BurstCoin (BURST) is a native coin of Burst Blockchain, the basics of which are derived from NXT blockchain. BurstCoin is aimed to be an improved alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Burst blockchain solves the problems with current blockchain i.e. centralization of resources, limited transactional capacity, outrageous waste of energy, expensive and slow transactions. Burst blockchain is a platform for the exchange of value (using BurstCoin), create payment channels (using TangleShow more [+] on top of Burst blockchain) and build decentralized applications (Burst smart contracts). Burst blockchain offers other features such as encrypted messaging, asset exchange, fully decentralized marketplaces, and managing crowdfunding projects. The smart contracts on Burst blockchain help in exchanging property, money, shares or anything of value in without the need of a middleman. Burst smart contracts employ Automated Transactions which are Turing-complete and have a number of use cases such as atomic cross-chain transactions, decentralized crowdfunding, gambling, and auction etc.
Burst coin uses a radically superior consensus algorithm named as "Proof of Capacity". Unlike proof of work and proof of stake, the transactions are processed using the "condensed Proof of Work" cached on the hard drive. The miner computes once (a process called plotting) and saves the results on the hard drive. Further mining only requires to read through the hard drive cache. The rewards are given to the participants of the network based on their storage capacity.
BurstCoin was developed by an anonymous developer during 2014 and left the project without any explanations. In 2017, a new team of developers i.e. PoC-(Proof of Capacity) consortium take charge and lead the further developments. There are 17 members listed on the Burst website including developers, infrastructure engineers, PoC consortium team members etc. A number of other people are working on the project and prefers to remain anonymous.