Review on Nxt by Joseph Omomogbe

This is an open source crypto-currency and also a payment network NXT that was founded from the word “next”, having the same meaning just excluding the letter ‘e’. The concept behind the name was that the platform was supposed to be next option to/after Bitcoin which is why it is referred to as a second generation of crypto-currency. The founder “BCNext”, who was an anonymous poster on Bitcoin Talk Forum and a computer programmer thought that the blockchain technology which was implemented in the NXT platform could advance beyond the financial transactions that were been put in place by (and that was the only capability of) Bitcoin and that was the case. Because soon after BTC was launched, the advantages of the blockchain technology became obvious creating a various cases where the technology could be applicable, especially when disintermeditation, transparency and immutability are of great importance.

The NXT asset exchange platform was launched on 24th of November 2013 and immediately became an ‘all in one’ software solution for its users, providing NXT wallet, NXT ecosystem voting features for NXT Stakers, digital asset marketplace, developers tools and many others features surpassing the capabilities of bitcoin and functionality through its protocol. The platform has its own native coin or token but there was never a mining phase. What happened was that BCNext, in November 2013 implored the community to pay bitcoin in exchange for NXT coin in which 73 people responded and all the initial units was released to them through a one-time fundraiser. which the ICO was concluded on 18th of the same month, same year. This NXT token is being used on the NXT exchange platform for several functions like trading it for goods and services on its digital asset platform, exchanging it for voting rights and it can also be traded outside the crypto-currency market.

With all these been said you might be wondering why is NXT nowhere to be found near bitcoin in the crypto-currency market today. Well its just 2 things I observed, which are:-

The core infrastructure is complex. NXT had no mining phase the platform implemented a Pure Proof of Stake approach (according to Algorand where each user’s influence on the choice of a new block is proportional to its stake which is the number of token the person has in the system. Users will then be selected randomly in secret to vote on block proposals) So, the possibility of a user been selected and the weight of its vote are directly proportional to its stake. That coupled with the fact that all its coin are already in the hands of these 73 people and you know what happens when you have the big guys on the table. So the platform was faced with criticism and also had issue with Jeff Garzik who was Bitcoin developer.



The network ran into a blockchain bloat where nodes was weighed down by the strenuous task of the need to save all transaction on the platform’s blockchain.

But I am still of the opinion that NXT is still very much functional with an open source platform and with its smart transactions which provides users with the opportunity to choose from the most common blockchain applications with easy use and not required to necessarily have a coding skill. What benefits can these smart transaction offer to users?

Security:- it helps secure assets and transaction. How it works is that code are been built in the blockchain nodes to ascertain the transaction is safe and reliable.

Coding:- The contract does not need to be code when a new contract is been made, once the correct parameter is entered you good to go

Simplicity:- No risk is involved as the node carries everything, so third party is not a necessity in avoiding centralization risk

Today, Jelurida BV has taken over the ownership of NXT and I think the spirit of NXT innovation is coming back to life, it has influenced several numbers of new blockchain platforms and also a pioneer in introducing several blockchain features like decentralization of asset exchange, prunable data, voting and shuffling. And also considering the coins that have developed out of it like ARDR and IGNIS, that is been managed and developed by same team. I think it’s going to attain success this time.