Xunlei Limited is a Chinese multinational technology company and an online service provider founded in 2003. The subsidiary of Xunlei Limited, Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies, Co., Ltd. was formerly known as Sandai Technologies (Shenzhen) Inc. and changed its name to Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies, Co., Ltd. in May 2005. In April 2014, Xunlei received an investment from a Chinese electronics company Xiaomi of $200 million. On 24 June 2014, it went public on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, selling 7.315 million American depositary shares (ADS) at $12 and raising just shy of $88 million. According to the annual ranking of China's top 100 internet companies released by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese government, Xunlei occupied 42nd place in 2017's ranking.
Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available free of charge on iOS and Android operating systems. It uses a smartphone's data plan or Wi-Fi to transmit and receive messages, photos, videos, sketches, mobile webpages, and other content after users register a username. Kik is known for its features preserving users' anonymity, such as allowing users to register without providing a telephone number; however, the Kik application logs user IP addresses, which the company can use to determine location. As of May 2016, Kik Messenger had approximately 300 million registered users, and was used by approximately 40% of the United States' teenagers.
A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that is used as a medium of exchange wherein individual digital token coin ownership records are stored in a digital ledger or computerized database using strong cryptography to secure financial transaction record entries, to control the creation of additional digital token coin records, and to verify the transfer of token coin ownership. It typically does not exist in physical form and is typically not issued by a central authority. Some cryptocurrencies use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems. When a cryptocurrency is minted or created prior to issuance or held on a centralized exchange, it is generally considered centralized. When implemented with decentralized control, each cryptocurrency works through distributed ledger technology, typically a blockchain, that serves as a public financial transaction database.
Ethereum is an open source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract (scripting) functionality. It supports a modified version of Nakamoto consensus via transaction-based state transitions.
Nxt is an open source cryptocurrency and payment network launched in 2013 by anonymous software developer BCNext. It uses proof-of-stake to reach consensus for transactions—as such there is a static money supply and, unlike bitcoin, no mining. Nxt was specifically conceived as a flexible platform around which to build applications and financial services.
NEM is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency and blockchain platform launched on March 31, 2015 written in Java.
Huobi is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. Founded in China, the company now has offices in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and the United States. In August 2018 it became a publicly listed Hong Kong company.
Brave is a free and open-source web browser developed by Brave Software, Inc. based on the Chromium web browser. It blocks ads and website trackers, and provides a way for users to send cryptocurrency contributions in the form of Basic Attention Tokens to websites and content creators.
ConsenSys is a blockchain software technology company founded by Joseph Lubin with headquarters in Brooklyn and additional United States offices in Washington, DC and San Francisco.
ShapeShift is a company that offers global trading of a variety of digital assets via web and mobile platforms. It is headquartered in Switzerland, but run out of Denver.
An initial coin offering (ICO) or initial currency offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies. It is often a form of crowdfunding, however a private ICOs which does not seek public investment is also possible. In an ICO, a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of "tokens" ("coins") to speculators or investors, in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. The tokens are promoted as future functional units of currency if or when the ICO's funding goal is met and the project successfully launches.
Filecoin (⨎) is an open-source, public, cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. It is made by Protocol Labs and builds on top of InterPlanetary File System, allowing users to rent unused hard drive space. Blockchain is used to register the deals.
EOS.IO is a blockchain protocol powered by the native cryptocurrency EOS. The smart contract platform claims to eliminate transaction fees and also conduct millions of transactions per second.
Power Ledger (POWR) is a 2016 founded Australian blockchain-based cryptocurrency and energy trading platform that allows for decentralized selling and buying of renewable energy. The platform provides consumers with access to a variety of energy markets around the globe and is meant to be scalable to various energy infrastructures and regulations. The market is based on a dual-token ecosystem operating on two blockchain layers, POWR and Sparkz. POWR tokens allow consumers and hosts providing energy to interface with the ecosystem and are protected through Smart Bond technology. POWR tokens can be converted into Sparkz tokens, which can be used for frictionless transactions in the energy exchange market. The initial coin offering for POWR tokens became the largest crowd funding project in Australia and the 14th highest in the world.
KodakCoin is a photographer-oriented blockchain cryptocurrency that is planned for payments for licensing photographs. The cryptocurrency is being developed under a brand licensee agreement between Kodak and RYDE Holding Inc.
An airdrop is a distribution of a cryptocurrency token or coin, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses. Airdrops are primarily implemented as a way of gaining attention and new followers, resulting in a larger user-base and a wider disbursement of coins.
Energi Mine is a United Kingdom based blockchain technology company, that develops products in the energy management sector. It uses deep learning artificial intelligence models to trade and manage energy. In February 2018, Energi Mine completed an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to minimize the volatility of the price of the stablecoin, relative to some "stable" asset or basket of assets. A stablecoin can be pegged to a cryptocurrency, fiat money, or to exchange-traded commodities. Stablecoins redeemable in currency, commodities, or fiat money are said to be backed, whereas those tied to an algorithm are referred to as seigniorage-style.
Fluidity is a company that provides technology services to registered broker-dealers, issuers and financial institutions for tokenized securities. It was founded by Sam Tabar, Michael Oved and Don Mosites. It entered into partnership with Propellr in January 2019 to form Fluidity Factora and sell securities traditional and tokenized securities through Reg D rule 506(c). The company provides Ethereum-powered home loans. Fluidity created the AirSwap decentralized exchange protocol. The company is also working with Brave to pay users for viewing ads in cryptocurrency.
A security token offering (STO)/tokenized IPO is a type of public offering in which tokenized digital securities, known as security tokens, are sold in cryptocurrency exchanges. Tokens can be used to trade real financial assets such as equities and fixed income, and use a blockchain virtual ledger system to store and validate token transactions.
