ByteCoin – First Cryptonote Based Crypto

ByteCoin, created on 4th July 2012, is one of the first truly anonymous coins and the first cryptocurrency based on the Cryptonote technology. Since then, lots of privacy coins have been forked off ByteCoin. Notably, the popular Monero (XMR) and DashCoin (DSH) are among the many coins forked off this crypto.

Given the emergence of so many privacy-focused coins, ByteCoin has still managed to stay relevant. This might be because it has stuck to its original design principles: anonymity and privacy. Now though, the platform has improved since it offers faster transactions. Additionally, there are plans to add more useful and exciting features in the near future.

The Cryptonote technology, on which Bytecoin is based, is the cornerstone of most privacy coins. This technology, which is quite different from that of Bitcoin, provides unique features, that cryptocurrencies based on it, use to give users privacy and anonymity in crypto transactions.

Statistics on CoinMarketCap.com, at the time of this writing, show ByteCoin priced at $0.002652 with a market cap of $487 million. There is also a cap on the total supply that sets the limit to 184,470,000,000 coins (that can ever exist). With a circulating supply of about 183,784,653,122, ByteCoin is close to reaching the 184,47 billion coin cap.

Mining ByteCoin

Mining is the process of using computing power to solve complex math problems, in order to verify transactions on a blockchain. The reward for this is a stated amount of the cryptocurrency being mined. Mining can be done using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Central Procession Units (CPUs) or Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). ASICs are more efficient in mining simply because they are specifically made to perform particular functions.

ByteCoin is still GPU and CPU mineable. Its ASIC resistance feature means using specialized mining equipment for mining it would not be much more profitable than using GPUs and CPUs. The purpose of this feature is to make mining more decentralized and probably fairer.

What Makes ByteCoin Private & Anonymous?

Ring Signatures from the Cryptonote protocol is pivotal in Bytecoin’s anonymity. Ring Signatures hide the address of the sender of a transaction. Information on funds being sent by a user is “mixed” with that of other funds being sent on the blockchain. The “mixing” is done in a manner that makes it impossible to determine which source of funds is the real one. With this method, the sender of a transaction could deny being the source of funds since all other addresses used in the mixing process could have been the sender of the said transaction.

Furthermore, anonymity on this platform is passive. Users don’t have to take any extra actions to ensure privacy. This is because the features that allow privacy on the network are set as the default. This is good for non-tech savvy users and doesn’t draw suspicions that could come with taking extra action to conceal transaction information.

Upcoming Developments On ByteCoin

We get an idea of the developments and improvements to expect on this platform from its Roadmap document, as well as the recent Ask Me Anything session organized on Reddit. A major development to watch out for is a hardfork slated for 12th June 2018.

The idea behind this hardfork is to start using a new code base which is more user-friendly and easier to maintain. Development on the old code base would cease after the hardfork. Also, with ByteCoin quickly approaching its maximum number of mineable coins, the dynamic fees feature to be introduced in 2018 is welcome news. Miners can still be incentivized to mine Bytecoin after the cap on total supply is reached.

The team also revealed that there were plans to develop a new Android wallet for users.

With respect to marketing, the team plans to reach out to the Asian, Middle East and African markets. New partnerships and listing on new exchanges were also promised in the 2018 roadmap document.

Will The Mission Be Accomplished?

Even though its one of the oldest cryptocurrencies, ByteCoin has tough competition from other privacy-oriented coins. The competition would, however, not be a problem if the mission of this platform is anything to go by:

“To develop a new financial system, more efficient than the existing ones.”

A single coin doesn’t have to rule for this mission to be achieved. Also, at this rate, we could get there in due time.

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This is not advice. Advice should be accepted by your chosen legal counsel only and financial advice should come from a licensed or certified financial professional. As always – do your homework and make decisions based on your own education. Seek information and look into projects before adding to or diversifying your portfolios.