• About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
DeFi Planet
  • News
    • People
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Regulation
    • Crypto
    • CBDC
  • Markets
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Stablecoins
    • Altcoins
    • Crypto ETFs
    • Memecoins
  • Policy
  • Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Opinion
    • Explainers
    • Guest Post
    • Sponsored
  • Directory
    • Companies
    • People
    • Products
    • Wallets
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
  • Learn
    • DeFi Basics
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Blockchain Fundamentals
  • Research
    • Case Studies
  • Explore
    • DeFi
    • Crypto Gaming
    • NFT
    • DAO
    • Metaverses
  • Jobs
  • Markets Pro
    • DeFi Planet Pro
    • Spend Crypto
    • Swap Crypto
    • Coin Prices
    • Crypto Exchanges
    • Crypto Analyzer
  • News
    • People
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Regulation
    • Crypto
    • CBDC
  • Markets
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Stablecoins
    • Altcoins
    • Crypto ETFs
    • Memecoins
  • Policy
  • Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Opinion
    • Explainers
    • Guest Post
    • Sponsored
  • Directory
    • Companies
    • People
    • Products
    • Wallets
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
  • Learn
    • DeFi Basics
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Blockchain Fundamentals
  • Research
    • Case Studies
  • Explore
    • DeFi
    • Crypto Gaming
    • NFT
    • DAO
    • Metaverses
  • Jobs
  • Markets Pro
    • DeFi Planet Pro
    • Spend Crypto
    • Swap Crypto
    • Coin Prices
    • Crypto Exchanges
    • Crypto Analyzer
No Result
View All Result
DeFi Planet
No Result
View All Result
Home Articles

The Race for Smart Contract Supremacy

16 March 2022
in Articles, Opinion
Reading Time: 8 mins read
105 7

Contents

Toggle
  • What are Smart Contracts?
  • Competitors to Ethereum  
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Solana (SOL)
    • Polkadot (DOT)
    • Algorand (ALGO)
    • Elrond’s (EGLD)
  • Conclusion

Ethereum’s major competitors in the cryptocurrency industry are smart contract blockchains, which are initiatives intended to improve Ethereum’s technology in terms of security and scalability, both of which are part of the blockchain trilemma.

The Ethereum network intends to upgrade to Ethereum 2.0. The update aims to shorten processing time, reduce costs, and improve scalability.

What are Smart Contracts?

Simply put, a smart contract is an agreement between two persons written in computer code.

They are digital contracts stored on a blockchain, automatically executed when specified terms and conditions are met. 

Smart contracts are considered to be immutable, verifiable, and self-contained pieces of code.

Competitors to Ethereum  

Ethereum’s competitors are vying for a substantial market share in the smart contract industry. The blockchain trilemma refers to blockchains’ inability to balance security, decentralization, and scalability.

Decentralization refers to blockchains’ ability to distribute data and processing power across their network’s many devices. Ethereum’s competitors claim to have solved the blockchain trilemma. Some are briefly discussed below

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is backed by three (3) independent organizations.

The Cardano Foundation is in charge of the Cardano blockchain’s development. Cardano was created by IOHK, as was Ouroboros, the proof-of-stake algorithm that Cardano employs to run its network. 

EMURGO facilitates the adoption of Cardano technology by corporations and larger organizations.

Cardano’s primary use case is to enable transactions in its native cryptocurrency, ADA, and to enable developers to build secure decentralized apps that utilize it.

Cardano differs from other blockchain projects in that it promotes a research-driven approach to design. It believes that academic rigour will aid in the adoption of the technology.

Cardano avoided some of the mistakes made by its predecessors before launching peer-reviewed research. This was a huge advantage because it helps prevent future problems. It was also one of the first blockchains to use a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism.

The Cardano team identified three (3) significant issues with the current cryptocurrency exchange system: exorbitant fees, a lack of liquidity, and usability. Cardano is building an open-source, decentralized money trading platform to address these challenges.

Cardano is still in development. The development team has devised a five-stage roadmap. These stages include Byron, Shelley, Goguen, Basho, and Voltaire.

The ultimate objective is to create a self-sustaining decentralized network. 

Solana (SOL)

Solana, named after a beach that Anatoly Yakovenko admired, was formally launched in March 2020. Solana was designed to make the development of smart contracts and decentralized applications, or DApps, easier. Its white paper is quite technical, containing only a few easily understandable lines.

Solana has a block time of 400 milliseconds, which is very fast compared to Ethereum’s block time of 10 seconds. Solana claims that they can handle up to 710000 transactions per second, which is roughly 30 times the amount that VISA currently handles, though they have never been able to go beyond 65000.

