What Is SolarCoin?
When Satoshi Nakamoto launched the first decentralized network, he probably never knew that he was ushering a new world of endless opportunities. Immediately, cryptographers, financial experts, and conservationists went back to their drawing boards to evaluate how to take advantage of blockchain technology. One of the resultant projects was SolarCoin.
- What exactly is SolarCoin?
SolarCoin is cryptocurrency and an open source platform that was founded in 2014 by Nick Gogerty and Joseph Zotoli. Today, the project is run by the SolarCoin Foundation, an organization based in Delaware, and registered as a Public Benefit Organization.
The primary goal of the founders was to identify an energy references coin that could help to promote efficient use of energy to ensure all can access it for economic growth. The team was concerned that though the centralized administrations always targeted making their countries efficient, the involvement of the society was limited. They wanted to get everybody involved.
- The performance of SolarCoin in the market
After entering the market in March 2014, SolarCoin token was valued at $0.01. It traded at around $0.01 until March 2016 when the value rose marginally to $0.2. By June 2016, the price shot up to $0.2 before sliding to about $0.06 in the subsequent six months.
Starting from January 2017, the value of SolarCoin started climbing steadily to reach its highest point of $2.06 in mid-January 2018. But this growth did not last. SolarCoin price followed the bearish trend that other coins such a Bitcoin and XRP had adopted in the market.
The downward trend continued to $0.05 mark by the close of October. Though the industry started showing signs of recovery starting from the onset of the third quarter of 2017, it will be interesting to see the performance of SolarCoin in the coming years.
What is the problem that SolarCoin Solves?
SolarCoin was created to help close the gaps that had started emerging following the blockchain technology intensification in the market. Though being able to send funds on a peer2peer basis was a great achievement, the following issues also needed answers.
- The high cost of running decentralized networks
If you take a closer look at the cost of running decentralized networks, you will realize that a lot of energy is needed. Of greater concern is the proof of work (PoW) based cryptocurrencies that incur high cost of mining machines and running them. Here is a demonstration of power requirement for Bitcoin.
By October 2018, the power requirement for running the entire Bitcoin network was about 342,934,450 wallets. If you compare the figure with the normal household requirement of 1.2 kilowatts requirement, it implies that Bitcoin power needs can power about 285,833 homes.
The high energy requirements stem from the ever-growing mining difficulty which means that computers are required to work more to find new blocks. But this paints only a small section of the real situation. If you combine all cryptocurrencies, it implies that the power use is even more. This is one major issue that SolarCoin addresses.
- Lack of motivation for clean energy users
It is interesting that even though a lot of people know about clean energy solutions such as solar, they rarely use it. Most people ask the question; “If I have power from the mains, why worry about solar?” SolarCoin addresses this problem by creating a motivation schedule for people using solar energy.
- The risk of centralized mining
A few years after the launch of Bitcoin, companies making advanced mining chips entered into the market. They wanted to help people generate high computing power and mine more blocks for rewards. Though this might sound impressive because users are assured of more coins, it is disastrous to the cryptocurrency and its community.
Because the advanced mining equipment cost a lot of money, only the well to do in the community can afford. This means that most of the new coins getting into the market are taken by the rich. The implication is that the few users in the network can conspire to harm the network or run schemes such as pump and dump strategies.
- The negative perception of cryptocurrencies
Though the blockchain technology is really impressive, it has not has been received well by some parties. The most irked parties are the administrations and tax authorities. Their dislikes have seen them regularly discourage the community from using the coins.
In Russia, the administration discouraged its citizens from buying and using cryptocurrencies. Even in the draft financial digital assets draft bill, the ministry of finance recommended that people who accept payment with cryptocurrencies to be considered to have committed offenses.
In the EU, the EU Commission insisted that people who use cryptocurrencies are at a great risk of losing their money because digital coins do not have consumer protection. Other jurisdictions that have made cryptos to have negative perception include the UK, China, and India.
SolarCoin targets to address the problem by demonstrating that there is something positive that can come from cryptos.
- Poor adoption of cryptos in the community
Though a lot of cryptocurrencies have been entering the market since 2009, it is interesting that society has been lagging behind in adopting the technology. When new tokens are released through ICOs, the people who are first to take the opportunity are capitalists who target to buy at a lower price and sell when the value moves up.
This means that the community and stores do not have the opportunity to become part of the new networks. Even when those who bought the tokens during the ICO start selling, the price is high and prohibitive. The effect is that very few stores that allow users to pay with digital coins while the available ones are located in different jurisdictions.
How Does SolarCoin Solve The Problem?
Even as society works towards optimizing profits through new technologies such as blockchain, the founding team was of the view that a clean and green environment should be part of the society all the time. Here are some of the methods used to help ingrain the need for a better environment.
