February 2017 (I)
Here’s some of the latest news about Nxt over this past week in February:
NXT COMMUNITY
- Ardor – Nxt Advanced Users Give a Hand Tuning It Up
- Nxtforum.org – 1000 New Users in January
- Janus – First Dividend Payment From Betterbets
- Liquidtech – Nice Dividend Payment
DEVELOPMENT
NXT IN THE MEDIA
- KCN – Nxt Based Messenger Aims to “Make E-Mail System Great Again”
- Invest It In – Adel, The Kickstarter for ICOs
- Fintech Finance – Creating Value With Cryptocurrencies
- Search Engine Journal – Transforming Technology With Raspberry Pi
PRICE EVOLUTION
Below, are more details about each of them:
NXT COMMUNITY
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Ardor – Advanced Users of Nxt Give a Hand in Tuning it Up
Riker, one of the Nxt and Ardor core developers, has invited users on NxtChat on Slack for some volunteers who have a solid knowledge of Nxt to test the new Ardor software on the testnet, in order to speed up the opening of the testnet to general users, which is expected to happen in the near future.
Lior says:
As we are wrapping up the Ardor testnet release, and before we release it publicly, we are looking for power users who know NXT 1.x well to join us in testing the platform. This would be a volunteer base work (unless some whale would like to put an NXT or Ardor bounty for this). You have to be very technical, not easily frustrated and if you have prior background in software development and testing that’s a big plus.
What you will get is:
Access to an Ardor testnet public node first, then access to a binary distribution, and the chance to work with folks like JL, myself and other core devs side by side, who knows, perhaps this would also develop into an employment opportunity in the future.
Most important is UI testing. API testing is important as well. We need someone to test processes like create a poll, vote, check the results. Create an asset, send multiple ask/bid orders and verify that the trade results are correct etc. No need for coding but if know how to place a breakpoint in JavaScript code and check some variables values that’s a big plus.
It seems that things are running smoothly and this pre-release test will help refine some minor details to make Ardor, at least, as stable as Nxt has been throughout all these years. Ardor is on its way.
More information: https://nxtforum.org/core-development-discussion/ardor-pre-release-testing
Channel #developers at Nxtchat on Slack
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Nxtforum.org – 1000 New Users in January
We are to be excited! Throughout January, a thousand new members have joined Nxtforum. This is the second month in a row that this membership growth figure has been achieved. This large amount of newcomers, which is starting to become a regular occurrence, is a good sign of the interest that blockchain enthusiasts have put in Nxt and Ardor, which also seems to reflect on the price rise that Ardor has experienced during the past few weeks.
[easy-tweet tweet=”I am also a member of the Nxt community” user=”https://twitter.com/nxtcommunity” hashtags=”#Nxt #Ardor #Nxter” url=”https://nxtforum.org/”]
We’d like to encourage our readers to sign up and become a member of this growing community. Or, if you prefer, you can also join the Nxt community using the following platforms:
More information: https://nxtforum.org/index.php?action=stats
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Janus – First Dividend Payment from Betterbets
The Janus team has distributed the first dividend payment coming from Betterbets.io, the betting platform that belongs to Janus, among its investors. The recent successful integration of ShapeShift in this platform allows the players to buy NXT using other cryptos and place their bets straight on this platform with NXT.
We just release the #NXT dividends for Feb 1st from Betterbets.io. Congrats everyone for a successful #Janus project milestone. #ARDR $JNS pic.twitter.com/GiH2XP82zE
— Luis_Batista (@FloatingLamps) February 1, 2017
Moreover, the volume of bets that were placed using NXT has been quite remarkable. Bjorn, member of the Janus team, explained:
Just to give a recap for stats sake, it’s been about 11 days since NXT on Betterbets.io went live without downtime. Total: Bets: 965,920 Wagered: 2,255,526 NXT.
NXT stats at almost 1 million bets isn’t too bad really. Over 2 million in volume wagered, also solid. I don’t yet have the numbers for number of shapeshift.io purchases on site but will monitor this as well…
[NXTBridgeAssetInfo id=4348103880042995903]
Source and more information: https://nxter.org/es/under-the-knife-1-janus-token
JanusProject at NxtChat on Slack (link to join)
https://www.mynxt.info/asset/4348103880042995903
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Liquidtech – Nice Dividend Payment
The LQD asset, managed by LibertyNow, has had a dividend distribution for the month of January with the equivalent of 3.4 BTC distributed among investors, in the form of NXT and ARDR. Each investor received, in their respective Nxt accounts, 0.64 NXT plus 0.21 ARDR for every unit of LQD they own. This has been a good month for investors, with an ROI of 10.88%
It seems as if the tune up that LibertyNow performed on his bot in order to achieve the maximum profit (while reducing loses when markets don’t behave rationally) is starting to bear fruit. Liquid Technologies is well-known for its transparency. You can check, in real time, all operations of the fund at http://www.liquidtech.info/trades
LibertyNow commented:
After running a couple polls, I decided to split the dividend payment between ARDR and NXT. Everyone should see two dividend transactions in their accounts…one as a NXT payment and one as an asset transfer (the ARDR). The dividends totaled about 3.4BTC and new software updates seem to be chugging along quite nicely.
