The project directory

What it is. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer money network. Thousands of computers keep one shared record of who owns what, and nobody can create coins outside the published schedule.

What makes it different. Supply is capped just under 21 million coins, and the reward for mining halves roughly every four years. The current reward is 3.125 BTC per block.

Recent milestone. The 20 millionth bitcoin was mined around 9 March 2026. US spot bitcoin ETFs held about 1.29 million BTC in early October 2026.

Main risk. Price swings are large: bitcoin fell by more than half between its October 2025 record and June 2026.

What it is. Zcash began as a modified copy of Bitcoin's code with the same 21 million cap. Its shielded transactions hide the sender, the receiver and the amount, while transparent transactions stay public.

What makes it different. It was the first major network to use zk-SNARKs, the zero-knowledge proofs that let a transaction be verified without revealing its details.

Recent milestone. The Ironwood shielded pool went live on 28 July 2026, and Grayscale's ZCSH became a US spot ZEC ETF on 25 August 2026.

Main risk. Privacy coins face regulatory pressure, and a serious (unexploited) flaw in the Orchard pool was disclosed in June 2026.

What it is. Midnight is a blockchain for apps that need to keep data private while still proving things about it. Holding the NIGHT token generates DUST, a shielded, non-transferable resource that pays transaction fees.

What makes it different. The two-part NIGHT and DUST design separates the tradable token from the private fuel, and smart contracts are written in Compact, a TypeScript-like language.

Recent milestone. Mainnet launched on 30 March 2026 with nine federated operators, and permissionless smart contract deployment went live in late September 2026.

Main risk. Still run by a small federated set of operators, with token unlocks continuing through December 2026.

What it is. Cardano is a smart-contract platform built from peer-reviewed research. Its coin, ADA, is staked by holders without being locked, and since 2025 holders steer the network through on-chain votes.

What makes it different. It uses an extended version of Bitcoin's UTXO model for smart contracts, and governance runs through elected representatives called DReps plus a Constitutional Committee.

Recent milestone. USDCx went live on Cardano and CME listed ADA futures in February 2026. The Leios scaling upgrade is targeted for late 2026.

Main risk. Smaller app ecosystem than rival platforms, and Grayscale withdrew its US spot ADA ETF filing in August 2026.

What it is. Bittensor is a marketplace for machine intelligence. Competing mini-markets called subnets each define an AI task, and participants earn TAO based on how good their work is judged to be.

What makes it different. It borrows Bitcoin's 21 million cap and halving schedule but rewards AI work instead of hashing. Each subnet has its own 'alpha' token since the dTAO upgrade of February 2025.

Recent milestone. The first halving took place in December 2025, cutting issuance to 0.5 TAO per block. About 128 subnets were active in October 2026.

Main risk. Hard to measure real demand for subnet output, and a US spot ETF application was still pending in early October 2026.

What it is. Monero hides the sender, the receiver and the amount of every payment automatically. It has no company, no foundation and no premine, and is maintained by a volunteer community.

What makes it different. Privacy is mandatory, not optional, using ring signatures, stealth addresses and RingCT. A small permanent 'tail emission' of 0.6 XMR per block keeps miners paid forever.

Recent milestone. XMR set an all-time high on 14 January 2026. The FCMP++ privacy upgrade was still in testing in October 2026 with no mainnet date set.

Main risk. Delisted by several large exchanges, and EU rules from July 2027 bar regulated providers from handling anonymity-enhancing coins.

What it is. Solana is a smart-contract platform designed to process thousands of transactions per second on one shared chain, with fees that are usually a fraction of a cent.

What makes it different. It keeps everything on a single fast chain rather than splitting activity across many add-on networks, which makes apps feel closer to ordinary web apps.

Recent milestone. The Alpenglow consensus overhaul, designed to cut finality to a fraction of a second, was scheduled to begin activating on mainnet from 28 September 2026.

Main risk. A history of network outages, and validators need powerful hardware.

What it is. Sui is a smart-contract blockchain that stores each coin, NFT or app record as a separate object with an owner. Transactions that touch different objects can run in parallel.

What makes it different. It uses the Move language created for Meta's cancelled Diem project, and zkLogin lets people create a wallet with a Google or Apple account.

Recent milestone. US spot SUI ETFs from Canary, Grayscale and 21Shares began trading in February 2026.

Main risk. Several outages, including three halts in two days in May 2026, and a large share of supply is still locked.

