What is Viacoin?
Viacoin is an open source and decentralized cryptocurrency derived from Bitcoin protocol in 2014. It features Auxiliary proof of work (AuxPoW) and Segregated Witness (SegWit) technologies that help to make transactions scalable, cheaper, and more secure. The project was one of the early efforts used to remedy the flaws exhibited in Bitcoin.
The project was started in July 2014 by a person/persons only referred as BTCdrak after forking the Bitcoin core. Another renowned Bitcoin developer, Peter Todd, was introduced to the team as the chief scientist and Advisor. Todd is believed to be the main face of the project but only reintroduced himself as an advisor for legal reasons.
After launch, the price of Viacoin remained well below $0.05 mark until March 2017. The only short instance when it went above that mark was around 10th August 2014 when the price rose to $0.28 before retracting to the original range. The price grew with more than 13,200% to hit the highest mark in its history, $6.65, early January 2018.
The project’s focus has seen new features getting introduced progressively to improve the network. Some of these features include the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Schnorr signature and non-atomic flushing
What is the problem that Viacoin Solves?
When Bitcoin was introduced into the market in 2009, it demonstrated that it was possible to run completely decentralized payments and transactions. But Satoshi Nakamoto did not expect the demand for the blockchain based payments and transactions to skyrocket in the subsequent years. In just a few years after launch, Bitcoin and other early cryptocurrencies were experiencing serious limitations that included the following;
Poor scalability
Most early blockchain projects especially those based on proof of work (PoW) algorithm are very slow because every node or most of them have to be involved in confirming transactions. Bitcoin can only support 7 transactions/second, Ethereum 25 transactions/second, and Bitcoin Cash 61 transactions/second. Even the cryptocurrency with the highest rate, Ripple, can only reach 1500 transactions/second which is a far cry from top industry leaders like Ripple that can hit a whopping 24,000 transactions per second.
Poor cross-chain interoperability
A closer look at most cryptocurrencies and associated projects reveals they provide diverse benefits that users would want to enjoy. But cross-chain interoperability has been a serious obstacle. A person in the Bitcoin network would require joining the Ethereum, Ripple, or Bitcoin cash networks to send value there. This makes the process very expensive, inconveniencing and unrealistic in most of the cases.
Decreasing mining rewards
The block reward of most proof of work (PoW) algorithm based cryptocurrencies halves after a couple of years. At Bitcoin, the reward halves every four years. The implication is that miners are likely to get demotivated as the rewards continue decreasing. The miners could opt to walk away leaving the network without ample miners to confirm the transactions.
How does Viacoin Solve the problem?
When Viacoin founders set out working on a new platform to address the outlined issues, their focus was not to just provide a standalone solution, but ensure that the platform could easily get improved over time. Here are some of the key methods used to address the problems.
Segregated Witness (SegWit)
Segregated Witness is used to shrink transaction sizes to help the network cope with UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) growth. SegWit is a transaction where the witness data is separated from the main transaction. The technology targets raising transaction throughput per block and simultaneously helping blocks to sync faster.
SegWit application at Viacoin is also targeted at fixing malleability. This implies that more scripting will be possible and, therefore, adding new features such as bidirectional payments, atomic swaps, and even lightning networks is relatively easy.
Merged mining (AuxPoW)
Merged mining at Viacoin was created to help increase the utility of the mining power of the user’s system. This means that with the same mining power, users are able to mine more Scrypt based coins. For example, you can mine Viacoin and another coin such as Litecoin without lowering the mining power.
Every hash that a miner generates can be used for the selected cryptocurrencies. The Auxiliary Proof of Work (AuxPoW) block closely resembles the common Bitcoin block but features two main differences;
- The hash of the block header does not meet the blockchain’s difficulty.
- It includes additional data elements indicating that the miner who created the block mined the parent blockchain and that the respective work meets the aux blockchain difficulty level.
Implementation of AuxPoW implies that Viacoin miners will be motivated to continue mining even as the rewards go low because they can mine other coins of preference. This approach was considered forethought that many players were unable to see it when Viacoin was created. However, it has now become an important premise in the industry as rewards in many cryptocurrencies continue ebbing out.
The lightning network
Lightning network at Viacoin is an additional network operating layer on top of the Viacoin blockchain. The layer utilizes smart contract functionality that targets enabling instant payments across a network of participants. This is very important to increasing transaction throughput because most transactions are processed outside the consensus ledger.
Lightning Networks further allows the execution of exceptionally low transaction fees. The Viacoin white paper refers to the Lightning Network as the Silver Bullet. The payment under the system is implemented using a script that enforces atomicity through decrementing time-locks.
Blocknet protocol
In May 2018, Viacoin announced that it was ready to adopt and implement Blocknet Protocol. This is a true peer2peer protocol between nodes on different platforms. Once implemented, the protocol will enable the delivery of any type of digital service from a node in one platform to another node in a different platform.
The application of Blocknet Protocol will include three key things; a blockchain router (xbridgep2p), an inter-chain data transport, and a coin exchange protocol. The protocol will be very helpful in monetization, microservices, decentralized applications (DApps) and protocol related services.
What makes Viacoin better than it’s competitors?
