As things currently stand, nearly 225 million users across the planet have access to high-speed internet services today. This has allowed for the creation of sharing economies such as Uber, Airbnb and eBay as well as given the global e-commerce market a push, unlike anything we have seen before. The internet has also paved the way for payment gateways such as PayPal. However, all of these technological breakthroughs come ridden with one major drawback — i.e. centralized allocation of power.

Skycoin (SKY) can be thought of as fast, scalable and decentralized blockchain platform that helps users take control of their personal information. The system comes bolstered with a set of security modules that can prevent prying government eyes as well as third-party corporations from gaining access to sensitive customer data.

The system makes use of Skywire, a wireless mesh network that employs privacy protocols to help deliver users with cheaper, faster, user-controlled internet wherein network participants are rewarded for contributing their native bandwidth to other customers. In addition to this, Skywire also serves as a net neutrality resolution tool since it allows customers to privately browse the internet without having to worry about third-party movement tracking.

Interested in Skycoin? Here’s a quick rundown of the project:

Platform & Development

Skycoin, like many altcoins, enables free, decentralized payments within a matter of seconds. However, when looking at the platform from a technical standpoint, the service runs on a completely different consensus algorithm called ‘Obelisk.’ This unique protocol is not susceptible to the weaknesses intrinsic to the PoW and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithms that are commonly used today and thus users can reap a host of benefits including fast transactions that can be completed in as little as 2 seconds.

Interestingly, Skycoin does not charge any processing fees since all native transactions are fueled by a token called Coin Hours — an individual currency that is paid to Skycoin holders for each hour they hold SKY.

In terms of platform security, Skycoin has been built from the ground up using a programming language called Golang. It helps the ecosystem make use of time-tested cryptographic standards to ensure internal transactions cannot be manipulated or altered. Using its novel privacy architecture, Skycoin is able to effectively ward off several major issues, including:

51% attacks

Reversals

Data duplication and malleability

Another key privacy feature that Skycoin introduces is its use of the CoinJoin protocol which enables the platform to mix transactions from multiple wallets so that they are indistinguishable from one another.

Skycoin derives its inherent value from the Skywire mesh network and users’ ability to earn and use SKY tokens for providing and consuming network resources. Skycoin already has a fairly large network established for the Skywire, with over 2,300 official nodes and thousands of DIY nodes spread around the globe. The official nodes are running on custom hardware, called Skyminers, developed and sold by the Skycoin team. This hardware functions as a miner for Skycoins while acting as a specialized VPN.

Team

One of the key people associated with this project identifies himself as “Synth.” He is widely regarded as being one of the earliest contributors to the Bitcoin source code and is also one of the first blockchain devs to enter the crypto market — by starting work on Skycoin around 8 years ago. As per his online bio, Synth has a strong affinity for niche scientific domains like “mathematics, distributed systems, and symbolic logic.”

Key advisors for the project include:

Michael Terpin : Founder and CEO of CoinAgenda

: Founder and CEO of CoinAgenda Mike Doty: Co-Founder of ARK and Bitseed

Token Financials

Skycoin (SKY) currently trades for $14.01 and has a market cap of ~$126 million. While a total of 25 million tokens have been minted, only 9 million are currently in circulation.

Final Take

With Skycoin being featured on a variety of publications like Forbes and Nasdaq, and the project’s well-fleshed-out adoption plan that includes hardware, it would not be a surprise to see this platform do well going forward.

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Disclaimer: The author(s) of this article may have a position in one or more of the cryptocurrencies mentioned above. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.