Transaction fees for Solana are around $0.00025 per transaction. Solana’s speed and low transaction fees are due to its consensus mechanism.

Solana does not use Proof-of-Work or Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. The Solana white paper introduced a novel system called Proof-of-History, which is similar to Proof-of-Stake but incorporates the additional variable of time.

Fundamentally, Proof-of-History is not a consensus mechanism but a method of integrating time into the blockchain data. It uses timestamps to place a specific date and time on the blocks, allowing for instant sequencing of validators. This allows the validators to submit blocks in the correct order without having to communicate back and forth, which saves a lot of time.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot was launched in May 2020, after three years of development. It is a smart contract blockchain advocating for Web 3.0 by emphasizing decentralization, speed, and security. Polkadot, unlike Ethereum, is structured as a web of autonomous blockchains linked by a relay chain. It is essentially a protocol that connects blockchains, allowing the transfer of currency and data across previously incompatible networks (Bitcoin and Ethereum, for example). It is also intended to be fast and scalable.

Gavin Wood, who previously worked with Ethereum and played a major role in the development of Solidity, revealed his motivation for quitting Ethereum and launching Polkadot was due to his dissatisfaction with Ethereum’s delayed move to Ethereum 2.0.

Polkadot is well-known for its interoperability, which allows numerous blockchains to merge into a single network, allowing them to exchange data without jeopardizing their security. Interoperability is one of the significant features of the proposed Web 3.0.

Polkadot offers on-chain governance relay chain functionalities, allowing users to vote on updates. If a specific update is voted on and approved, it is instantly deployed to the relay chain, eliminating time-consuming controversial forking. Ethereum, on the other hand, is community-centric. Therefore, an update by forking off takes a long time.

Algorand (ALGO)

Algorand was created in 2017, and its mainnet ALGO coin debuted in June 2019. The blockchain addresses the scalability and consensus mechanism difficulties that plagued first- and second-generation blockchains. The main feature of Algorand is its Pure Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which selects validators at random based on their staked ALGO tokens.

The blockchain’s main strength is its power decentralization, as every stakeholder has the opportunity to be a validator. ALGO is utilized for network transaction costs and earning block rewards in addition to consensus.

Algorand utilizes a ‘democratized’ Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism, which means that only a chosen group of miners are compensated for dedicating their computer resources to the blockchain. This randomization is the outcome of a one-of-a-kind cryptographic technique known as the VRF (Verifiable Random function).

Pure Proof-of-Stake is a distributed consensus mechanism. ‘Pure’ Proof of Stake refers to the requirement to lock up or bond the ALGOS to participate in the staking process, and the power is proportional. Other blockchains need stakers/validators to lock up tokens to participate in transaction validation.

Elrond’s (EGLD)

Elrond is a fast, cheap, and efficient blockchain designed to be applicable in several use cases. Elrond Network provides industry-leading scalability by utilizing Adaptive State Sharding and its own Secure Proof-of-Stake (SPoS) consensus process.

Elrond’s cryptocurrency, EGLD, is crucial to the network’s upkeep. EGLD can be used for transmitting data, rewarding network contributors, and executing smart contracts.  Users who own and stake EGLD acquire the right to vote on network enhancements and are rewarded with newly minted EGL tokens in proportion to the amount staked.

Elrond is approximately ten thousand times faster than Ethereum, which is limited to 20 transactions per second. This limitation will not be addressed until ETH 2.0 Phase sharding is fully implemented.

Conclusion

  • A smart contract is a two-person agreement written in computer code.
  • Ethereum’s competitors are vying for a substantial market share in the smart contract space.
  • Solana, Cardano, Algorand, Elrond, and polkadot are some of these competitors.

 

If you would like to read more articles like this, follow DeFi Planet on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Don't miss out!

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Receive top education news, lesson ideas, teaching tips and more!
Invalid email address
Give it a try. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
Share65Tweet41Share11
Tezalpreet Dhanju

Tezalpreet Dhanju

Related Posts

Is the “Get Rich Quick” Mentality in Crypto Hurting Its Long-Term Adoption?
Opinion

Is the “Get Rich Quick” Mentality in Crypto Hurting Its Long-Term Adoption?

7 July 2025
Navigating Crypto Taxes in 2025
Explainers

Navigating Crypto Taxes in 2025

7 July 2025
Is AI the Future of Crypto Trading or a Threat to Market Stability?
Opinion

Is AI the Future of Crypto Trading or a Threat to Market Stability?