What it is. Quant Network is a London company whose Overledger platform lets banks and developers connect once and reach many ledgers. QNT is an Ethereum token used to pay for and access the platform.

What makes it different. It chose not to launch its own chain. Overledger is commercial interoperability software aimed at regulated institutions.

Recent milestone. In 2026 Quant's technology sits behind the UK banking industry's tokenised sterling deposit pilot.

Main risk. A single company controls the product, and QNT gives no ownership or vote in it.

What it is. Gram is the native coin of TON, a proof-of-stake blockchain designed by Telegram's founders. It pays network fees, is staked to secure the network, and is used for payments inside Telegram.

What makes it different. Telegram has about a billion users, and no other blockchain has a consumer app of that size as its front door.

Recent milestone. Toncoin (TON) became Gram (GRAM) on 15 June 2026 after a holder vote passed with 81.22% in favour. It is the same coin, and no swap was needed.

Main risk. Heavy dependence on Telegram, which now leads development and is the largest validator.

What it is. NEAR is a proof-of-stake blockchain that splits its workload across parallel shards. It was started by two engineers who first set out to build AI, and it now focuses on cross-chain 'intents' and private AI.

What makes it different. Chain signatures let a NEAR account sign transactions on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and others, and NEAR Intents lets you state the outcome you want and have market makers deliver it.

Recent milestone. NEAR Intents passed $30 billion in cumulative swap volume by autumn 2026, and shards have split and merged automatically since July 2026.

Main risk. No hard supply cap, and it competes with much larger smart-contract platforms.

What it is. Blockchains cannot see the outside world on their own. Chainlink's network of independent node operators delivers prices and other data to smart contracts, and its CCIP protocol moves messages and tokens between chains.

What makes it different. It is the most widely used oracle provider, with roughly 70% market share by value secured according to DefiLlama's 2025 figures.

Recent milestone. Chainlink reported about $110 billion in total value secured in its Q2 2026 review, and more than $30 trillion in cumulative transaction value enabled.

Main risk. Usage figures do not translate directly into token value, and oracle failures can cascade into the apps that rely on them.

What it is. Ethena issues USDe, a dollar-pegged token that is not backed by cash in a bank. It holds crypto and an offsetting short futures position so the combined value stays close to one dollar. ENA is its governance token.

What makes it different. The yield paid to sUSDe holders comes mainly from futures funding payments and staking rewards, not from lending out deposits.

Recent milestone. All remaining investor tokens unlocked on 5 October 2026. USDe supply was about $4.8 billion in early October 2026, down from a peak near $14.8 billion a year earlier.

Main risk. USDe is not a bank deposit, is not insured and can lose its peg. It briefly traded at $0.65 on one exchange in October 2025.

What it is. Canton is a 'network of networks' where each institution keeps its own records and shares only what counterparties need to see. Canton Coin (CC) is burned to pay fees and minted to reward the operators and apps that make the network useful.

What makes it different. There is no single global ledger that everyone can read, which lets regulated firms settle tokenised bonds, cash and collateral without exposing client positions.

Recent milestone. The Canton Foundation site listed 62 Super Validator nodes and 807 validators on 11 October 2026.

Main risk. Critics call it permissioned: new Super Validators need approval from the existing ones.

What it is. Kaspa is a mineable cryptocurrency that replaces the single chain of blocks with a blockDAG, a structure that lets many blocks be created at once and still be ordered without throwing any away.

What makes it different. Blocks arrive about every 100 milliseconds, far faster than other proof-of-work coins, and the mining reward shrinks smoothly every month instead of in sudden halvings.

Recent milestone. Maximum supply is about 28.7 billion KAS, and most of it is already in circulation.

Main risk. Smart-contract functionality is still young, and miner income depends on a fast-declining reward.

What it is. Ethereum is a programmable blockchain. Developers publish smart contracts, small programs that run exactly as written, and users pay fees in ether (ETH) to use them.

What makes it different. It has the largest developer community and the deepest pool of DeFi activity, and most activity now runs on cheaper layer 2 networks that settle back to Ethereum.

Recent milestone. The Glamsterdam upgrade was reported to be entering its final public testnet phase in October 2026, with mainnet targeted for the fourth quarter.

Main risk. Complex roadmap, and value captured by layer 2 networks may not flow back to ETH.

What it is. XRP is the native coin of the XRP Ledger, a blockchain built for fast, cheap payments. The company Ripple uses it in cross-border payment products and holds a large share of the supply.

