What is NXT? (NXT)

While many of you are slowly dipping your toes into the cryptocurrency market, trying out the technology and seeing what all the hype is about the technology itself is improving faster than you can imagine. While Bitcoin is the industry standard and holds the majority markets value, its current infrustratutre is rather archaic and somewhat obsolete.

Etherum has already exploited that fact with its growth mainly through speed and the introduction of the Smart contract protocol. But even ETH's innovation has stopped there as it focuses on bigger business goals. As the development of features and concepts grows within the Blockchain community new currencies are pushed out to test these concepts in the market.

NXT is one of those currencies and is one of the front-runners in what many are calling cryptocurrency 2.0.

What is Nxt (NXT)?

Nxt is an open source cryptocurrency and payment network launched in November 2013 by anonymous software developer BCNext. It uses proof-of-stake to reach consensus for transactions—as such there is a static money supply and, unlike bitcoin, no mining. Nxt boasts an advanced blockchain platform which builds on and improves the basic functionality of pioneering cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Nxt was specifically conceived as a flexible platform around which to build applications and financial services. It has an integrated Asset Exchange (comparable to shares), messaging system and marketplace. Users can also create new currencies within the system. The last major release enabled Multisignature capabilities and a plugin-system for the client.

Why you should pay attention to Nxt?

Asset exchange

Like many cryptocurrencies, NXT offers users a peer to peer exchange but with a difference. NXT allowing decentralized trading of shares, crypto assets. Since the blockchain is an unalterable public ledger of transactions, the Asset Exchange provides a trading record for items other than Nxt. To do this, Nxt allows the designation or "colouring" of a particular coin, which builds a bridge from the virtual crypto-currency world to the physical world. The "coloured coin" can represent property, stocks/bonds, commodities, or even concepts. Most of the assets available at the platform represent shares of cryptocurrency-related startups.

Data storage

Arbitrary Messages enable the sending of encrypted or plain text, which can also function to send and store up to 1000 bytes of data permanently, or 42 kilobytes of data for a limited amount of time. As a result, it can be used to build file-sharing services, decentralized applications, and higher-level contextual services on the Nxt platform.

Alias System

The Alias System feature of Nxt essentially allows one piece of text to be substituted for another so that keywords can be used to represent other things – names, telephone numbers, physical addresses, websites, account numbers or emails. This could be used to allow for a decentralized DNS system similar to Namecoin.

Voting system

Allowing holders of the currency or Nxt-Assets to vote in a cryptographically proven and externally verifiable way. This can be used for future development decisions, or for shareholder voting. It can also be applied to public elections and community-based decision-making.

Plugin support

A plugin running on NXT test-net, that will allow easier crowdfunding. The standard Nxt client supports the installation of plug-ins. This makes it possible for external developers to add features or usability enhancements. The plug-ins are not contained in a sandbox.

Monetary System

Implemented in version 1.4.8, the Monetary System allows the creation of currencies on the Nxt blockchain. These coins are backed by a specified amount of NXT, which can be redeemed if necessary. The possible properties range widely – including different models of inflation, exchange and the use of Proof-of-Work as a distribution system.

Multi-signature and phased transactions

The latest client (1.5) supports a method (named Phasing for Nxt) for requiring specific conditions for executing a transaction. Such as approval of multiple accounts or the passage of an interval of time.

Child chains

A child chain, which is a ‘light’ blockchain that can be customized to a certain extent, is designed to allow easy self-deploy for your own blockchain. Ardor and Ignis are public blockchains build on an NXT child chain.

What is Nxt being used for?

Nxt aims to advance financial technology on the whole. Allowing users to create functional and scalable platforms ideal for crowdfunding and governance industries by providing not only the NXT crypto-currency but also a powerful, modular toolset to build in any way Nxt users can imagine. Nxt gives users complete freedom to create their own applications with features like asset exchange, a monetary system, data storage on the cloud, a voting system, and account control.

Can you mine Nxt?

The short answer is no, NXT cannot be mined. NXT is a fully pre-mined cryptocurrency with a limit of 1,000,000,000 NXT coins.

Can you earn Nxt?

Forging

Nxt relies the transaction fees earned on the NXT platform to reward the miners, this process is called “Forging”.The minimum fee for any NXT transaction is 1 NXT.

• To qualify a user needs to purchase NXT coin from an exchange of their choice
• Set up a native NXT wallet and install it on their computer
• Send the next to the wallet
• Then allow the wallet to run and forge for the network

Trading

Nxt users can earn digital currency via exchanges. Users can earn tokens through trading on different fiat and cryptocurrencies and take advantage of market fluctuations.

Where can you buy Nxt?

Nxt is listed on a range of international cryptocurrency exchanges and is actively traded on websites like:

• AEX
• Bitcoin Indonesia
• Bittrex
• C-CEX
• CoinEgg
• HitBTC
• LiteBit.eu
• Livecoin
• Nxt Asset Exchange
• Poloniex
• SouthXchange
• Stocks.Exchange
• Upbit

Should you invest in Nxt?

The superiority of many of NXT's blockchain is undeniable but being a pioneer who innovates while others lie and wait doesn't always mean you're going to be around forever. NXT is taking a big risk by trying to push the technology to new highs but is the market ready for it?

It's all good having a superior product but if you're ahead of your time, you will suffer for it. NXT also offers an additional opportunity to investors as it provides blockchain as a service. This means that you're not only investing in NXT coin but coins living off its child chains, namely Ardor and Ingis. While this could be beneficial in spreading the risk of the coin it also could mean that volatility will be even higher on NXT than on single cryptocurrencies.

For more on NXT check out their official website

Contact us

If you want to know more about cryptocurrency don’t be shy we’re happy to assist. Simply contact us

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice and is for educational purposes only. As of the time posting the writers may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency as all investments contain risk.

Tags: Cryptocurrency, blockchain