7 July 2025
Which Pays Better Right Now: DeFi’s High-Yield Pairs or Traditional Finance’s Cash Vehicles?
Explainers

Which Pays Better Right Now: DeFi’s High-Yield Pairs or Traditional Finance’s Cash Vehicles?

6 July 2025

Featured Posts

Is Code Law? The Legal and Moral Implications of Smart Contracts

Is Code Law? The Legal and Moral Implications of Smart Contracts

byFaari Labinjo
24 June 2025
0

Multi-Party Computation (MPC) vs. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): Which is the Future of Blockchain Privacy?

Multi-Party Computation (MPC) vs. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): Which is the Future of Blockchain Privacy?

byFaari Labinjo
7 June 2025
0

Address Poisoning Attacks in Crypto: What They Are and How to Stay Safe

Address Poisoning Attacks in Crypto: What They Are and How to Stay Safe

byOlayinka Sodiq
3 June 2025
0

What Is a Bull Trap?

What Is a Bull Trap?

byOlajumoke Oyaleke
3 June 2025
0

Breaking Bitcoin’s 21M Limit: Is It Even Possible?

Breaking Bitcoin’s 21M Limit: Is It Even Possible?

byOlayinka Sodiq
3 June 2025
0

Read More

Chain of Thoughts

The Game-changing Triumvirate: Blockchain, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence

The Game-changing Triumvirate: Blockchain, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence

byOlu Omoyele
30 June 2025
0

...

Are Stablecoins Bank Deposits?

Are Stablecoins Bank Deposits?

byOlu Omoyele
31 May 2025
0

...

DAOs and the Coordination of Human Endeavour

DAOs and The Coordination of Human Endeavour

byOlu Omoyele
27 April 2025
0

...

Should DeFi Be Regulated?

Should DeFi Be Regulated?

byOlu Omoyele
27 March 2025
0

...

Markets Update

The Battle for Web3 Infrastructure: Which Platforms are Dominating in Decentralized Storage, Compute, and Identity?

15 hours ago

Is Ethereum Losing the Yield Battle?

15 hours ago

Dubai Greenlights Region’s First Tokenized Money Market Fund, Pioneering Real-World Asset Digitization

15 hours ago

BRICS Digital Currencies & Their Threat to USD-Denominated Stablecoins

4 days ago

The U.S. Crypto Regulatory Pivot: How the FIT21 Bill & ETF Greenlights Are Reshaping Global Policy

4 days ago

VC Funding in Web3: Where the Money Is Going Post-2024 Bear Cycle

4 days ago
Read More

Events

Rare Evo 2025
Rare Evo 2025
6 Aug 25
Las Vegas
CBDC Conference
CBDC Conference
9 Sep 25
Nassau

Spotlight

All about Ethereum
All about Algorand
All about Bitcoin
All about Gora

Press Releases

G-Knot Appoints Fintech, Crypto Veteran Wes Kaplan as CEO to Launch the First Finger Vein Biometric Wallet

bychainwire
8 July 2025
0

GUNZ Announces $GUN Token Expansion to Solana

bychainwire
7 July 2025
0

NEXST Launches Web3 VR Entertainment Platform with K-Pop Group UNIS as First Global Partner

bychainwire
7 July 2025
0

The Open Platform is first unicorn in Web3 ecosystem in Telegram at $1bn valuation

bychainwire
3 July 2025
0

Cooking.City Bringing Back Value Redistribution to Solana Fair Launches

bychainwire
3 July 2025
0

Read More

ADVERTISING

ABOUT

TEAM

CAREERS

CONTACT

TERMS & CONDITIONS

PRIVACY POLICY

© Copyright 2025 DeFi Planet

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Please enter and activate your license key for Cryptocurrency Widgets PRO plugin for unrestricted and full access of all premium features.

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • People
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Regulation
    • Crypto
    • CBDC
  • Markets
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Stablecoins
    • Altcoins
    • Crypto ETFs
    • Memecoins
  • Policy
  • Articles
    • Press Releases
    • Opinion
    • Explainers
    • Guest Post
    • Sponsored
  • Directory
    • Companies
    • People
    • Products
    • Wallets
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
  • Learn
    • DeFi Basics
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Blockchain Fundamentals
  • Research
    • Case Studies
  • Explore
    • DeFi
    • Crypto Gaming
    • NFT
    • DAO
    • Metaverses
  • Jobs
  • Markets Pro
    • DeFi Planet Pro
    • Spend Crypto
    • Swap Crypto
    • Coin Prices
    • Crypto Exchanges
    • Crypto Analyzer

© Copyright 2024 DeFi Planet   |   Terms & Conditions   |   Privacy Policy

-
00:00
00:00

Queue

Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00