So, in my quest for more sweet, sweet Crypto, my journeys take me to ever increasingly interesting and maybe slightly obscure digital currencies. This is actually a currency I first learned about from FireFaucet (Fair Warning: Shameless Referral Link), seeing as it's one of the many coins they pay out to their users. I normally pay out in TRON (Lord STEEM Forgive Me), but I decided to get a payout in Good ol' DigiByte for the shits.

So, What in the Hell is DigiByte?

DigiByte: The Cooler Younger Son of Big Daddy Bitcoin

So, you might be surprised to learn that DigiByte does not have their own White Paper per se. In fact, they use the core principles of Bitcoin's whitepaper to implement a "Blockchain 2.0" that they claim is faster, cheaper and ready to go. This is really interesting because typically, every new coin has their own tried and true Whitepaper. My first impression is fascination; these guys are originalists with a slight tack towards tackling the issues that the original Bitcoin had. I can respect that. We don't need no fancy shit here; We just need a Bitcoin that has addresses issues that Grand Poobah Satoshi didn't. It's a respectful and natural evolution! But before I stark wanking it too hard, let's look at the specifics.

So, What is the big deal here?

First thing you need to know about Digibyte is that in terms of Crypto, their blockchain has been around for over 5 years. That's a middle aged man going through his second divorce in Crypto years. While they don't have their own whitepaper, they go into pretty good detail on the high level basics on their WEBSITE, and they have their own Wiki that's chock full of tech specs for the coin and blockchain tech. Think Cardano, but without the Aneurysm-inducing complexity. These guys know how to show off their shit to would-be adopters. Here's the Cliffnotes on the specs:

1.) They Run Faster Than Daddy. Digibyte's code is an altered form of Bitcoin that runs its blocks every 15 seconds as opposed to every 10 minutes like, Daddy. In terms of TPS (Transactions Per Second) Digibyte currently operates at about 560 TPS. As block sizes increase over time and they max out their coin supply, they expect it could scale to a TPS of over 280,000 by the year 2035 (The estimated year that all Digibyte is expected to mine its last coins). Oh damn...

2.) Their Mining Can Run on FIVE Different Algorithms. Tired of using your good old fashioned SHA256 algo to make your sweet ass magic cash? No problem! You can choose between Scrypt, OdoCrypto, Skein and Qubit. What are those? Oh, just fancy different algos that mining uses. They say the purpose of this is to provide the coin an increased security and prevent centralization. Some of these algos are better suited for ASICS, whereas others have different optimal specifications. CHOICES!

3.) They Have a 1000:1 Coin Supply Ratio to BTC. Digibyte's total supply is 21 BILLION coins. There are some good reasons for this. First, the supply isn't expected to reach rocket high prices like BTC, so then even your Average Joe can still afford to buy a single DGB, even when the max supply is finally reached. Second - in conjunction with their faster blocks and TPS - allows for scaling over time. This is a great idea; Imagine if there were only 21 million dollars in USD. That shit wouldn't circulate the best considering that there isn't much of it. A larger supply may mean (for the time being) that your per-DGB price is lower than BTC, it does allow for some additional volume to be traded among a whole lot of people. And that's the endgame; adoption and usage in many different places.

Cool, They're basically Bitcoin 2: Electric Boogaloo. What's Their Use Case?

So, with improved decentralization with a focus on Cyber Security as their main talking points, they hope to get into multiple different places where a secure ledger might be just what the doctor ordered. Literally. They're looking into using the Digibyte technology to help secure medical documentation. Current use cases include securing data in the shipping industry and providing a user authentication tool on numerous websites. This isn't your grandma's Crypto; with their open source code and community innovation, they wanna be able to apply their technology to a multitude of industries. Oh, that sounds like a really fun direction towards something really important - MASS ADOPTION. They also want to use additional layers of technology on top of the blockchain for Dapps, Smart Contracts, and several other things - some of which is used by super popular existing cryptocurrencies.

MY STUPID OPINION WHICH ISN'T FINANCIAL ADVICE.

So, Digibyte is no slouch. It looks like they wanna be the workhorse for the Crypto industry, in much the same way as Ethereum is for tokens. I think it is pretty cool because this not only allows for multiple use cases, but by association it gives the entire technology an impetus for adoption. I'll say it again; if you want to increase the value of your decentralized currency, the first thing you need to think of is how it will be adopted by a shitload of people. The second thing is how will this adoption encourage In-Flows and Out-Flows? Those two things should be the fundamental target for any crypto that hopes to be successful in the space. It's just basic economics.

Our fun little CoinGecko Ticker Gives us the financial goods:

Eh, the market cap has seen better days, but they have said that in its best booming times, the cap has broken 1 Billion. The volume in comparison is relatively paltry, but is still impressive for a sub-cent coin. If you know my reading, I am a big proponent of the Stock to Flow Model. This is basically because of its simplicity as well as its general predictive capability to date. The big tester will be in May with the BTC Halving event, and when that happens we will see whether or not the model stands. It has stood for the last few halvings, and that gives me great confidence for the next one. Bigger caps will be realistic for large supply coins in the coming years. There's room for growth.

Furthermore, these guys have a track record. They have been in the game for a relatively long time in this space. I think that this shows that they're no BitConnect or Fly-By-Night bullshitters.

Some Basic Criticisms

Since I have been ranting and raving (more or less) about DigiByte for most of this post, I'm gonna give you the things I find... not so good.

1.) There's Lots of Ambition and Projects Here. I'm not gonna be the first one to discourage a little ambitious behavior. For Chrissakes, I'm blogging here in part because I have the ambitious goal of becoming an Influencer and Asshole-With-An-Opinion in the Crypto World. Having said that, There's a big difference between having lots of goals and spreading oneself too thin. Sometimes you get further with a more concise, laser focused goal. This isn't to say that they won't find success, but they are placing themselves in a position where the eyes might be bigger than the stomach, so to speak.

2.) They Really Like Moore's Law. From the perspective of my science and futurist background, I gotta say that this may not be realistic. First, what is Moore's Law? Basically, the number of transistors in a given space is predicted to exponentially increase over time. Unless there are significant advancements in the near future, this may not be the case. Some have even said that the law is already no longer holding. Why? Quantum Problems and commercial disadvantages of making smaller transistors. Unless we find ways around this, we may be up the shit creek without a paddle. Their adjustment of block size and timing may reach a hard limit before the max supply is reached.

All those problems aside, I like it. I think they have some serious potential. I'd definitely buy some at this price point for HODLing purposes. But that's just me. Don't listen to me. DUE DILIGENCE, friends.

Thank you SO SO much for reading, I do appreciate it greatly. You're beautiful, even if the world think's you're not. If you wanna quick and simple way to support my adventures, please consider following me at STEEMIT. I'm expanding into that glorious platform, and you'll be the first to read my FIRST Blog Post (COMING WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK. JOIN ME).

Until next time, keep your eye on the markets, and... something something DigiByte. This post brought to you by whisky.