Are you open to remote working engineers? In which case I would advise on reaching out to Indian software Engineers. India now probably has the largest base of Blockchain developers currently. Many of them are working on private blockchains using Hyperledger Fabric and other enterprise blockchain frameworks. 

In fact the core strength of India is in the development of public blockchain based DApps and platforms.  

In 1979, Ralph Merkle patented the concept of hash trees. It is a data structure that allows efficient mapping of large chunks of data in the form of a connected tree / linked list.

Consider it to be like an organization structure for data points. In such a linked set of hashed data structure, any small changes made to the data can be easily identified or spotted.

Cryptos are the best example of the use of Merkle trees.  

The best resources for understanding Merkle trees can be found here: 

- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-to-merkle-tree

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree 

- https://www.codementor.io/blog/merkle-trees-5h9arzd3n8 

Firstly, there are 7400+ cryptos listed on CMC. Check out the top header bar on https://coinmarketcap.com/. 

Having said that, not all of them are reliable or can be considered fully functional as of now. Many of them are dead, defunct, scams, etc. which you can find on deadcoins.com. 

On to your second question, it depends on the type of problem cryptos can solve. And there are problems aplenty in this world which I believe a cryptocurrency can solve.

If you look around on CMC (coinmarketcap) you will notice that there are different kinds of tokens and coins for different kinds of systems, industries, and markets - payment, governance, social media, storage, real estate, platforms, stablecoins, exchange utility tokens, prediction markets, insurance, trade financing, gaming, decentralized energy, moneylending, banking, supply chain - I mean you name it and we have a coin or token for that. 

So we can have a crypto token for many different industries, processes, and markets. However, I would advise you to look at them with a pinch of salt for completeness, readiness, need, and without a doubt please DYOR!! 

Presently there are a number of pitfalls ranging from reputation to reliability. The issue with blockchain is the reputation through to the massive variances with what they represent. The other issues are that alot of blockchains are used to just raise money for an idea. 

The latest my team has put forward is the bio mimicry blockchain yo allow for military, finance and other uses where information encryption is relevant. 

Also our system allows for complete encryption but also looks at trusted devices so there is no one way to break the encryption. 

For the uninitiated, India has already been at the forefront of crypto innovation with companies like WazirX (now acquired by Binance), CoinDCX, BitBNS, Marlin, Matic, Persistence, EasyFi, OroPocket, Persistence, raising multi-million dollars in investments. Currently, the daily volumes in exchanges are a little less than ten million dollars, which is minuscule compared to the daily global volumes, but the interest is increasing day by day.  

India already has the world's largest software services capability which gets extended into blockchain development too. There is no doubt about India's readiness to take this industry to the stratosphere.     

But the real question is the need for an inclusive government and regulatory acceptance of some form, which will accelerate this industry and make India the most favored destination for crypto-related activities too. 

Cryptocurrency mining is a two-way process. 

1. One, it is an accounting process to verify, validate, and record cryptocurrency transactions on an online, public, and encrypted ledger - called the blockchain. This is done by installing a CPU/specialized computers, called miners, along with the verification software of the cryptocurrency. 

2. Two, it is also the process for minting new coins and bringing them into public circulation. This is also done to incentivize or reward those who install their computers for the purpose laid out in point 1. Mining is usually a voluntary activity. Hence incentivization plays a big role in it. 

In short - a cross between an accountant and a gold miner. 

There are multiple types of mining CPUs depending on the type of coin or token being mined and the consensus mechanism being used e.g. Proof of Work or Proof of stake etc. 

There are roughly 500 mineable coins or tokens today. 

I hope this helps.

Good question. The answer could fill a book, and probably will soon. Here is a rough outline of a few of the benefits of STOs for capital formation issuers, investment fund admins, and individual investors:

Security Token Offering Benefits for Issuers
•Cap table automation streamlines investor management and administration.
•Smart contracts make it possible to code ownership and transfer restrictions into the token. These smart contracts execute upon the advent of certain contingencies tied to each jurisdiction's laws, thus governing the token's compliance with regulatory protocols. This helps to keep issuers out of hot water with the SEC.
•Accounting, auditing, and tax reporting processes are simplified.
•Primary and secondary market liquidity opportunities are much more significant with tokenized securities. Over time, as security token trading becomes more prevalent, these liquidity opportunities will become liquidity realities. It is at that point that the market for security tokens will accelerate quickly.
•Private Equity funds and Venture funds can offer their LPs an early exit. In fact, entire funds may more easily choose early liquidation when there is a strategic or tactical advantage in doing so.

Security Token Offering Benefits for Investors
•STOs open the door for retail investors to invest in private funds, commercial real estate, startups, and mid-stage companies.
•Transparency - Security Token Offerings are regulated. Blockchain provides a method of immutably verifying and tracking investor data.
•Trades on a blockchain settle in a matter of minutes rather than days.
•Compliance is semi-automated, opening the possibility that someday soon, security tokens may be freely traded anywhere they are deemed compliant.