Nxt - first PoS-only coin

Some days ago the first proof-of-stake only coin (without PoW) has been launched. Its name is “Nxt”. It is (apparently) not a Peercoin fork.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345619.0

The client has some glitches still, but is working.

What I like from Nxt:

  • the brainwallet approach: You are not required to store nothing at your computer as the only key is your passphrase (choose a good one!).
  • It will have a descentralized exchange and colored coins soon

What I don’t like:

  • Java is required
  • GUI is realized in browser
  • It has a hard “coin cap” of 1.000.000.000 Nxt that won’t change. PoS earnings are only transaction fees. I think this will lead to a high volatility, higher than Bitcoin’s.
  • Coins are not divisible
  • Still closed source (until January 2014)

I think even if one is not interested in other cryptos than Peercoin, it could be interesting to follow the development of this coin. PPC in some years will also be almost a PoS-only coin, and if “Nxt” is successful, it is a proof that Proof of stake is possible without Proof of work. Even if Nxt fails, Peercoin can learn from it and improve its security avoiding the errors which led to Nxt’s failure.

I’m confused how a completely PoS coin works – where is the initial stake generated so that you can use PoS to generate more?

I’ve got the client running on my work PC, but can’t seem to get my brain around it.

There was an initial Nxt distribution, you had to send some satoshis to a BTC address, and then the coins (1 billion) were distributed according to the amount you sent to this address.

But I also don’t know how PoS really works in Nxt. It seems to be the implementation of “cunicula”, a well-known Bitcointalk member and one of the inventors of the PoS concept itself.

Do you have any XNT? If so, would you mind sending me a small number just so I can get PoS to actually start to process? I think you just need 1 to do it

I have some and can send you 100 if you want to try, but PoS seems to work only with great amounts (over 1 million). Send me your account number so you can try it out.

I’m interested in this coin as well, though the method of distribution was arguably unfair. (Should have been done after code was open-sourced, so more conservative investors could better understand what they were getting into.)

Please send me some NXT so I can play around with it! Address: 6915837252601369194

Thanks!

i think nxt is really wonderful, as of now most of my stake in ppc has gone and invested in nxt, unfortunately for ppc i simply see a huge future with nxt.

i have to say i have been disappointed in the development part of ppc. ppc brought the idea about pos to my head which struck me real good and i put alot into it. kudos to ppc for starting it early and gave other developers the concept of pos but…

anyways it was loads of fun and fear and frustration riding the ppc train.

anyways it was loads of fun and fear and frustration riding the ppc train

I wish you better luck riding the NXT train. Let us know how your decision ends up turning out for you.

[quote=“d5000, post:1, topic:926”]What I don’t like:

  • Java is required
  • Still closed source (until January 2014)[/quote]

What I also don’t like is:

Java is required.

I’m not going to start a debate about programming languages, but in short, any one with a PC might remember the “numerous security updates and bug fixes” for Java that have been released over the years for Windows.

Developing a financial piece of software, like NXT on top of Java is a really risky move. I would never do it.

Furthermore, Java was owned by Sun Microsystems which was bought by Oracle.

No one owns the C++ language. Anyone can use the language royalty-free.

While Oracle may grant people a free license to use Java, they still retain ownership of patents, have already tried to sue Google over Java API’s, etc.

NXT choosing Java (and closed source originally) is a problem. I don’t care what features they sport or what community they have following them for the sole reason that JAVA was a terrible idea to use for this…

Java is good as a portable language that needs to run on multiple devices and do very simple tasks. Becoming the next Bitcoin probably isn’t one of them.

I won’t go near NXT. If some one wants to sell all their Peercoin and trade it for NXT, I’ll say a prayer for you. Good luck.

I’m curious if NXT is capable of doing cold-lock mining ? how safe is it and how do they achieve it ?

@ ppcman: There are alternative clients for Nxt now, but as far as I know they all use Java. But I have heard of plans that someone wanted to code a Nxt client in C/C++. Perhaps I am wrong and there is already a non-Java client.

(PS: At least there is already a .NET client “dotNxt”, so there is a little bit less Java dependency. But I have found no C or other “really open programming language” client until now. That’s a major weakness of Nxt, I agree.)

@romerun: At present something like “cold-locked minting” (using a mechanism like cold-locked transactions, mint-by-proxy etc.) is not possible with Nxt. There is a planned feature called Account control, where you can e.g. “lock” your account for some time, so when you open it with your private key within this period for minting, nobody can steal any coins. But the feature seems far away, for now, and stealing of the private key would still be possible (so after the locking period is over a possible thief can steal the coins using the stolen private key).

do we know the annual inflation of NXT?