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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High Performance Blockchain (HPB) is a Chinese company that is developing an improved blockchain infrastructure. Their goal is to dramatically improve the speed of transactions and throughput of existing blockchain systems. HPB has been called the EOS of China.
Similar to EOS, HPB uses a delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm that will enable parallel processing. It will also aid in improving the performance of their blockchain, and they hope that it will enable the creation of an ecosystem for the creation of decentralized applications.
HPB's platform is based on hardware accelerator chip drivers. The accelerator chips can be customized and will aid in the performance of the blockchain. HPB has the ambitious goal of enabling 1 million transactions per second.
The company's founders are well connected in the blockchain and payment sector in China. NEO is one of the chief investors in the company, and they also works with Union Pay; which is an influential payment network that connects banks in China.