[NXTBridgeAssetInfo id=17750387231635486778]
Source and more information: https://nxtforum.org/liquid/dividend-day!/msg229351/?topicseen#msg229351
https://www.mynxt.info/asset/17750387231635486778
DEVELOPMENT
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Ardor – Dividend Payment Teasers
This has been the forth week in a row where we get to see some previews regarding new Ardor functionalities. Damelon, of the Nxt Foundation, has shared some screenshots where we can see the new Dividend Payment feature that will be included in Ardor.
These images let us know that, when using Ardor, any business or project owner will able to perform dividend distributions to their investors with any asset or coin integrated on Ardor, or using the child chain coin.
More information: https://nxtforum.org/general-discussion/summary-of-ardor-platform-teasers/
Ardor – Details about its functionalities
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Ardor – Testnet Countdown
In our previous newsletter, we mentioned a list of pending tasks that Riker shared with a thread at Nxtforum. These tasks help give indication on the upcoming release of Ardor’s testnet, which will happen soon after all of them are fulfilled. The server code is almost completed and the APIs are stable, so there isn’t much left.
Riker says:
Things are looking good overall. One thing for sure, we are going to confuse you a bit with the fee structure from bundlers to forgers so be patient. Still hesitant if to open the testing to more people since currently it is much quicker to find bugs than to fix them. Whoever already has access is welcome to continue testing and if all goes well I’ll open this up for more testers in the next couple of days.
TO-DO list (updated as of February the 6th, 2017)
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More work on the Coin Exchange page and tables(Needs more testing)
–Prefix each MS currency name with the name of the chain to which it belongs(Needs more testing)
–Ability to link from a child chain transaction to the ChildChainBlock transaction in which it was bundled(Done)
–Improve the entity properties modal to support entities like orders and offers(Done)
–Format amounts and links in the entity properties modal(Done)
–Test and fix currency reserve/claim tables and modals(Done)
–Remove child chain specific widgets from the Ardor UI(Done)
–Remove Ardor specific widgets from the child chain UI(Done)
–UI for the new “by holding” dividend modal(Done)
–UI for the “by holding” dividend history(Done)
In addition we also need to double check the UI of the following modules for problems caused by the mode to per chain entities:
– AE – still needs more testing
– MS – still needs more testing
– Messages – Done few open issues
– DGS
– Voting
– Cloud Data – Done
– Aliases – Done
– Phasing
– Account Control – some problems
– Leasing – Done
– Account Properties – Done
– Account Monitor – Done, needs testing
– Shuffling – Done
Source and more information: https://nxtforum.org/general-discussion/ardor-testnet-countdown/
NXT IN THE MEDIA
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KCN – Nxt Based Messenger Aims to “Make E-Mail System Great Again”
Koles Coin News, a YouTube news channel that specializes in cryptocoins, has released a video about the powerful and secure messaging feature of Nxt:
[vsw id=”lmQrY-QDnKA” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]
Nxt platform strives to knock out traditional messengers by its new service. Company have decided to replace the traditional email systems with blockchain, allowing mail to be sent through a decentralized network such as CryptaMail. CryptaMail requires one NXT per message. With prices set for each message, we might have to pay for privacy in the future.
If you want to learn more about Arbitrary Messaging system of Nxt, you can visit https://nxter.org/nxt-core-arbitrary-messages/
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmQrY-QDnKA
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Invest It In – Adel, The Kickstarter for ICOs
A few weeks ago, we mentioned the announcement of Adel, a new cryptocurrency ecosystem that benefits from the technology of Nxt to create, develop, and implement use cases involving blockchain technology that covers a wide-range of digital and physical industries. The platform itself will have DAO-like qualities backed by a global cryptocurrency, the Adelphoi token, which will be released after the first round of the ICO.
Adel has recently been mentioned at Invest It In. Travin Keith, Marketing Manager of Adel and Board Member of the Nxt Foundation, explains in this interview titled “The Kickstarter for ICO’s” about both of Adel’s objectives and the benefits that the Nxt platform brings, as well as the role that the community will play.
