NEAR Protocol is a decentralized application platform designed to make DApps operable on the web. The NEAR network uses a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism called Nightshade. The NEAR utility token is used for processing transactions and storing data, as well as for facilitating voting for governance issues.
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Blockstream is a private, for profit, blockchain technology company, that has played a key role in helping to develop, and fund, many of the key features of the Bitcoin Core platform. Blockstream is focused on developing bitcoin applications and has raised significant funding from several large investment funds. The company also employs several developers that are very influential within the Bitcoin Core development project. This, as well as being of Bitcoin's largest donors, has led to some criticism about conflicts of interest.
Blockstream is developing a number of Bitcoin applications that are intended to encourage adoption and improve transaction times on the bitcoin network. Their primary focus is on Sidechains, which are are extensions to existing blockchains that improve their functionality. The company is also working closely with industry leaders to create the Bitcoin Lightning system that will support higher trading volume and faster transactions on the bitcoin network. Blockstream is also developing a data feed, satellite network, and other applications that they hope will make blockchain more accessible.

Nebulas is an innovative project that aims to be the first blockchain search engine. It has been called the “Google for Blockchains." They want to build a self-evolving blockchain system that is based on incentives and will also provide a development infrastructure. The company developed two concepts to achieve their goal: Rank and Force. Similar to Google's PageRank, Nebulas Rank will be a measure of overall value for blockchains. While Nebulas Force, will be a solution that will support smart contracts, and will be able to adapt to market demands. This will prevent forking from occurring because new technologies can be incorporated and bugs can be fixed without changing the underlying code. The development system will provide all of the essential tools needed to create distributed applications. One of the key components of the platform is the incentive structure that has a Developer Incentive Protocol (DIP) and a Proof of Devotion (PoD) protocol that will reward users with Nebulas tokens to create quality applications. Nebulas was created by Hitters Xu, who is also the founder of NEO, and is an important figure in the Chinese blockchain community.