and give companies the option of customizing key modules after joining the network has made it very appealing. Many experts and even the cryptocurrency community is in agreement that this is the blockchain that will no doubt take the industry to the next level.

What’s Aragon’s vision on Security?

When Aragon development team set working on the platform, they appreciated that one of the main issues that stood in the way of faster adoption of blockchain technology was the concern for security. Therefore, they decided to craft a platform that would help organizations securely join the blockchain network and optimize their operations. Here are some of the core components of Aragon that are also helping to advance the security vision.

  • Advanced encryption that helps to conceal all user information from third parties.
  • The Argon native tokens are based on the Ethereum system to provide an additional layer of security.
  • Most of the operations in the Aragon system are implemented through Smart Contracts. This implies that only those that meet the set rules can join.
  • To reduce the threat of bugs and malicious attacks directed at the network, the Aragon development team progressively works on improving the core code. This is expected to get even better when Aragon team finally relinquishes the leadership of the Aragon Foundation.

Examples of Aragon’s use cases/applications.

The fact that Aragon was created with the target of helping organizations streamline their managements implies that its applications are very diverse. Here are some of the use cases.

  • You can use the Aragon to run smart contracts to sell the products of your organization. This is a great method of automating operations by setting standards that must be met by your business and the targeted clients. You can apply the smart contracts in areas such as capital management portfolios.
  • Many organizations can opt to use the Aragon system to raise funds by issuing native tokens. This is becoming a reliable method of generating funds fast for specific project development.
  • Like other cryptocurrency networks, Aragon’s native tokens, ANT, can be used to help send value on a peer2peer basis. The process is simpler, faster, and cheaper compared to the conventional networks and even other decentralized organizations.
  • Most organizations prefer using Aragon to simplify the processes of payroll, accounting, and even capital management. By automating these operations, it implies that organizations can easily cut on associated costs and increase the overall productivity.
  • The Aragon system has become a highly reliable option for prediction markets. Because it employs highly automated smart contracts, companies are finding it easy to create markets and sell the predictions to their clients.
  • Like other cryptocurrencies, ANT can be used for direct purchases. You only need to look for the stores and service providers that accept ANT for direct payment. Note that you can still make purchases even from stores that only accept other tokens by first converting to the accepted tokens.
  • The native tokens provide a reliable way of investing or hiding savings away from the public eye. It is better because all the details are encrypted and no third party can easily know about the balances or even respective transactions.

https://coincheckup.com/coins/Aragon

https://aragon.one/

https://blog.aragon.one/

https://wiki.aragon.one/nest/faqs/

https://wiki.aragon.one/documentation/whitepaper/

 

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Asch

What is Asch?

Asch is a decentralized application platform that provides a number of API and SDK to assist developers to create DApps based on sidechain and JavaScript technology.

By offering a whole array of industry standard solutions, such as custom contracts, sidechains, and app hosting, it implies that Asch is an easy plug and play ecosystem that users can easily use in their organizations. Every node has the capability to download and execute the features provided by Asch.

Asch also features an open and fully decentralized cryptocurrency referred to as XAS. The cryptocurrency can interact with DApps in the ecosystem using a 2-way peg that bridges it to the respective organization. Its traditional web-like application makes more businesses and even individuals to easily implement in different scenarios.

The platform was founded early-2017 by a team of 13 developers, though their identity remains a concealed secret. However, as an open source platform, anybody is free to participate in advancing the core code. This opens its doors for investment, peer2peer payment, and even trading in the markets.

The price of XAS performed remarkably well especially between early 2017 and early 2018. In April 2017, the value of XAS was $0.02 before growing by about 8000% by the end of January 2018. However, the period between May and August 2018 saw a serious price dip from $1.2 to $0.2 in mid-August. Even with the price shifts, the market capitalization has been growing steadily and, experts have indicated it could grow and even rival Ethereum in the coming years.

What is the problem that Asch Solves?

The blockchains’ popularity has grown at a very fast rate since inception. In 2009, Bitcoin demonstrated that it was possible to run a completely decentralized currency model.

Even with the remarkable growth in the blockchain niche, there is a general consensus in the industry that respective technology has not advanced at the expected rate.