The blockchain niche has become highly competitive as more networks continue joining the industry. From the beginning, Viacoin targeted positioning itself at the front of others. Some of the things that make Viacoin better than competitors include;
- Viacoin uses more advanced technology that makes the network faster compared to other cryptocurrencies. For example, it is about 25 times faster than Bitcoin. High scalability implies that more traders including those handling a lot of transactions can use it without suffering backlogs.
- The cryptocurrency is led by a very aggressive team that progressively adds new features to improve the system over time. The team comprising of blockchain experts and financial advisors has seen the network and its community grow progressively over time.
- As a peer2peer network, Viacoin is better than centralized organizations such as banks because transactions are completed faster and at a lower cost. It also employs advanced cryptography to help users run transactions without worrying about third-party seizures.
- Having been established in 2014, Viacoin is considered more stable compared to the newer models. The cryptocurrency community considers a blockchain network to be more stable after clocking more than three years in the market. By this time, most of the features will have been tested and their stability proven.
- Viacoin performance in the market has been impressive. Though its price has not been explosive the way other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have performed, the progress is impressive. This has resulted from listing in more markets and the fast-growing community.
- The platform is completing the application of Blocknet Protocol that will help with cross-chain communication in the market. This is a great score at a time when sending value from one network to another has become a serious issue hindering blockchain growth.
How can Viacoin be categorized?
Viacoin is a secure, scalable, and upgradable cryptocurrency network. The segregated witness technology at Viacoin makes it easy to implement new features and changes for progressive improvements. This means two crucial things that will help to determine the progress of Viacoin in future;
- The network will always be better because changes such as new features and improvements can be implemented with ease.
- Unlike at Bitcoin or Ethereum where even minor adjustments are enough to cause serious disagreements and even forks, Viacoin is different. The technology lowers the need for dividing the network like it happened after the DAO attack in the Ethereum network.
What’s Viacoin’s vision on Security?
The security vision of Viacoin is to become the most secure network without compromising its ability to grow over time. When Viacoin was created in 2014, regular attacks had become a common thing in the young blockchain industry. In 2011, Mt. Gox was hacked and over 600,000 Bitcoins lost. Then, BitFloor was hacked in 2012 resulting to loss of 24,000 Bitcoins while Picostocks lost 6000BTC in the 2013 attack. Viacoin founders had to craft a winning model that could keep the network secure and win the user’s trust. Here are some of the methods used to keep the network safer.
- Dark Gravity Wave (DGW): This is an open source difficulty algorithm created by Evan Duffield (the creator of Dash/Darkcoin). The technology utilizes multiple exponential moving averages to smooth the mining difficulty readjustment to help address flaws such as time wrap attacks.
- Regular updates to fix gaps: With attackers getting tech-savvier, the Viacoin development team adopted a system of regular updates to fix bugs noted in the network. To guarantee users of extra security, the development team has also lined up an array of development features to implement in 2018.
- Use of smart contracts: The application of smart contracts in a network helps to make the operations of a system inviolable. Because users have to meet the pre-set conditions, many attackers are finding it very difficult to break into the system.
- Viacoin uses Scrypt mining algorithm: This algorithm has been crucial in reducing the efficiency of ASIC mining to help decentralize mining and lower the danger of 51% attack. However, the efficiency of scrypt has increasingly come under question as more as ASIC miners targeting scrypt hit the market.
Examples of Viacoin’s use cases / applications.
The core goal of many cryptocurrencies is becoming major payment networks in the market. Even as the looming regulations remain unpredictable, the use cases of most cryptocurrencies continue increasing. Here are the main Viacoin use cases.
- Paying transaction fees in the Viacoin network. When you decide to use the Viacoin network to send value, the transaction fee is paid using Viacoin. Note that this fee is mainly meant to motivate the miners who help to confirm the transactions running on the network as opposed to optimizing the network profitability.
- Paying the trading fees in the cryptocurrency markets. If you want to trade Viacoin in the markets such as Binance and Bittrex, the transaction charges can be paid in Viacoin. Note that trading in such exchanges requires users to pair Viacoin with other coins such as Bitcoin. Therefore, even the other coin paired with Viacoin can also be used to clear the transaction fees.
- Buying goods and services from e-commerce stores. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple among other cryptocurrencies that have been wooing traders and buyers to their platforms, Viacoin is also in the race. Viacoin stability has made stores such as Lionfood to start accepting it for direct payment.
- A reliable method of saving funds without worrying about third-party seizures. As a decentralized and highly encrypted network, Viacoin allows users to save and invest in the network without worrying about third-party seizures. Whether you want to buy and hold or simply hide your savings from third parties, there is a great opportunity to relax without worrying about third-party seizures.
- Viacoin can be paired with other cryptocurrencies to trade in the exchanges.The cryptocurrency exchanges operate like the standard forex markets. To start trading in the exchanges such as UPbit, Coinroom, and Yobit among others, you need to identify the preferred trading pair and register for a trading account.
https://coincheckup.com/coins/Viacoin
https://viacoin.org/
https://medium.com/@viacoin
https://github.com/viacoin/documents/blob/master/whitepapers/Viacoin_fullcolor_whitepaper.pdf