What makes it different. All 100 billion XRP were created at launch, and transactions settle in a few seconds for a tiny fee that is destroyed.

Recent milestone. Ripple received conditional approval for a US national trust bank charter in December 2025, and its RLUSD stablecoin has grown past $2 billion.

Main risk. Ripple holds a large share of supply, and banks can use Ripple's software without using XRP.

What it is. BNB started as a discount token for the Binance exchange and became the fuel for BNB Chain, a low-fee smart-contract network compatible with Ethereum apps.

What makes it different. A portion of supply is destroyed on a regular schedule, with a long-term target of 100 million BNB.

Recent milestone. BNB first traded above $1,000 in autumn 2025 and remains the largest exchange-linked coin by market value.

Main risk. Closely tied to one company, Binance, and to a small validator set.

What it is. TRON is a smart-contract network whose main real-world use is moving the USDT stablecoin cheaply, especially in emerging markets.

What makes it different. Alongside Ethereum, it is one of the two largest networks for USDT.

Recent milestone. TRON continues to rank among the ten largest crypto assets by market value in October 2026.

Main risk. Governance is concentrated, and its fortunes are tied to one stablecoin and one founder.

What it is. Hyperliquid is a layer 1 designed around one app: an order-book exchange for perpetual futures that feels like a centralised exchange but settles on-chain. HYPE is its native token.

What makes it different. It took no venture capital funding and distributed a large share of HYPE to users. Most trading fees are used to buy back the token.

Recent milestone. The first US spot HYPE ETF launched on 12 May 2026, and 'outcome markets' (HIP-4) went live in limited form on 2 May 2026.

Main risk. A small validator set, and leveraged trading carries heavy risk for users.

What it is. Stellar is a blockchain designed for payments and asset issuance. Its coin, the lumen (XLM), pays the tiny transaction fees.

What makes it different. It was designed for issuing and exchanging currencies from the start, and gained smart contracts (Soroban) in February 2024.

Recent milestone. Stellar is used for tokenised funds and stablecoins, including an on-chain US money market fund from Franklin Templeton.

Main risk. Competes with stablecoins on faster-growing networks for the same payments use case.

What it is. Bitcoin Cash shares Bitcoin's history up to August 2017. Its supporters increased the block size so more transactions fit in each block, aiming at cash-like payments.

What makes it different. It keeps Bitcoin's 21 million cap and halving schedule but with much larger blocks and very low fees.

Recent milestone. Its second halving as a separate chain took place in April 2024.

Main risk. Much less mining power and adoption than Bitcoin.

What it is. Litecoin was created as 'silver to Bitcoin's gold'. It uses the same basic design with faster blocks and a larger supply.

What makes it different. Blocks arrive every 2.5 minutes, four times faster than Bitcoin, and an optional privacy layer called MWEB was added in 2022.

Recent milestone. A US spot Litecoin ETF from Canary Capital began trading on Nasdaq on 28 October 2025.

Main risk. Few unique features today, so it relies on longevity and brand.

What it is. Avalanche is a proof-of-stake network with a main chain for apps and a system for launching independent, customised chains that share its technology.

What makes it different. Its 'Avalanche9000' upgrade in December 2024 sharply cut the cost of launching a custom chain, which has attracted institutions and games.

Recent milestone. Avalanche is used for several institutional tokenisation pilots, with custom chains run by financial firms.

Main risk. Activity is spread thin across many chains, and competition among platforms is intense.

What it is. Uniswap lets people swap tokens directly from their wallets. Instead of an order book, prices come from pools of tokens supplied by users and a simple formula.

What makes it different. It popularised the automated market maker, the design most decentralised exchanges now copy.

Recent milestone. After the 'UNIfication' vote passed in December 2025, protocol fees were switched on and used to burn UNI. Uniswap deployed on Robinhood Chain on 1 July 2026.

Main risk. Liquidity providers can lose out compared with simply holding, and competition on fees is fierce.

What it is. Hedera is a public network that uses hashgraph, an alternative to a blockchain, to order transactions quickly with fixed low fees. HBAR is its coin.

What makes it different. It is governed by a rotating council of well-known companies and universities rather than an anonymous validator set.

Recent milestone. A US spot HBAR ETF from Canary Capital began trading on Nasdaq on 28 October 2025.

Main risk. Council-run nodes make it more centralised than most public chains.

What it is. Aave is a lending protocol. Depositors earn interest, and borrowers post more collateral than they borrow. If collateral falls too far, it is sold automatically.

What makes it different. It pioneered 'flash loans' and issues its own stablecoin, GHO.

Recent milestone. Aave V4 launched on Ethereum mainnet on 30 March 2026 with a new 'hub and spoke' design.

Main risk. Smart-contract bugs and sudden market drops can cause losses and liquidations.

What it is. Ondo Finance turns traditional assets such as US government debt into tokens that can move on blockchains. ONDO is its governance token.

What makes it different. Its USDY and OUSG products gave crypto users early access to Treasury yields on-chain.

Recent milestone. Ondo's yield-bearing dollar token USDY had more than $2 billion in circulation in October 2026.

Main risk. Products rely on off-chain custodians and regulation, and many are not open to US retail users.

What it is. Polkadot connects independent blockchains to a central chain that secures them all, so each can specialise while still talking to the others.

What makes it different. Chains rent security from Polkadot rather than recruiting their own validators.

Recent milestone. A hard cap of 2.1 billion DOT, approved by token holders, was reported to take effect on 14 March 2026 along with a cut in yearly issuance.

Main risk. Ecosystem activity has lagged rival platforms.

What it is. The Internet Computer runs software 'canisters' that can serve web pages and store data directly on-chain, aiming to replace traditional cloud hosting for some apps.

What makes it different. Apps can be served to a normal web browser straight from the chain, with governance by an on-chain voting system.

Recent milestone. ICP ranks among the hundred largest crypto assets in October 2026.

Main risk. The token fell more than 90% after launch, and governance power is concentrated.

What it is. Sky lets users lock up collateral to create dollar-pegged stablecoins. It is one of the oldest and largest DeFi protocols. SKY is its governance token.

What makes it different. DAI was the first widely used decentralised stablecoin. USDS is its upgraded successor.

Recent milestone. USDS has grown past $10 billion in circulation, making it one of the largest stablecoins.

Main risk. A growing share of backing is in real-world assets, which adds off-chain dependencies.

What it is. Morpho is a lending protocol built from simple, separate markets. Specialist 'curators' package those markets into vaults for depositors.

What makes it different. Each market is isolated, so a problem in one does not automatically spread to the rest.

Recent milestone. Morpho powers crypto-backed loans offered inside the Coinbase app.

Main risk. Vault quality depends on the curator, and depositors bear the risk of their choices.

What it is. When Ethereum reversed a major hack in 2016, part of the community refused the change on principle. The untouched chain continued as Ethereum Classic.

What makes it different. It still uses mining and has a fixed supply schedule, unlike today's Ethereum.

Recent milestone. ETC remains among the hundred largest crypto assets in October 2026.

Main risk. Suffered several 51% attacks in 2019 and 2020, and has limited app activity.

What it is. Arbitrum processes transactions off Ethereum's main chain, then posts the results back to it. Users get lower fees while relying on Ethereum for security.

What makes it different. Its technology is licensed by other chains too. Robinhood Chain, which launched its mainnet on 1 July 2026, is built on Arbitrum technology.

Recent milestone. Robinhood Chain went live in July 2026 using Arbitrum's stack.

Main risk. ARB is a governance token and does not pay network fees, which are paid in ETH.

What it is. Jupiter is an aggregator: it splits a trade across many Solana exchanges to get the best rate. It also runs perpetual futures and other trading products.

What makes it different. Most swaps on Solana pass through Jupiter's routing at some point.

Recent milestone. JUP ranks among the hundred largest crypto assets in October 2026.

Main risk. Depends entirely on Solana's activity levels.

What it is. Algorand is a smart-contract platform focused on fast finality and never forking. It is often used in government and finance pilots.

What makes it different. Transactions are final in a few seconds with no chance of being reversed by a chain split.

Recent milestone. Staking rewards for block producers were introduced in January 2025.

Main risk. Low app activity compared with larger platforms.

What it is. Polygon runs a popular low-fee chain alongside Ethereum and builds technology for linking many chains together.

What makes it different. It is widely used by mainstream brands and payment firms for low-cost transactions.

Recent milestone. The MATIC to POL token migration began in September 2024.

Main risk. Faces strong competition from newer Ethereum layer 2 networks.

What it is. Render connects people who need GPU power, such as artists and AI developers, with people who have spare graphics cards. Jobs are paid for in RENDER.

What makes it different. It grew out of OTOY, an established graphics software company used in film and visual effects.

