Smart contract networks have witnessed a huge surge in popularity this year – and for good reason. They are a completely revolutionary part of blockchain technology that gives users the ability to seamlessly perform transactions with one another via an intermediary. The most popular platform for running smart contracts is Ethereum.
Despite the rise in such platforms, there is still one key issue: We are severely lacking in cross-chain capabilities that can bridge networks together. There have been a lot of projects cropping up recently attempting to solve this problem, so we’ve decided to do a breakdown of two of some of the more popular platforms, Syscoin and Fantom, to compare and contrast them
The first platform we’re going to discuss is Syscoin, an Ethereum alternative that retains the “gold standard” security of the Bitcoin consensus model. It is particularly unique in that it enables teams to give their projects regulatory compliance at scale for their asset’s transactions, without involving custodians. This means that securities such as stocks can safely participate in DeFi, DEX, or other emerging FinTech in a compliant way.
The second platform is Fantom, a fast, high-throughput open-source smart contract platform for digital assets and dApps. It enables businesses and applications to build fast, secure, and highly scalable blockchains that can be used in the real world, across a range of industries. Its aBFT consensus algorithm, known as ‘Lachesis’, is scalable, secure, and extremely fast.
Now that we’ve got the basics down, let’s dive a little deeper and take a look at some of the key differences in the technology behind each of these networks:
Fantom is a monolithic blockchain, and Syscoin is modular. At the beginning of the blockchain era, monolithic blockchains were the only blockchains in existence. To put it simply, a modular blockchain has to do all of the basic tasks – execution, security, and data availability – itself. Modular blockchains, by design, are significantly more efficient, given that tasks can be delegated to specialized chains. Most blockchains are still monolithic,
Syscoin uses Proof of Work (PoW) with finality, whereas Fantom uses Proof of Stake (PoS) with finality.
PoW, which is used by Syscoin, is the consensus mechanism used by both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Essentially, it is a system for authenticating transactions without requiring a third party. It is very good at ensuring both the authenticity and traceability of transactions, given that it makes it difficult to alter any aspect of the ledger.
Fantom, on the other hand, uses PoS. The key advantage of this is that it is much more energy-efficient than PoW and that it provides fast and inexpensive transaction processing. However, when it comes to security, it is not as proven as PoW. In addition, validators that have large holdings can have a significant influence on transaction verification, which is not the case with PoW.
‘Finality’, which is used by both projects, is essentially the guarantee that a transaction cannot be changed after it has been completed.
Syscoin is a pioneer of trustless interoperability. This means that power and trust are essentially shared between the network’s stakeholders, instead of being concentrated on a single institution (such as a bank, for example). Fantom, on the other hand, operates on a trusted basis, which is generally less secure.
Fantom can process 300,000 transactions per second (TPS), while Syscoin can process 210,000 TPS. This means that despite being slightly less secure, Fantom does have an edge over Syscoin when it comes to speed, as it can process transactions almost instantly for a fraction of a cent.
Given these differences, which network is the stronger choice?
As cliche as it is to say, which network is better depends on your requirements. While Fantom edges it slightly when it comes to speed, Syscoin definitely comes out on top when it comes to security and scalability.
While its revolutionary NEVM product is nearly live, Syscoin is also working on integrating ZK-Rollups, which are a complete game-changer for smart contract scalability. Syscoin aims to be one of the first Layer 1 blockchains to implement the rollups into its tech. To compare these projects yourself and follow along with their progress, you can follow Syscoin and Fantom on Twitter.
