The blockchain game is pretty much dominated by the Bitcoin network. As the first blockchain to come out nearly 10 years ago, it shows the most adoption and critical mass. Leading the charge after the Bitcoin network is the Ethereum network. A smart contract enabled network that functions as a layer for decentralized applications (dApps) to be built on. But after those two leaders, what other protocols are there?
Neo
Neo is a blockchain platform designed for scalable dApps from China. Considered to be a “smart economy,” Neo is focused on asset management and exchange transactions. Since Neo is coded on mainstream coding languages (Java, Python, Go), more developers are inclined to build on it.
Hyperledger
Formed by the Linux Foundation with a consortium of partners (IBM, Intel, SAP), Hyperledger is a permission blockchain that only explicitly trusted parties can join it. It’s thought to be an enterprise blockchain solution. It caters to finance, banking, and supply chain industries.
Ripple Consensus Network
With visions of cheap cross-border payments, Ripple is an open-source distributed consensus ledge. It supports tokens that can be used to represent fiat, cryptocurrencies, commodities, or other value units (store credits, phone minutes). The idea is to be able to send cheap transactions from any medium of exchange, including its native token, XRP. It’s becoming popular with banks.