- Proof of stake consensus protocol
The proof of stake protocol used at SolarCoin is the main force that helps to address the problems of centralized mining and associated high cost. Unlike the proof of work protocol, the proof of stake system does not require users to generate a lot of hashing power to mine the network.
To use the proof of stake protocol to mine the SolarCoin platform, you only need to own some stake. This means buying the native SolarCoin and holding them. Every year, those with some stake in the SolarCoin system are rewarded with 2% of the returns generated through different transactions.
- Rewarding solar energy users
Though there are many power options out there, solar is considered the most effective consideration because it is cheap, renewable and clean. However, many people who take additional effort to use solar energy are rarely rewarded. The SolarCoin targets to change the narrative by ensuring that people are motivated when they go solar.
- Total decentralization
SolarCoin operates as a completely decentralized cryptocurrency. Like other digital coins, the SolarCoin token is completely decentralized to allow users to make direct payments without involving centralized banking systems.
The decentralized model uses a network of nodes spread in the system to ensure to confirm transactions and vote on governance issues. This implies that if you have some stake in the SolarCoin network, you will be called to vote when key decisions on network governance such as adoption of new features are being done.
What makes SolarCoin better than it’s competitors?
To win in the highly competitive niche, many cryptocurrency networks are forced to redefine their operations. Here are the main things that make SolarCoin better than competitors.
- The SolarCoin network targets an area that is less explored. This implies that it is likely to enjoy near monopoly and grow rapidly as more people discover it.
- The idea of using clean energy and cutting power bills is an impressive one. This implies that more people are likely to join the SolarCoin community to explore different ways that they can benefit from.
- The cryptocurrency allows users to join and own the network. Unlike conventional banking systems that make people feel passive, the SolarCoin system is not owned or run by a centralized entity. Rather, users who buy some stake own and govern it.
- The SolarCoin network provides users with an opportunity to invest without worrying about third-party seizures. Because the transactions and user accounts are encrypted, it is difficult for third parties to access the info. Indeed, even a court of law cannot order you to provide the details because cryptocurrencies are not regulated.
- The SolarCoin system provides users with a reliable platform to send value without limitations. Unlike the conventional banking systems that have a lot of limitations such as being unavailable during public holidays or requiring prior notice when withdrawing large sums, it is different when it comes to SolarCoin.
No matter the time of the day or night, you have full control over what to do. Whether you want to send funds, trade, or check the operational history, there are no limitations. You can even send funds on a public holiday.
How can SolarCoin be categorized?
SolarCoin is a carefully thought cryptocurrency that targets the energy niche that touches a wide range of people. As the reality of the dwindling fossil fuels dawns in the coming years, the SolarCoin is likely to gain a lot of popularity. Therefore, it could be a great investment especially for those who target to stake the coins over the long term.
What’s SolarCoin’s vision on Security?
The SolarCoin vision on security is to make it the most secure and attractive network to facilitate the adoption and growth of clean energy. To achieve this vision, the SolarCoin development team employs the following strategies:
- Use of proof of stake consensus protocol for even distribution of coins. This is important because it helps to prevent 51% attack.
- The team also reviews the network regularly to identify gaps and address them immediately before attackers take advantage of them.
- The network operates as a completely decentralized system. When a user joins the SolarCoin network, his account and transaction info is encrypted so that no third party can easily access the details. Even miners who confirm transactions can only know the balance in a public address but cannot know the actual user.
Examples of SolarCoin’s use cases / applications
SolarCoin development team has been working very hard to win a bigger market and increase the coin’s use cases. Here are some of the coins’ applications.
- Use the coin to pay for products and services in the market. Like other coins such as Bitcoin or fiat currency, SolarCoin can be used to pay for goods and services. You only need to identify a shop that accepts the coin to make a purchase.
- Trade the SolarCoin in the markets. If you want to optimize returns from SolarCoin, one option is trading it in the markets. This means opening a trading account and pairing the coin with others such as ETH or XPR.
If you are new to trading cryptocurrencies, it is important to start by learning how to analyze the market. This is because the crypto market can be highly volatile and result in losses within a short time.
- Use SolarCoin to send value on a peer2peer basis. As a cryptocurrency, SolarCoin can be used to send value on a peer2peer basis. This can be done by asking the recipient to join the SolarCoin network or opening a wallet that supports SolarCoin. Then, send the coins to his wallet.
- Use SolarCoin to pay for government services. If you stay in jurisdictions such as Arizona, Singapore or Switzerland that are supportive of cryptocurrencies, it might be possible to pay for government services using SolarCoin.
In Arizona, bill HB 1091 that was passed in April 2018 allowed residents to pay taxes in cryptocurrencies. According to the bill, when a resident pays taxes using a coin such as SolarCoin, the funds are converted to USD immediately and then credited to his account.
https://solarcoin.org/resources/
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