What is XCurrency?
XCurrency is a decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency created to provide users with a platform for private transactions and instant messaging. The coin was launched on Bitcoin on in 2014 on Bitcointalk by an anonymous group that was concerned that the available crypto platforms were not offering ample anonymity to users.
The XCurrency coin network was the first to provide a blockchain that supported pee2peer multi-user transactions. This model was considered impressive especially for businesses that wanted to coordinate their operations on crypto networks anonymously. Here is a closer look at the XCurrency price.
- The XCurrency price performance in the market
When the XCurrency coin entered the market on 23rd May 2014, its price was $0.096. In four days after launch, the value shot to $2.71. But the positive show did not last as the value crashed to $0.75 by early June and continued on a steady decline to hit a low of $0.01 in December 2015.
The price remained low until the close of January 2017 when it started rising steadily. By June 2017, the price had grown to reach $0.7. On August 29th, 2017, the value burst through the one dollar mark after about four years.
The positive show continued throughout August and hit the highest mark of $3.36 in the coin’s history. This was massive 37,233% growth between January 2017 and early September. But the positive show did not last. Between September and December 26th, 2017, the value dropped steadily to hit a low of $0.8.
The main concern about XCurrency is that it ceased from market operations after December 2017. The community, especially those with the native coins, has been stuck with tokens they cannot sell because most exchanges are delisting XCurrency. It will be interesting to see the course that the team will take to revive the coin that was so vibrant before going underground.
What is the problem that XCurrency solves?
The early cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin were seen as the ultimate solutions that people had waited for years to get liberated from the conventional financial trap. Despite their impressive ushering of the blockchain era, they also faced a myriad of challenges. Here are some of these issues that XCurrency addresses.
- Poor scalability
While the idea of blockchain technology is indeed impressive, the pioneering protocols were bulky and soon became major bottlenecks. Take the case of Litecoin. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin uses proof of work consensus protocol that requires all or most of the nodes to come to a consensus before transactions can be completed. The effect is very low transaction rates.
Besides, the pioneer protocols were designed to rely on very small block sizes that make it very difficult to support many transactions at any one moment. For example, Bitcoin has a maximum block size limit of 1MB. These considerations have made the pioneering crypto networks to suffer from poor scalability.
The Bitcoin network can only support 7 transactions per second while the second largest network, Ethereum can only run 20 transactions every second. Even other more recent coins such as Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin can only handle 60transactions/ second and 56 transactions/ second respectively.
If you compare these rates with other industry leaders such as Visa and PayPal, it demonstrates that blockchain networks need a lot of improvements. For example, Visa can handle in excess of 20,000 transactions/ second. XCurrency was created to help improve the scalability.
- Centralization of financial services
When you make a transaction via a credit card, western union, PayPal or bank wire transfer, the operations are centralized. These organizations are designed to run in line with local laws that require details for all clients to be captured and easy to audit. Besides, the management and data are also managed from a centralized data center.
The impact of this centralization is the high risk of getting your info and attacked by malware. For example, the danger of attack by malware such as Ransomware always looms. If the malware attacks and the bank fail to pay the ransom demanded by cybercriminals, your data and even stored funds could get into jeopardy.
The other danger of centralization is mismanagement. When you store funds in a centralized financial organization, it is entrusted on the leadership of the institution. In the event of mismanagement, the bank could run bankrupt. Such a situation risks losing your money or locking it for a long time.
- The high cost of mining
When XCurrency was launched in 2014, the cost of mining native coins especially those using proof of work protocol was very high. Take the case of Bitcoin. As the mining difficulty of Bitcoin grew steadily starting from inception in 2009, the tech community created advanced application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) equipment that could help miners to generate very high computing power.
The problem with ASICs is that they are very expensive and out of reach for most miners. This means that mining is left in the hands of a few wealthy entities. If a lot of coins fall into the hands of a few entities, there is a danger of 51% attack.
- Poor penetration of cryptocurrencies into the community
Though a lot of coins have hit the market, it is interesting to realize that society knows very little about them. For example, by mid-2018, there were more than 1600 coins in the market. However, very few traders in the market accept the coins. The only place where you will easily get people talking about the coins is the crypto forums such as Reddit or Bitcointalk.
Most of the coins in circulation are under investors who have a lot of money to invest when new coins are released into the market. For example, the investors rush to mop the coins from the market when an ICO is announced. The process of purchasing the coins from the exchanges is complex and many opt to stay away.
How does XCurrency solve the problem?
To address the above issues, XCurrency adopted a raft of measures that made it referred to as the ultimate coin in the niche. Here are some of the methods used to address the issue.