Recent milestone. RENDER ranks just outside the hundred largest crypto assets in October 2026.

Main risk. Competes with large cloud providers and other compute networks.

What it is. Cosmos is a toolkit and a standard, IBC, that lets independent blockchains send tokens and messages to each other. ATOM secures the central Cosmos Hub.

What makes it different. Many well-known chains were built with its software kit, even though they do not all rely on ATOM.

Recent milestone. IBC, launched in 2021, now connects dozens of independent chains.

Main risk. ATOM captures little value from the many chains built with Cosmos technology.

What it is. Filecoin is a marketplace for data storage. Providers prove cryptographically that they are still storing a customer's files and earn FIL for doing so.

What makes it different. Storage is verified continuously by maths rather than by trusting a company.

Recent milestone. Smart contracts arrived with the Filecoin Virtual Machine in March 2023.

Main risk. Paid storage demand has been lower than the capacity on offer.

What it is. Aptos is a proof-of-stake blockchain built by a team that worked on Meta's Diem project. It uses the Move language and runs transactions in parallel.

What makes it different. It keeps closer to Diem's original account-based design, while Sui rebuilt Move around objects.

Recent milestone. Aptos is used by several asset managers for tokenised fund share classes.

Main risk. No supply cap, and it competes directly with Sui and Solana.

What it is. Injective is a blockchain with exchange features, such as an on-chain order book, built into the base layer for finance apps to share.

What makes it different. A share of fees from apps is used to buy and burn INJ in regular auctions.

Recent milestone. Injective added native support for Ethereum-style apps in November 2025.

Main risk. A specialised chain in a crowded field of trading venues.

What it is. USDT is a token designed to be worth one US dollar, issued by the company Tether and backed by reserves that are mostly US Treasury bills.

What makes it different. It is the most traded crypto asset in the world by daily volume.

Recent milestone. USDT supply stood at roughly $184 billion in October 2026.

Main risk. Holders rely on the issuer's reserves and attestations rather than a full audit.

What it is. USDC is a dollar-pegged token backed by cash and short-term US government debt, issued by Circle, a US-listed company.

What makes it different. Circle publishes monthly reserve attestations and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025.

Recent milestone. USDC supply stood at roughly $73 billion in October 2026.

Main risk. It briefly lost its peg in March 2023 when a bank holding part of its reserves failed.

What it is. USDS is a decentralised dollar stablecoin created by the Sky protocol (formerly MakerDAO). DAI can be converted to it one for one.

What makes it different. Holders can earn the Sky Savings Rate by depositing it.

Recent milestone. USDS had about $10 billion in circulation in October 2026.

Main risk. Backing includes real-world assets and other stablecoins, which adds dependencies.

What it is. USDe targets one dollar without holding dollars in a bank. Ethena holds crypto and bets against it in equal size, so the two cancel out.

What makes it different. Staked USDe (sUSDe) passes on funding-rate income, so its yield rises and falls with the market.

Recent milestone. Supply was about $4.8 billion in early October 2026, down from a peak near $14.8 billion in October 2025.

Main risk. Not a bank deposit and not insured. Depends on exchanges and futures markets working normally.

What it is. DAI is a dollar-pegged token created when users lock collateral in smart contracts. No single company issues it.

What makes it different. It kept its peg through several market crashes without a company holding dollars for it.

Recent milestone. DAI continues to circulate alongside its successor USDS, with about $4.5 billion outstanding in October 2026.

Main risk. Part of its backing is other stablecoins, so it inherits some of their risks.

What it is. USD1 is a fiat-backed dollar token issued by World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture linked to the Trump family.

What makes it different. It grew quickly after launch through large exchange and institutional deals.

Recent milestone. USD1 had about $4.3 billion in circulation in October 2026.

Main risk. A young issuer with political links, which brings extra scrutiny.

What it is. PYUSD is a dollar-backed token that PayPal and Venmo users can hold and send, issued by the regulated trust company Paxos.

What makes it different. It is the first stablecoin from a major mainstream payments company.

Recent milestone. PYUSD had about $2.9 billion in circulation in October 2026.

Main risk. Much smaller than USDT and USDC, with less liquidity on exchanges.

What it is. RLUSD is a dollar-backed token issued by a Ripple subsidiary under a New York trust charter.

What makes it different. It is aimed at institutions and at Ripple's own payments business.

Recent milestone. RLUSD had about $2.4 billion in circulation in October 2026.

Main risk. A newer entrant competing with far larger stablecoins.