According to a Chainalysis.com global cryptocurrency adoption report, crypto adoption increased by 880% in 2021! Less than 5% of the world population transacts in crypto as of December 2021, as per the latest reports. But that number will grow rapidly considering the potential of scalable Web 3.0 applications. And that’s why you can expect several new blockchain projects to be launched in 2022 and beyond.
The list below includes 22 promising Layer 1 blockchain/crypto projects to watch in 2022. We have summarized these projects in terms of technical capabilities, ecosystem, roadmap, and key differentiators. So, let’s have a look at the exclusive list of Layer 1 crypto projects.
Kadena
Kadena was founded in June 2016 by Stuart Popejoy and Will Martino, both former JP Morgan executives. It enables businesses and organizations to efficiently transact and share data in a decentralized manner. It also seeks to address the issues that current generation blockchains face – such as speed, scalability, and security.
Kadena ecosystem comprises Layer 1 public chain protocol called ‘Chainweb’ and a layer 2 permissioned protocol called ‘Kuro.’ Kadena is the only sharded and scalable Layer 1 Proof of Work (PoW) network in use today. Kadena is indeed one of thttps://shardeum.org/blog/ethereum-virtual-machine-evm-simplified/he best Layer 1 crypto projects 2022.
Differentiators
- Bitcoin is a Proof of Work (PoW) blockchain; however, smart contracts and scalability are two issues it does not address. There are other PoW blockchains that do feature smart contracts. Ethereum is an example, but it has scalability issues. Kadena fixes this by being a scalable smart contracts platform.
- Kadena has 20 braided chains running at the same time, significantly improving its capacity and security. Chains can add multiple blocks simultaneously while cross-referencing each other’s past. This makes it very difficult for bad actors to function against honest nodes.
Solar Network
Next on our list of crypto Layer 1 projects is Solar Network. Solar Network is a fully decentralized energy-efficient blockchain that utilizes a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus mechanism. The consensus is achieved through the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) algorithm powered by its native token called SXP. It is secured by 53 voted-in delegates that produce blocks and validate transactions.
Differentiators
- Solar will be entirely run by SXP holders with no central company or management. It claims to be a truly decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)
- Solar’s value proposition enables plugins to be developed in Javascript and Typescript languages at layer 1. This allows for native smart contracts and scalability on the network
Algorand
Algorand is another blockchain that attempts to solve the scalability trilemma and has become a notable name in our best Layer 1 crypto projects list. It runs on a Pure Proof of Stake (PPos) consensus and is BFT compliant. The transaction throughput is said to be on par with large payment and financial networks.
Smart contracts are written in a language called Transaction Execution Approval Language (TEAL) and Python using the PyTeal library. TEAL is similar to an assembly language and is Turing complete by supporting looping and subroutines. It also limits the amount of time a contract has to execute using a “dynamic opcode cost evaluation algorithm.” Algorand Virtual Machine(AVM) runs on every node on the blockchain and interprets the TEAL programs to run smart contracts. AVM aims to make blockchain development more accessible.