For people who want to craft their own blockchains, the process is very complex. It could take ages or even become completely impossible. This is why most of the cryptocurrencies are only replicas of those in existence with very slight variations.

The community argues that the difficulty in development can easily plunge the blockchain progress into the rocks;

  • The blockchain technology could stall over time.
  • Poor development progress could open gates to security threats in respective networks.
  • Failure to facilitate faster development in the niche could compromise the adoption of blockchain technology for more uses in the society.

How does Asch Solve the problem?

To address these issues, the Asch development team targeted creating a system that developers and businesses can rely on to rapidly craft new applications and even side chains. In the Asch white paper, the development team targets making the system a home for developers.

The developers’ work has been made easier with a huge margin. This was achieved through the platform architecture and features.

  • The application of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)

The consensus model employed at Asch is based on DPOS. This implies that only the delegates selected by the network’s nodes directly participate in voting and adding new blocks. To make the system even more effective, it is optimized using a variant algorithm of pBFT (Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance). Under the system, the loyal nodes can easily reach an agreement on any issue and reduce the need for forks. Under the system, no fork, in O(n^2) message complexity and O(1) time complexity when t < n/3. This means that no fork can take place unless more than 1/3 of the nodes agree to harm the network.

Under the DPoS system at Asch, the system comprises of 101 delegates. All the nodes with a stake in the system are required to select the legates in the system. Then, the 101 delegates are directly involved in confirming the transactions on the Asch system. They mine new blocks on the DPoS network every six seconds. Note that for transactions to be confirmed, they have to undergo six confirmations before being considered safe.

  •   Use of sidechains and Decentralized applications

Asch platform has a tool that allows developers to craft sidechain systems. They are also capable of completely customizing the sidechains. This includes all the components of the side chains ranging from database, trading modes, account architecture, and consensus architecture. To make the development even easier, the Asch system allows developers to host the sidechains in the delegate nodes. The blockchain helps to progressively grow the networks for enhanced scalability without overloading the main chain.

Every individual DAPP in the Asch is related to a sidechain that is created using Nodejs. However, the User Interface can be programmed using most front-end technologies such as HTML, QT, and JavaScript. All that the DApp owners are required to have is an Asch account to help them sign into the platform just like the multi-signature wallets operate.

The sidechains have opened the Asch system to easy adoption in various settings. The ability to customize the sidechains implies that you can easily alter the cost of transactions to make your operations even cheaper than most networks. You can even create a completely new blockchain and run it like other cryptocurrencies in the market.

  •  The Sandbox

Every Asch node is allowed to host multiple sidechains installed over the main Asch chain. However, the nodes do not have to trust the developer. In order to achieve this advanced level of operation, the Asch crafted a security mechanism referred to as a sandbox. This was an ingenious model adopted to help prevent sidechains from stealing owner’s info and harming the server. It can be compared to the Ethereum Virtual Machine that helps programs to run without accessing each others’ info.

What makes Asch better than it’s competitors?

A closer look at the Asch whitepaper and design reveals it is a platform created not to directly compete with others, but help leverage the blockchain niche to another level. This implies that most of the aspects of Asch are a careful reflection of what other platforms have to offer and comprehensively building on them. Here are some of the main things that make it a better option in the crypto industry.

  • The network uses UTXO instead of account

In the common blockchain networks such as Bitcoin, the systems use accounts that save user balances. In this situation, the balance is dealt with by transition of the entire transaction system.

However, Asch utilizes UTXO (unspent transaction Outputs) that have own nominal prices and the transactions feature multiple inputs/outputs. Using UTXO implies that users have a higher level of privacy and guarantees greater transactional efficiency.

  • Asch employs a relational database model

Unlike most blockchains that employ lightweight non-relational databases, Asch has opted for the relational database model. The standard non-relational database such as LevelDB and Berkely DB only support simple data structures but cannot manipulate it via SQL. Now, Asch application of relational database is better for faster transaction processing, low cost of updating data, and complex queries.

