What is Bitcoin Plus?
Bitcoin Plus is one of the top cryptocurrency and blockchain networks that have demonstrated unique resilience and desirable success in the market. The cryptocurrency was created in 2014 by a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts largely drawn from the Bitcointalk forum to help advance the original idea by Satoshi Nakamoto and address emerging issues.
The coin has recently shot to fame because of the coin’s good performance in the market.
- The troublesome history of Bitcoin Plus
The original Bitcoin Plus developer who was only known by the handle XBC Plus ran away after receiving the network funds raised in an initial coin offering (ICO).
The new team that took over the coin development fixed the wallet, and everything appeared to stabilize before some of the members also disappeared with the coins they could get their hands on.
It was not until 2015 when two members of the community, JJMV, and Egghead, took over and helped to steady the ship.
The new ‘Took Over’ team hired a respected developer known as ‘Mammiax2’ who helped to fix the wallet cryptocurrency wallet and made it difficult for individual admins to siphon funds.
The goal of the system is making the cryptocurrency completely self-sustaining.
- The Bitcoin Plus Shift to a fully proof of stake (PoS) coin
In 2015, a new XBC project was created and a new coin released. The coin still went by the name Bitcoin Plus and even allowed previous users to convert the old coins to the new ones on a ratio of 1:1 basis.
The Bitcoin Plus Coin (abbreviated as XBC) is a proof of stake (PoS) coin which implies that users only need to have some stake to mine the network. Note that it operated as a hybrid of proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS) until late 2017 when it was switched to a PoS consensus algorithm platform at the height of block 400,000.
- The Bitcoin Plus value
The Bitcoin Plus value has changed over time to reflect the tumultuous history as its founder and developers changed focus. In May 2014, the price of XBC started at $11 but took slumped by more than 5000% in the subsequent four months to reach a low of $0.2 in August 2014.
The price remained below the $1 mark until August 2016 when it rose slightly and remained within the range of $1 to $3.1until May 2017.
The new development team made Bitcoin Plus very competitive, and the price grew to $189.50 by the close of June 2017. This was the highest mark in its history. In January 2018, the price also shot very high to $182 before declining to an average of $15 in September 2018.
The community holds the view that the coin could easily grow to rival the original Bitcoin.
What is the problem that Bitcoin Plus Solves?
When Bitcointalk forum community came together and decided it was time to create a new coin, the drive was irresistible.
The community believed that it had the power in its hands to help steer the cryptocurrency community. Here are some of the problems that the team sought to address using the network.
Note that the issues include the focus of the new Bitcoin Plus introduced in 2015.
- Centralization of financial services
Many financial services in the market today are highly centralized. From banks to credit card companies, funds have to be deposited to centralized vaults with diverse management before you can be allowed to send value.
This centralization makes your funds an easy target by attackers. Such attacks can even be orchestrated through a legal battle with the goal of siphoning the funds via attorneys.
Bitcoin Plus aims at helping to make the system completely centralized for enhanced security.
- The high cost of sending value across the globe
The cost of sending value through conventional means is very high because the organizations are designed to help optimize profitability. For banks, the cost could be double because the funds being sent might attract charges for both the sending and receiving institutions.
This is one of the reasons that have made many people seek refuge in blockchain networks such as Bitcoin Plus.
- Scalability issues in most networks
When blockchain platforms were founded, their success was largely pegged on the ability to decentralize governance.
However, the requirement that all or most of the nodes must be involved when confirming transactions has resulted in serious scalability issues.
For example, Bitcoin can only handle four transactions/ second while Ethereum can only manage about 15 transactions/ second. This is a far cry when compared to about 24,000 transactions/ second for Visa.
- Poor adoption of blockchain by the community
While the blockchain networks have been growing at a steady rate, the same cannot be said of the community.
The experts argue that many people still find the process of joining cryptocurrencies complicated. Bitcoin Plus wanted to make the community own and feel part of the blockchain system.
- Privacy issues
When it emerged that transactions in the Bitcoin network are no longer as anonymous as initially thought, many people were very disappointed. Many cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin Plus are created with one of the goals being to address privacy.
How does Bitcoin Plus Solve the problem?
When the Bitcointalk forum was created, the community was able to share the issues that affected the blockchain network and come-up with reliable solutions to address them. Here are some of the methods that Bitcoin Plus used to address the issues as mentioned earlier.
- Bitcoin Plus has a built-in TOR
ToR help keep the Bitcoin Plus network more secure and private, it has an inbuilt TOR system (The Onion Router).
TOR is a system of volunteer nodes (relays) that receives signals and passes them to the next relays. Because the path of the transactions is randomly generated and the next relay can only know where to go once the signal is received, it is impossible to trace the origin of transactions.
