If you're reading this article then you're may be expecting me to give an answer to the question in the title. Actually, I will not, because I simply don't have it. Instead, I will provide you with some elements that make me believe that Nxt project is too under estimated, not in terms of the valuation of its cryptocurrency, but in terms of the value that it brings into the BlockChain space.
Before going in details of this value, here are some basic information about the Nxt BlockChain.
- It's up and running since 2013
- It's one of the first blockchains to introduce the Proof-Of-Stack (PoS) consensus algorithm. Thus, you can run a full node in a RaspberryPi device (I'm running one).
- It has a block time of 1 minute
- Total created coins : 1,000,000,000 NXT
Please don't get scared by the Nxt wallet screenshot bellow and keep reading :)
So when you seen this screenshot you may get confused about what Nxt is providing or its added value, so keep reading and you will get more clear ideas, but the formal website of Nxt https://nxt.org will provide more information.
Smart Contracts or Smart Transactions?
We all know about Smart Contracts introduced for the first time by Ethereum blockchain which are simply pieces of code deployed that contains some State Data and some methods for changing the State Data. The word smart contract sound actually good, because one may think that it's self-executed, and as a contract it's for sure something secure & robust. But it's actually not! If you are familiar with Object-Oriented Programming, that a smart contract is simply an Object (with state data and behaviors), and this object need be triggered to change its state and can also have bugs!
So when working with smart contract that will deployed on a immutable blockchain & will hold value we need to be absolutely 100% sure that it will behave as expected. Nevertheless, TheDAO project and drama showed us that with the actual state of things (misunderstood EVM, poor Solidity language, absence of Formal Verification tools, developers focusing mainly on features...).
Nxt has taken another pattern. Building Smart Transactions. So instead of letting people build their own for the smart contract and have many variants of the code for identical behavior, they choose to provide developer/users with some native transaction templates embedded in the protocol with a higher level of security and less chances of human error, then developer/users can use them to deliver a huge amount of features based on these transactions.
Instead of having a bank account without a bank, why not being a bank?
The most important promise of Bitcoin is to create a Peer-to-Peer electronic cash system and thus provide all people around the world to get an equivalent chance in the finance inclusion. With the help of some startups like Jaxx, anyone and everywhere in the world with a phone a 3G/Wifi connexion can participate in this network and have a bank account that's not backed by any bank, and start receiving and sending bitcoin and exchanging them against products and services. So when thinking about the huge amount of unbanked people around the world, this innovation looks of great advancement on this field.
Nxt has taken this promise to a next level. Indeed, When you participate to Nxt network, you get the ability not only make transactions with the NXT cryptocurrency, but also:
- Create Assets and exchange them on this network, so this is great for fund raising and private equity operations.
- Create your own currency and invite people to use it, which is create for Local Currency initiatives without having all the trouble of printing paper money.
- Create a MarketPlace for selling your digital assets or even physical asset when combined with other technologies.
So when thinking about all these abilities, Nxt doesn't simply allow you to have a bank account, but actually to Be a Bank!
One blockChain, a lot of blockchains or an EcoChain ?
Since 2012-2013, one can observe an explosion of the amount of blockchains around the world with particular promises. A lot of them focus only on the cryptocurrency aspect with more or less security, scalability and anonymity focuses. Nevertheless, it's impossible to move some value or content from one blockchain to another like sharing a Twitter post on Facebook for example!
Some startups have already spotted this issue and are trying to come with a solution.
In Nxt blockchain and with some features like those presented previously, you can already stay on the same blockchain while exchanging an asset by another (using NXT currency as a pivot for example). But the most import feature is coming soon the Ardor version of Nxt blockchain.
Indeed, in Ardor you will have the ability, if you need it, to create a Child Chain for your own business/organization that can be either private for secure internal use or public for marketplace activity for example. And this while leveraging all the benefits of blockchain technology.
This way, Nxt will give the ability to build as much Child Chains as needed while staying in the same environment allowing by this to build an Ecosystem of Blockchains, an EcoChain.
Are you convinced now?
I can't say that I'm a blockchain expert, but with all the elements above, I really think Nxt blockchain and its coming version Ardor, is of great interest in the BlockChain space and need to be more deeply studied. So I will be interested to get your thoughts on this project, and correct me if I miss something in this analysis.