  • The Asch employs side chains as opposed to the tuning-completeness scripting model

While many blockchain networks employ scripting engine that helps to transfer currency and even realizing smart contracts like arbitration and gambling, they come with serious limitations such as strict focus of length of scripts. In some cases, they only support a limited number of transactions such as in Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, Asch adopts sidechains that help to greatly improve on scalability. This is made possible because every side chain operates a separate distributed network of nodes. This means additional nodes, users, and even development teams can operate in the network.

How can Asch be categorized?

Asch can be categorized as one of the most user-friendly blockchain platform designed to help advance the blockchain network to the next level.

By simplifying the blockchain system, it implies that developers are now capable of rapidly crafting new applications templates and deploying them on the network.

  • Whether you are a new or veteran developer, the platform makes it very easy to work on new products by supporting standard programming languages.
  • The sidechains allow nodes/users to create networks for their systems. You can now easily come up with a sidechain to help manage the finances, business products, and other advanced applications.
  • If you want to craft a new blockchain, the bulk of the work has already been covered for you. Therefore, your dream of owning a blockchain can become true very easily.

What’s Asch’s vision on Security?

The main vision of Asch vision on security closely follows its core goal of simplifying blockchain network development. The founders’ vision is to provide blockchain users and developers with an easy to use and highly secure system for greater efficiency.

To achieve the vision on security, the Asch uses the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). This is embedded in the high-performance Byzantine fault tolerance algorithm that helps to make it very difficult to fork the network. This implies that as long as there are no more than 1/3 nodes trying to attack the network together, no fork can happen. This approach also reduces the risk of double spend. Other security measures to help the network achieve its security vision include;

  • Passphrase hint based the advanced BIP39 algorithm, multi-signature, and second secret.
  • The system adopts advanced encryption that makes it extra difficult for third parties. Even the delegates who confirm transactions can only follow the balance as opposed to pulling out individual users details.

Examples of Asch’s use cases / applications.

Asch, like other blockchain networks, can only be successful if more users take to its system. The good thing with Asch is that it has multiple applications in various industries. Here are some of the use cases of the Asch and its native cryptocurrency.

  • The general user use cases: The general users are considered the primary Asch parties. They are the people who have the access to the different platform wallets. The general users are allowed to carry multiple operations including sending value using the native tokens, block browsing, running inquiries, and voting using the platform’s consensus algorithm.
  • The platform trust: The trust or witnesses are the selected certifiers of the blockchain information. The witnesses are voted by the nodes in the system to run various operations on their behalf on the network. As a proof of stake platform, you can also become a delegate by holding more stakes and being active in the network.
  • Developers: Developers are free to create and submit DApps that operate on a peer2peer basis. Note that though the DApps are owned and applied by the creators, they are required to strictly adhere to the specifications of the Asch platform.
  • People targeting to create their own blockchains: As a platform for DApps development, it implies that Asch provides users with an opportunity to craft their own blockchains. They can even issue their own tokens and run a full platform plugged into the Asch ecosystem. It works like the Ethereum system.
  • The native currency, XAS is a great investment option: Have been looking forward to joining the cryptocurrency niche? The Asch native currency is a great option to hold your funds. Simply get the right wallet and buy the tokens equivalent of the funds to be stored. Indeed, you can even trade the tokens in the markets. Remember that XAS, like other cryptocurrencies, is subject to forces of the market such as the looming regulations and fast evolving competition.
  • Use XAS to pay for goods and services: Like BTC and ETH, you can also use XAS cryptocurrency to buy products and services. As more online, e-commerce, and online services come out to accept payment via digital assets, you will only need to have ample XAS to complete transactions.
  • Using XAS to pay for taxes: As more countries explore the regulation of application of digital assets in their jurisdictions, it is now emerging that you can even pay taxes using cryptocurrencies. In Arizona, the state parliament passed bill SB 1091 that allows users to make payment for their taxes with cryptocurrencies. Once the payment is effected, the department converts the coins to fiat and credits it to the respective payer’s tax account. Check your jurisdictions to establish whether you can also pay for government services with XAS.

https://coincheckup.com/coins/Asch

https://www.asch.io/

https://medium.com/aschplatform

http://asch-public.oss-cn-beijing.aliyuncs.com/asch.io/Asch-Whitepaper-en.pdf

http://docs.asch.mobi/help/