Nimiq Update

Pool Mining, Exchanges, Ledger Promo, NIM Activation from NET

The Nimiq Blockchain keeps growing stronger, block by block, minute by minute. With so much happening, it is time for an update — this is a bulky one, let’s get started.

Mining Pool Open Source

Yes — mining pools are here! An official mining pool implementation is now open source, we encourage pool operators to use it and community members to start a pool. The pool server is a highly efficient PPLNS (Pay Per Last Number of Shares) reward system that uses a MySQL-compatible database.

Several pools are already using the Nimiq Pool Server. The independently operated Nimiq Community page provides more information as well as our official Discord Channel. We are excited about all new pools that are entering the ecosystem and the effect this is expected to have on hash rate distribution.

Browser Pool Mining

In addition to full node pool mining, another feature the community requested heavily is ready and live! Browser pool mining has now been sufficiently tested so that as alternative to browser solo mining, users can select a preferred mining pool for more frequent chances of a share in block reward payouts. Note that mining pools are independently operated and we highly recommend you research the specific terms and conditions as well as trustworthiness and integrity of each pool and it’s operators:

Nimiq + Ledger = ❤

It’s not a secret that we’ve been working on the integration of Nimiq with the Ledger hardware wallet. By opening their hardware wallet platform to a marketplace of blockchain currencies, we consider Ledger to be one of the top innovators. We have completed development and testing of our Nimiq Ledger app and submitted it for review by Ledger. At this point, timing & approval are out of our hands and are not guaranteed. Nimiq was added to Ledger’s Trello Board and we encourage everyone to vote for Nimiq as the vote count significantly affects chances for approval and accelerated timing. We would like to thank everybody who already went there, please spread the word!

In parallel we are working on a promotion with 1'000 co-branded Nano S which should soon be going into production:

We have not yet decided on the format and timing of the ‘giveaway’, but the idea is to meaningfully reach as many new potential Nimiq users as possible. Ideally, participants in the giveaway sustainably create awareness for new users (unlike common retweet/like promotions) and every 1 in 100 participants has a chance of receiving a co-branded unit. We are open for creative approaches and would love suggestions from the community. If you have tangible ideas please share them with us in the Nimiq Discord channel.

NIM Activation

As you might know from prior communication, NIM Activations from NET performed after the Genesis Block cut-off require elements of manual processing on our end. Naturally, we are always looking to optimize processes and improve efficiency and we have spent time on developing a semi-automatic tool that will help in performing this task. This will allow us to manually trigger an automatic processing of information and transactions in batches, on a more regular basis around once every two weeks.

Exchanges

Conversations are under way with a number of exchanges. Our plan is to start by getting NIM listed soonest to achieve an initial level of liquidity. An additional step on the way to mature and succeed with larger exchanges is to achieve sufficient decentralization of hashing distribution. The opening and uptake of mining pools is a key component to that. Note also that adding NIM to an exchange is not just flipping a switch on the exchange side since Nimiq is not just another Ethereum-based token but it’s own full Blockchain Mainnet. More accurately the exchange can configure wallets and communicate with the network using a JSON-RPC API similar to Ethereum, which requires some level of integration effort. We have prepared everything from our end to make this process as simple as possible. That said, if there are additional pointers or personal connections our community members may have to accelerate any of these processes, please share those in our Discord Channel, via PM to an admin as applicable.

Widening Scope of Bug Bounty

The Nimiq Bug Bounty Program has been live for over two months now. Initially, only the blockchain and network protocol were in scope. Now that Mainnet has been launched we want to widen the scope of the Nimiq Bug Bounty Program and add the current applications of the ecosystem. This includes all of our front-end development for supported browsers as well as our infrastructure. Further information can be found on the Nimiq HackerOne page.

Nimiq-alt?

Several community members have asked about this and we wanted to provide a response. We are indeed aware of other parties promoting projects based on Nimiq. What we have come across so far seems unclear in direction and lacking the required sophisticated development experience. We appreciate community members speaking up and pointing out opportunities while we continue to focus — with the help of our community — on our steady plan for healthy evolution.

As always thank you for your support and attention to all Nimiq matters!

Team Nimiq