Bitcoin and Ethereum are no strangers to congested networks. During the 2017 bull run, some transactions on the Bitcoin network famously took over a week to complete, some over a month.
When CryptoKitties was launched on the Ethereum network, this resulted in massive congestion of the network and massively increased transaction times for users. It eventually took around one week for the network to resume regular service.
As such several projects are in development with the goals of achieving a steady, fast and continuous network service in spite of the level of usage placed on it.
One of these projects is ælf (ELF).
ælf is different to what Bitcoin and Ethereum are architectural. ælf is a cross-chain technology which is capable of communicating in various ways. In some of those ways, ælf will interact with Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also other new blockchains aswell.
A correct analogy to describe ælf would be to compare it to a tree trunk. That is where the main blockchain network is- that’s what ælf is. However, off the sides of the tree, are the different branches of industries, and these branches will have little side chains off them.
What this means is that if there is an industry of insurance or finance, there will be the main blockchain network which is capable of operating all the various side chains simultaneously, while still incorporating other blockchain technologies through it. So users can still transact Bitcoin and Ethereum, but as it’s a decentralized system, the blockchain will be able to handle the workload.
Essentially what ælf is doing is combining all the various technologies available in the blockchain space into one platform, similar to what EOS and TRON are trying to do.
An aspect for ælf which makes it particularly appealing for investors is that even during this prolonged bear market, the ELF token as managed to successfully hold its value, compared to many of its competitors. Among the reasons for this, is that ælf has various strong Venture Capital firms supporting the project. This will lead to a much more stable and steady cryptocurrency over time.
In terms of future price projection or speculation, users should understand what ælf’s primary target audience will be. That is an industry. ælf is not explicitly designed for personal use. All the side chain technologies will be executed for the operation of financial, IoT and smart home and among other industrial uses.
The project does have some drawbacks, however; among those it that it will be operating against fierce competitors such as EOS and Tron. Both are starting to eat into Ethereum’s market share for d’Apps and have substantial funding and community support behind them.
Despite this, ælf has the potential to be the ideal blockchain for scalability- it will have the capability to handle multiple networks with comfort, as compared to a blockchain that will get congested when the capacity gets too much.
This article was originally piblsihed on Blockspectator.
