Today, social media echo chambers have made us believe that cryptocurrency is either a threat to the environment, is non-existent money, rich people’s shenanigans, or is the future of money, a financial revolution, and a get-rich-quick scheme.
The truth is that there is a spectrum of views about its use and effects.
However, from a logical standpoint, it is the cryptocurrency technology, blockchain, its applications and use cases that are inherently the real deal here. Blockchain technology’s immutability, digital ledger, and security make it an innovation that can further ease lives.
While there are varying qualitative opinions about adopting blockchain technology, quantitative data are rarely misleading. Let us sprinkle some here for you.
The market size of blockchain technology is expected to grow by 94 billion USD by 2027, as per the
Some analysts and commentators even believe blockchain to be poised for solving structural problems such as ending poverty, increasing employment, and bettering livelihoods.
Now you may think that bettering livelihoods is practically impossible with the current user base, well you’re right. And this is where Metaschool turns up. With a network of over 130,000 devs in under 1.5 years,
It is prepping developers to build applications for some 995 million blockchain users by 2027, as per the predictions.
It does so by creating web3 courses that introduce you to several blockchains, show you how to write smart contracts, and build decentralized applications. Metaschool makes this possible by making you a builder, someone with tunnel vision and an aim.
Here are 8+ Metaschool blockchains that you can explore and build on with Metaschool. So builders, shall we?
Stacks is a Layer-1.5 scaling solution (as per co-founder Muneeb Ali) to Bitcoin, which is one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies and blockchains of today.
The connection between Stacks and Bitcoin has strengthened to the extent that the former recently went through a hard fork in March 2023 to further nourish the bond between both blockchains.
Tethered to Bitcoin through its Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism, there is no doubt that Stacks has established itself as one of the most investable blockchains of recent times.
Famous projects like Arkadiko, CityCoins, Stackswap, etc. are all built on Bitcoin via the Stacks blockchain. This shows that Stacks has just unlocked its potential, and the sky's the limit.
With that said, we don’t think there could be a more perfect time to learn to build on Stacks than now.
A Layer-2 solution to the Ethereum blockchain, Starknet is a decentralized ZK-rollup. It is an open-source framework that increases the scalability and security of dApps and DeFi projects built over Ethereum.
Recently, it upgraded its native language, Cairo v0 to Cairo 1.0, and updated the network from Starknet to Starknet Alpha. Moreover, as of May 2023, the total value of its DeFi projects went from $1.449m to $10.49m.
This shows that Starknet is geared toward the rapidly growing blockchain ecosystem.
Moreover, as recently as December 2022,
Metaschool offers a detailed, full-length web3 course that teaches you how to mint an ERC-20 token in Cairo 1.0 on Starknet. Consider enrolling because the blockchain network is still building, and you might just have a first-mover advantage.
Polkadot is considered one of the most innovative projects within the cryptocurrency space and is powered by DOT, its native currency.
It came in 2017, a little later than popular blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Similarly, it also introduced its currency, DOT, as recently as 2020.
When Polkadot is discussed, its uniqueness, how it observed problems like scalability, security vulnerabilities, and throughput in popular blockchains and then incorporated their solutions into itself are also extensively talked about.
The fact that Polkadot serves as a one-stop solution makes it expedient and desirable. Some of Polkadot’s popular projects include Chainlink, Ankr, and Ocean Protocol. I am sure you must be using at least one of these projects.
Metaschool offers an elaborate course that teaches you how to build a blockchain on Polkadot. Do check it out if Polkadot interests you.
Flow was launched in 2020 as a network with a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. It is a Layer-2 solution to the Ethereum blockchain that is majorly focused on scalability issues.
The best thing about the Flow blockchain is that sharding, a mechanism that is used to tackle scalability issues in blockchains, is not used by Flow. Flow leverages the PoS mechanism to do the needful.
Within the span of 3 years, it has proved itself to be a trusted blockchain for brands like NFL, NBA, Ticketmaster, and Mattel.
Its USP has to be the fact that there is nothing strange or new while maneuvering the network. It has frictionless onboarding, familiar payment methods, easy registration, etc. Flow’s uniqueness lies in its simplicity.
Like how Flow works? You should try and experience working on the blockchain by writing your first fungible token on Flow.
Introduced in the year 2013, Ethereum is definitely one of the most important and desirable blockchain networks.
Used to deploy a number of blockchain applications, be it smart contracts, DeFi, GameFi, and dApps, the Ethereum network has a wider ecosystem and a nifty base.
As a blockchain network, it has come through a hard fork and two large-scale hacks that cost it millions of dollars. The Ethereum management never shied away from innovating or adapting new technologies and new concepts.
Smart contracts are an example that shows that Ethereum is synonymous with innovation which is why it is among the most sought-after blockchains. There’s plenty on Metaschool to learn from, check it out.
Polygon is famous for its average transaction processing time which is 2.1 seconds. It is another Layer-2 solution that greatly helps in the overall scalability of the Ethereum network, Polygon has the potential of handling a whopping 65,000 transactions in a second.
That’s some solid throughput goals!
The blockchain follows a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Moreover, if there is one network that has leveraged its mechanism to popularize its native currency, Matic, it has to be Polygon. Today, the Matic cryptocurrency is used to help derive major development across the Polygon network.
Recently, Polygon Labs has been pushing its blockchain to the mainstream, and guess what? Companies like Starbucks, Nike, and Meta are using the revolutionary network that is Polygon.
From building a full-fledged Twitter dApp to launching a token on the network, Metaschool has a series of courses on Polygon. Try enrolling to get a deep understanding of the network for you may end up as a Polygon developer for Nike, you never know.
A highly scalable Layer-1 blockchain network, Solana is an ultimate competitor to the Ethereum blockchain.
Launched in 2020, the developers of the Solana blockchain really observed the challenges faced by Ethereum and dared to challenge its monopoly. Solana rose to prominence with its low transaction cost, scalability, and speed.
No wonder it is regarded as an appealing alternative to Ethereum’s high gas fee, scalability, and speed issues.
Spanned over niches like DeFi, GameFi, and NFTs, Solana serves as a great platform for both veterans and beginners.
A blockchain exchange platform, Binance also has a native blockchain network known as Binance Smart Chain (BSC). It is popular for the development of decentralized exchanges and gaming and was founded in 2017 by a founder with a history of creating high-frequency trading software.
Counted in the list of top emerging blockchains, it has a number of popular projects under its belt. These projects include PancakeSwap, CrytpoBlades, Venus, etc. You must have used or heard of at least one of these projects.
All in all, Binance is a pretty big name. If you are interested in diving into the architecture of the network, try creating your own token on Binance.
Finally,
Blockchain technology has innumerable benefits. It is a boon to many problems that the centralized world has not been able to solve.
As of today, blockchain is being used in finance and banking, cybersecurity, supply chain management, healthcare, transportation, and mobility, to name a few.
And this presents an opportunity for developers around the world to make a career transition that will give, not just in terms of money but also the impact that can be created.