What’s trending in Blockchain?

It is early but it’s emerging and fast. With the world ablaze with skyrocketing cryptocurrency coins, and everyone searching for the next Bitcoin or Ethereum, Blockchain is the hottest tech buzzword in ages and is driving all this madness.

Blockchain has paired a curious set of bedfellows in high tech and high finance in a way that has attracted over $1 billion in venture capital and seems to feed a massive market potential.The aim is to couple technology and finance for faster and safer transactions at a lower cost.But what does it all mean and what businesses are at the forefront of this dynamic space?Here are a few of the shining new stars (potentially) in the Blockchain universe.

ICONOMI 

It has been suggested by some that this group may transform startup fund management in much the same way that Uber transformed the taxi industry.

Using a crowdfunding mechanism where over 2,000 investors participated in an Initial Coin Offering (or “ICO”) which would be analogous to getting investors in more known language to pony up their funds to subscribe to a company’s Initial Public Offering (or “IPO”).With over 2,000 investors it is clear how the firm has offered a de-centralized alternative to the traditional fund management world.Keeping in step with this, instead of getting stock certificates or equity in another form of paper, investors get a token or ICN which replaces the former paper instrument.Over $5.5 million has been raised as of the end of September.

Investors who hold these ICN tokens will start seeing dividends on a weekly basis from profits as funds managed by the firm are launched.

Ripple

Trying to tackle international payment delays, Ripple is leveraging Blockchain as a vehicle to make these payments happen securely and in real time, something today’s banks cannot accomplish.Having already raised nearly $100 million and supported by some big name banks like Accenture and BMO Financial Group they appear to be well on their way to making moving money just as easy as the internet can move information but leveraging the security features of the Blockchain instrument with inter-ledger tools that connect various Blockchains together.