This helps to make Bitcoin Plus one of the exclusively private networks.
- The exchange has an inbuilt and highly effective wallet
Many people targeting to join the cryptocurrency niche often find it complicated because a lot of steps are involved.
For example, some cryptocurrencies require users to join third-party cryptocurrency wallets to store the native coins.
However, Bitcoin Plus has an easy to use wallet ingrained in its system.
This means that you do not need to incur additional costs or subject your XBC to another platform for storage.
- Bitcoin Plus is available in multiple platforms
To provide users with greater control and guarantee better attachment, the Bitcoin Plus system is available for multiple platforms including mobile phones.
This implies that you can easily carry the Bitcoin Plus system, send value, and manage the XBC coins even on the go.
- Bitcoin Plus operates as a decentralized network of nodes
Bitcoin Plus operates as a completely decentralized network comprising of nodes spread across the globe.
The nodes help with governance, running transactions and securing the network. When a user initiates a transaction such as sending value, it is taken by nodes that check the sender’s public address balance and add new blocks to the blockchain.
This means that users do not have to rely on centralized and profit-seeking organizations such as banks that are an easy target for attackers.
What makes Bitcoin Plus better than it’s competitors?
The fast-growing blockchain niche has seen many cryptocurrency networks entering the market to take advantage of the rising demand.
It has also opened the space for stiff competition from both blockchain based and non-blockchain based operators. Here are some of the things that make Bitcoin Plus better than competitors.
- The network has passed through a very difficult past and emerged stronger. It is, therefore, considered a very reliable network compared to most networks in the market. It has also been in the market for more than four years. This implies that most of its network’s features have been tested and proven to work.
- The native coin XBC has been doing relatively well in the market. The two times that XBC shot to more than $180 is considered a pointer of good things to come. Even at the current rate, the value is still doing better than many digital coins such as Mooncoin and Novacoin.
- The platform has a very ambitious development team. After the departure of the founding team, the new development group at the helm of Bitcoin Plus is very active. The team easily identifies emerging issues and acts promptly to improve the network. For example, the team saw the threats that came with proof of work consensus algorithm and facilitated the effective shift to proof of stake algorithm.
- The stable design of Bitcoin Plus has won the trust of most exchanges. This is one of the reasons why a lot of exchanges have agreed to list XBC.
- Bitcoin Plus is a completely anonymous network that allows users to join and use the system without risking getting discovered by third parties. By using advanced encryption and The Onion Router system, no third party can follow back to know your details or even the transaction details.
How can Bitcoin Plus be categorized?
XBC is a completely decentralized and anonymous network designed to help advance the blockchain network. It was an early effort of the community to address the shortcomings noted in the blockchain network.
Even after the rough start when the initial developers disappeared with investors’ funds, another team took over and helped to push the system to the current revered status.
What’s Bitcoin Plus’s vision on Security?
The Bitcoin Plus vision on security is to help every person to get involved in the blockchain network securely.
The new development team was concerned that the security of the system could be compromised after the previous leaders ran away with investors funds.
Here are some of the methods used on the network to guarantee optimal user security.
- The system uses proof of stake (PoS) algorithm that promotes even spread of the native coins to prevent the threat of 51% attack.
- The development team is very active in identifying gaps in the core code and sealing them to avoid attacks.
- The system uses advanced encryption and The Onion Router system to make the system extra difficult for attackers.
Examples of Bitcoin Plus’s use cases/ applications.
The main goal of the Bitcoin Plus team, like other cryptocurrency networks, is to get adopted as a method of payment by both users and traders. Here are some of the main use cases of the Bitcoin Plus applications.
- Use the XBC coins to pay for transaction fee on the Bitcoin Plus network. When sending value on Bitcoin Plus, a transaction fee to motivate the miners on the system has to be paid using XBC coins.
- Pay the transaction fee in the markets when trading XBC. For those who opt to trade in the markets, the operational fee can be paid in XBC coins. Remember that you might also be required to pay an additional fee in XBC such as deposit and withdrawal charges depending on the selected exchange.
- Use the native coins to pay taxes. Cryptocurrencies such as XBC and Bitcoin are increasingly being accepted as a means of relaying value. In the state of Arizona, cryptocurrencies are accepted as a method of paying taxes. Another jurisdiction that allows users to make official transactions using cryptocurrencies is Singapore. The country’s leadership insists that users can make payment using fiat or crypto coins because the primary goal is sending value.
- Use Bitcoin Plus coin to invest or save funds. If you want to save money away without worrying that a third party or curious bank managers can know, the best method is going blockchain. Using anonymous systems such as Bitcoin Plus, you can buy the native tokens and hide funds without worrying about third-party seizures. You can also hold on the tokens waiting for the value to go up or even trade them in the markets.