- Proof of stake consensus protocol
XCurrency deviated from most coins being released at the time that employed proof of stake protocol. Instead, the XCurrency development team opted for a simpler yet highly effective proof of stake protocol.
Unlike the proof of stake protocol that relies on computing power, the proof of stake consensus model requires one to have some stake in the network. For example, you only need to buy some stake XCurrency coins to be able to mine the network and participate in its governance system.
The proof of stake protocol is also preferred because it consumes less power and users can mine using standard computers such as CPU and GPUs. This has been a major step in helping to distribute the coins evenly in the society.
- Completely decentralized
To address the issue of the centralized financial system, XCurrency is a completely decentralized platform. This means that it relies on a set of nodes spread in its network across the globe. This implies that when a transaction is initiated, it is processed by miners as opposed to a centralized banking system.
The good thing about the decentralized system is that all transactions are cheaper and completed faster compared to wire transfers. Because both the sender and receiver are in the network, cash transfers are near instant. They are also cheaper because there is no third party organization involved.
- The application of mesh network
Mesh Network is a distributed and self-organizing network that utilizes cellular. It is a type of infrastructure that is carried by nodes that connects with each other dynamically. This means that your phone can serve as a node in the XCurrency platform.
The mesh network was considered a major breakthrough for the XCurrency cryptocurrency because it allows users to stake the network using their phones. As a node, you do not have to wait to get back home to connect to your blockchain or run transactions. Your mobile phone serves as a full node.
What makes XCurrency better than it’s competitors?
When the XCurrency was introduced into the market, the developers appreciated that the competition would be severe because of the new coins entering the market. Therefore, they uniquely designed its features and employed the following strategies that make it better than competitors.
- The platform operates as a completely decentralized system. This means that there is no single point of failure in its system and the operations complete faster than the standard financial organizations.
- The XCurrency is a system that provides users with an encrypted network with an encrypted framework for sending value. When you join the network and run transactions, the details are encrypted so that no one can easily know about your details.
- The XCurrency system provides users with a reliable system to use and own the network. When you stake the network by acquiring some coins, you become one of the owners. This means that you are part of its system that can help to confirm transactions and vote in its governance system.
- XCurrency coin has been in the market for years and its systems have been proven to work. Unlike the newer networks whose features are yet to be tested and proven to work, XCurrency has been in operation since 2014.
- Its unique features demonstrate that its development team is a committed group capable of guiding the blockchain niche to the next level. For example, XCurrency was the first to implement the X11 staking wallet.
- The platform has an impressive mobile app that allows users to link with the XCurrency network on the go. Whether you are on holiday or simply away from the computer, the mobile platform allows users to follow their coins, send, and receive the native XCurrency coins with ease.
How can XCurrency’s be categorized?
XCurrency is an ambitious crypto project that helped to step the stage for faster growth of cryptocurrencies to the next level. The team demonstrated that with commitment, it is possible to craft winning features and get more people to use the crypto networks. For example, the development team effectively implemented the proof of stake protocol that helped newer coins to look away from the expensive proof of work consensus algorithm.
What is XCurrency’s vision on security?
When XCurrency was released in 2014, the crypto network had become under major attacks. For example, three years earlier, the attack at Mt. Gox saw over 600,000 Bitcoins getting siphoned away. To keep the XCurrency platform safe, the development team opted for the following strategies:
- The application of proof of stake protocol helped to reduce the danger of 51% attack.
- The development team progressively reviewed the network to identify gaps and seal them on time.
- The network operates as a completely decentralized platform to make it difficult for attackers to strike using malware such as ransomware.
Examples of XCurrency’s use cases/ applications
The focus of improving the blockchain technology in operation around 2014 by the XCurrency development team sought to increase the coin’s use cases. Here are some of the applications.
- The native coin can be used to pay for services and products in stores that accept it.
- You can use the XCurrency coins as gifts to close friends and family members.
- The XCurrency coin, like other tokens such as Ripple can be used to pay for transaction fee when trading in the markets.
- You can use the XCurrency to save money by purchasing the native coins. You only need to buy the native coins and hold them awaiting the price to go up.
NOTE: It is important to appreciate that though the coin and its network have an impressive model, the fact that it has been absent in the market means that purchasing the coins could be difficult until the exchanges agree to list it again. Therefore, it is important to be careful when purchasing the coin to avoid getting stuck with a coin that you cannot sell.
https://coincheckup.com/coins/xcurrency/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/2a64ue/xcurrency_changing_the_way_the_world_views/