The Most Important Open-Source Blockchain Projects

An industry, sector or model is only as good as the infrastructure it is built on. The infrastructure acts as a backbone, a framework, guiding the industry and its participants through. Most forms of industries as we have come to know them are built on a centralized, hierarchy-based infrastructure. They follow a top down approach, wherein a few participants at the top are responsible for the workings of the majority of the lower level management.

But then came the Internet and changed the face of it all.

What is Open-Source?

The advent of the Internet sparked the era of Open-Source collaboration. But what do we mean when we say “Open-Source”?

Well, the term can mean a lot of different things, but in general, when we say Open-Source we mean that source code of any particular project is open and free for all to use, download or alter. The Internet is an invention that is open-source at its core. Anyone with a telephone connection could connect to the internet, explore, make up stuff or copy stuff made by others. Since then, open-source technologies have gone on to revolutionize the way we go about our lives.

Blockchain, like the internet, is another technology that is open-source at its core. As the saying goes, the strength of a blockchain lies in the strength of its network. A network is a group of participants that contribute for the betterment of other participants in the group. Statistics show that there is a high correlation between the number of individual contributors to a particular network and the success of that network.

It’s All About the Contributors

You can tell a lot about the state of a blockchain project by the amount of activity it has on Github. Github is an online platform to share, update and download open-source projects on the internet. Projects with lots of action and commits on GitHub are more likely to be in the midst of building and updating their platform. A Github that’s populated only by lonesome tumbleweeds is a sign of a project that’s either not moving forward or is so perfect that it doesn’t require any more work — which is something of a rarity.

According to a research published by CoinCodeCap, out of the 2000 blockchain projects analyzed, more than 960 did not see any activity on Github in 2019. This could very easily mean that a lot of the blockchain projects coming up are not seeing any traction. Therefore, a successful implementation of a blockchain project should ensure generous support from its members. In the end, it’s all about the contributors.

Open-Source Blockchain Projects with Most Contributors

Bitcoin was the first open-source blockchain projects, and quite easily the most successful one yet. But that doesn’t mean it has a dynamic internal community. Even though there have been a lot of changes to the original bitcoin source code, it has been the same more or less. There are numerous networks that have a high score when it comes to community support. Let us look at some of the most contributed blockchain projects.

Aelf – Decentralized Computation Network

Of Contributors: 36

36 Of Commits: 5546

5546 Inception: 2017

2017 GitHub Activity: 669 watchers

669 watchers Highlights: Aelf is a blockchain computation platform that tries to solve the scalability challenge. Its problem with side chains is solved by using a Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus system. The goal of Aelf is quite simple, try to solve the scalability problem along with successfully implementing a self-evolving network through delegated voting. This is one of the reasons why the Aelf community is one of the most motivated networks in the sector.

LISK – Dapp Platform

Of Contributors: 62

62 Of Commits: 5459

5459 Inception: 2016

2016 GitHub Activity: 2683 watchers

2683 watchers Highlights: Lisk (LSK) is a blockchain application platform, established in early 2016. Competing against several app competitors such as Ethereum, Stellar among others, Lisk has shown immense potential. Developer wise, the community of Lisk is stronger than the biggest dapp platform – Ethereum. Lisk’s idea of a blockchain network collides a lot with that of Ethereum and other dapp platforms, but the approach by which they look to achieve the goal is what sets them apart.

HOLO – DEX

Of Contributors: 48

48 Of Commits: 4827

4827 Inception: 2018

2018 GitHub Community: 872

872 Highlights: Built on the native HoloChain blockchain network, HoloDEX is a decentralized alternative to centralized exchanges.

Special Mention

Bitcoin

Of Contributors: 100+

100+ Of Commits: 1828

1828 Inception: 2010

2010 GitHub Activity: 42599 watchers

42599 watchers Highlights: Boasting the oldest, largest and most loyal developer community, Bitcoin is easily the shining knight of the GitHub world. Ever since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has seen a constant influx of contributions passionate about it. In the 10+ years of evolution, the Bitcoin community has been responsible for all of the changes and updates to the network.

Source: All Data compiled from CryptoMiso

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