As we enter the month of June and reach the halfway point of the year, this week’s choices are set to benefit from increased trading activity and speculation as the result of mainnet launches and network upgrades that should strengthen their market positions and also result in increased amounts of attention to their respective currencies over the coming weeks.

Tezos (XTZ)

Tezos is a decentralized blockchain whose governance model sees every user hold a stake in its community. Transactions are governed by formal verification code which makes it possible to implement secure smart contracts, and Tezos’ self-governing ledger provides a means of validating transactions and amending rules, while a stakeholder consensus is used to dictate the direction the project should take.

Why Tezos?

The team are close to activating their Athens Mainnet with the launch scheduled for May 29. The Athens Mainnet will introduce two different backwards-incompatible changes to the network, namely an increase of gas limits and a decrease of roll size. The team outline the full specifics here, and the mainnet launch should prove pivotal for a project that was highly anticipated before running into legal difficulties. The launch should also increase the utility of the XTZ token.

Waltonchain (WTC)

Waltonchain is a blockchain architecture that’s been designed for the coming Internet of Things (IoT) age. Waltonchain uses RFID technology and aims to eradicate retail counterfeiting. After proving the concept by successfully operating in the men’s clothing industry, the team aim to branch out into other areas and are in talks with other clothing companies to roll out their RFID-based technology.

Why Waltonchain?

The team are scheduled to conduct a mainnet update this week and release their fully operational and open source mainnet on May 30. The launch follows extended testing performed by Walton Knights and Masternode operators, as well as members of the wider community. The project’s code will now be fully open source and publically available, and node operators can look forward to earning rewards for operating on the mainnet.

Buy/Sell Waltonchain (WTC)

Aeternity (AE)

Aeternity is an open source and Turing-complete blockchain that enables real-world data to be interfaced with smart contracts using decentralized oracles. The project uses a novel hybrid Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm and also uses state channels in order to achieve high levels of performance.

Why Aeternity?

The project is undergoing a series of network upgrades and the team have announced that the first network hardfork is set to take place on May 28. The team have been working on making significant improvements to the æternity VM, enhancing smart contract usability, introducing Virtual State Channels, and enabling generalized accounts which helps to improve AE wallet flexibility. The Fortuna / 3.x.x upgrade will be followed by another hardforks and the community advised to keep an eye on team communications.

Buy/Sell Aeternity (AE)

How to buy Aeternity (AE) on Binance?

How did the coins perform last week?

CHX fell significantly in value and lost around 30% in value over the week and is currently trading at around $0.13. BTMX also fell in value; however it only lost around 3%, and is currently trading at $0.08. LINK proved to be the strongest performer and grew by around 12%. LINK managed to hit $1.45 before retracing, and is currently trading at $1.10. Over the course of the week, the overall market fell from $256B to $250B.