Travin explains in the interview:
Adel is trying to solve the lack of a platform for blockchain projects that doesn’t just help with launching the project with funds, but also provides support and guidance throughout the whole life of a project. Adel also aims to actively engage its community members in the projects and can also connect the projects with VCs for further funding if necessary…
Is Adel a decentralised organisation? – Yes, absolutely. While the Adel Board and staff will be providing guidance and support to the projects launched on Adel, major decisions… are decided with a vote by the community members…
…Smart Transactions… will be used for voting…
…it was deemed to be more ideal to use the Nxt blockchain… as well as the upcoming Ardor blockchain…smart transactions…phased transactions… One of the other features that Adel will utilize is the decentralized voting system for the polls that will be run for the community regarding major decisions
…The R&D team will release a few more projects before the ICO that will be proposed to the community.
…The DAO and Wings would probably be the most similar system in the crypto community… Compared with The DAO, Adel will have a more stable structure around it with guidance from the Adel Board, as well as support from the staff before projects are introduced to the community… The smart contract scenario that ruined The DAO will not be possible with Adel… unlike Wings, projects on Adel will not be limited to blockchain projects that support Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functionality… While the Nxt and Ardor platforms will have the first right of refusal, if other blockchain solutions are needed for projects, then it will be possible to use other blockchain solutions…
Recently, as a sneak preview, Adel’s R&D team has shared their very first project to be proposed to the community, a P2P ATM which will allow users to find people nearby who are willing to exchange coins and cash on-demand.
Source and more information: http://www.investitin.com/adel-kickstarter-icos/
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Fintech Finance – Creating Value With Cryptocurrencies
The online magazine Fintech Finance has syndicated the fourth whitepaper of Adel, which has been recently published. The article called Creating Value with Cryptocurrency goes over the possibilities that blockchain 2.0 brings to both financial and administrative sectors (mobility, resilience, privacy, cryptographic proof, improved financial system, lower transaction fees…) and the advantages that the 100% decentralized and revolutionary technologies that Nxt and Ardor platforms can offer, to build up a project as big as Adel. These traits include: PoS decentralized blockchain, phased transactions, monetary system, decentralized voting, decentralized marketplace, shuffling, and a decentralized asset exchange.
The article explains that the value of Adel is in leveraging a state-of-the-art blockchain such as Nxt and Ardor, as well as the Adel ecosystem, and then combining these technologies with best-in-class business practices. Some of the advantages of the Adel ecosystem enumerated in the whitepaper are:
Project Approvals: The establishment of a Project Review Committee which not only ensures that Adel will launch profitable businesses, but also represents legitimate, legal and ethical projects… Successful projects will prove sustainable, long-term growth, as well as global monetization potential for blockchain technologies.
Decision Leadership: …utilizing expert decision makers to guide decisions in the community. Once a decision has been authorized by the leadership, it is then submitted to the community for consensus, enhancement and further decisions…
Open & Transparent: … auditable financial transactions for all projects and provides the foundation for a self-regulated community capable of making important economic decisions. The voting system establishes the opinion of the majority… Social forums allow for open and constructive communications between community members…
Integrity: … Adel’s integrity is the foundation of our success and for the sustainability of a profitable ecosystem…
Support : After a project has been launched on Adel… the project manager will be adequately supported by the Adel staff, as well as community members participating throughout the lifetime of the project… in the form of expert advisory services, finding employees, and assistance with securing external funding, such as with venture capitalists.
Source and more info: http://www.fintech.finance/01-news/creating-value-with-cryptocurrency-white-paper
https://www.adelphoi.io/#white-papers
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Search Engine Journal – Transforming Technology With Raspberry Pi
In this article at Search Engine Journal, Travin Keith, Board Member of the Nxt Foundation, goes over the revolution that the Raspberry Pi has caused in the tech world since its launch. The wide adoption of this small device, together with the communities that has emerged support this open-source project has allowed it.
All together, the Raspberry Pi has enabled the development of thousands of projects that rely on this inexpensive device. The article goes over some of them, but what stands out among the projects mentioned is the inclusion of the RasPi in the blockchain world, specifically with the Nxt blockchain. With Nxt being the first and most evolved PoS platform, which has showed its security and resilience by running smoothly over the past three years, it still doesn’t require a network of super computers (that consume as much energy that a nuclear power plant can generate) to run.
By setting up a Nxt node on a Raspberry Pi, you can easily participate in the Nxt ecosystem and help the block generation process in this feature-filled blockchain (called forging in Nxt), with an energy consumption of just a few watts per hour, which is probably less than the standby mode of your microwave. Such is an unimaginable achievement for PoW coins like Bitcoin. Additionally, as we mentioned in our previous newsletter, there are prototypes of solar-powered Nxt nodes built using a Raspberry Pi, such as the one made by Zuqka.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/4-cool-ways-raspberry-pi-is-transforming-technology/184601/
PRICE EVOLUTION
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Weekly NXT/ARDR Price Evolution
The following graphic shows the NXT / Bitcoin exchange price at Poloniex over this past week:
The following graphic shows the ARDR / Bitcoin exchange price at Poloniex over this past week: