The crypto industry has some new kids on the block(chain)

The popularity and growth of the crypto industry can be seen everywhere, with the development of virtual currency seeming to offer plenty of appeal to Russia and Eastern Europe.
No stranger to technological development and producing successful startups, Tel Aviv has now entered the increasingly competitive ring of crypto.
Alignment, an investment group consisting of the Singulariteam Technology Group, CoinTree Capital and BlockchainIL, have even stated that they will invest in every Israeli blockchain offer that came their way.  These potential start-up companies will have to pay a certain amount for this support though.
Blockchain technology is flexible enough to be incorporated into many different industries, ranging from banking to health care.  However, with so many companies hoping to be the next big thing in this field, it might be tricky to determine if they even have a future in this highly unpredictable industry, and if they have the product that can foster that all-important goal of global integration and adoption.
Erachain, co-founded and run by Dmitrii Ermolaev, seems to be taking steps to ensure just that.  This decentralized platform has integrated both European and World-Wide AML laws into its system, which essentially removes the need for traditional banks.  In addition, it backs all coins with real-world assets and also minimizes the fees associated with crypto transactions.
However, its big selling point is that it can eliminate anonymous transactions by its verification-upon-registration process, through a Proof of Stake system.  This could definitely aid in industries such as government where the anonymity of blockchain is a big drawback for adoption.  In addition, most large businesses will need some type of verification platform in the not-too-distant future.
Zen Protocol, founded by Adam Perlow, combines blockchain and Bitcoin in a bid to create a purpose-built protocol to decentralize the financial system through a Proof-of-Work system.  By incorporating the financial world onto blockchain, you would be able to link crypto assets with real-world stocks and commodities, without requiring the bank as a trusted third party.
COTI, founded by Nir Gazit, aims to be a truly global currency which will offer users instant and secure transactions, which are also scalable.  The Currency of the Internet (COTI) will also offer zero fees, will have anti-fraud mechanisms in place and will be completely reversible, unlike Bitcoin.
In addition, COTI will make use of a ‘unique behavior scoring’ system for both buyers and sellers, which will be reward based, to encourage mutually beneficial client relationships and reduce e-commerce trepidation.
Jelurida is a development company working on their Ardor blockchain platform, which seems to be an upgraded version of the Nxt platform.  Ardor has an innovative parent-child chain structure, which greatly reduces the issue of blockchain bloat.
CrowdWiz, headed by Slavena Savcheva, is an investment platform with a difference.  Instead of having fund managers decide what happens to money, the crowd, in this case the platform’s community, does.  This drastically reduces costs as there are no middle men or entry fees involved.
Orbs aims to make blockchain transactions more efficient by quickly processing a transaction no matter the network speed.  It does this by basically converting the blockchain into a DAG, or another database structure.
Bancor’s main selling point is that they claim to allow anyone to easily produce their own cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain.  These currencies have security features such as vaults and delegated account recovery to boost interest and adoption.
Stox is a trading platform with a difference.  Its members predict and trade on any event ranging from sports to the weather.  It is also geared more towards mainstream audiences than blockchain experts.
With Tel Aviv firmly booking their seat on the blockchain bandwagon, they’re sure to give Switzerland’s crypto valley a run for their virtual money.