With covid being present for more than a year, we’ve probably all heard it. Credit-, and debit card payments have increased and less people are using paper money. Not only because of the virus and the therefore increased importance of hygiene, but because this change has been long due.
Analysing the history of payment methods you’ll notice that new currencies and habits haven’t just appeared overnight, but have slowly emerged as dominant methods. However that has never been enough. For the actual replacement to occur it always took a sudden change of needs.
In ancient times it has been the desire to build homes, so humans started trading food for other materials. Later on, in the middle age men felt the need to battle so they started to purchase war goods with gold coins. Nowadays it’s the pandemic forcing us to adapt.
Looking closely at this chart it’s noticeable that until now physical money still builds the fundamentals for our current payment system. Admittedly the pandemic has helped change that a little bit, but still we haven’t seen a major shift for a couple hundred years.
The question now is, why is internet banking not able to revolutionize our paymentstructe? The answer is it’s complicated. That’s where cryptocurrencies are supposed to kick in. However these again are too complicated, because who wants to run heavy machinery just to buy a cup of coffee with some bitcoin? That’s why I’m introducing you to NIMIQ.
Nimiq describes itself as a simple, secure and censorship resistant cryptocurrency and has proven worthy of that description. Unlike other cryptos Nimiq is fully functioning within your browser and focuses on simplicity.
Simple but safe
Like other cryptocurrencies NIM as well relies on a private and a public key.
However the private key isn’t a 64-digit alphanumeric phrase but simply a “login file”. This is a png-file which is mandatory to download upon creating the wallet. As an extra safetynet you’ll have to set a password, that acts as a second security layer.
The public key on the other hand is your address and has the same format as an IBAN.
For example: NQ57 KNAL 9PG2 ATVG EBDD 6SMG HUHD M959 SG1B
Each of these addresses again is visually represented by an unique “Identicon”, for better everyday usability.
To backup the wallet you can copy 24 “recovery words”. These are 24 totally random words you can use in case you ever lose your login file. To stay safe it’s best to secure these in a protected place.
Another of Nimiqs key features is the overall approach in design. The goal is to create a seamless and simple but informational design. That’s why Nimiq chose to use the same colors and schemes throughout the entire ecosystem. Fluent and simple animations manage to carry a big load of raw data.
Buy Nimiq in 3 simple steps, thanks to OASIS
- Create a wallet
- Set the amount you want to purchase
- Complete the SEPA-instant transaction
How does OASIS work in detail?
Everyone owning a Nimiq wallet can easily use the “buy” button to open the OASIS interface. You’ll first have to set the country and the bank you’re a customer at. Now you’ll be able to choose the amount of your order, either in your currency or in NIM. As of now there is a monthly maximum of $1000 and $500 per purchase. Proceeding to the next step the bank details of the TEN31 bank (Partner of Nimiq) will be shown. You then have 90 minutes to complete a SEPA-instant transaction. Once sent you only have to confirm and the NIM will be sent to your wallet. A simple way to buy crypto — without any KYC (= know your customer), but still safe thanks to the security of SEPA payments.
Outlook
Currently OASIS is on a public beta run, soon however the full version will be released. This will bring many new features like selling or purchasing higher amounts. The latter one however will require a KYC process with the TEN31 bank. Moreover Nimiq is looking to expand outside of Europe to enable other payment methods than SEPA-instant.
For the time being, there is an alternative with which you can pay via credit card (moonpay) and of course the standard — exchanges.
Nimiq is moving from PoW to PoS
With the Nimiq2.0 update (expected later this year) Nimiq will move to the “Albatross” algorithm. This basically means that Nimiq is moving to a PoS (= Proof of Stake) network. Simply said: rewards will now be distributed for locking assets instead of mining. Everyone owning NIM will be able to participate in the network.
Even more importantly though, to corrupt the network you now will need to own at least more than 50% of the currently circulating supply. As that’s practically impossible the PoS network will be even safer.
Staking will be made possible directly from the wallet and again the focus lies on simplicity. You will choose a “staking pool” (basically a provider) from the ranking displayed in the wallet. In the next step the amount of NIM will be set and an approximate return will be predicted. The actual reward however will depend on 3 main factors:
- total time staked
- percentage of staked NIM within the network → the lower the total staked NIM, the higher the individual award
- restaking — if you choose to restake the rewards, this will result in a compound interest and therefore maximise your outcome
With the Nimiq2.0 update there will also come a change to the supply curve. The emission rate of new NIM will be reduced 7 times resulting in a lower inflation. This not only helps with pricing but the updated supply curve ensures a more constant distribution for the years to come.
Conclusion
With its “simple & safe” approach Nimiq promises great potential. Literally everybody will be able to buy and sell crypto thanks to the directness of OASIS. With the modern and visually appealing design Nimiq not only appeals the younger generations but is one of very few cryptocurrencies that can be used by technically more challenged people. In addition, the partnership with the german TEN31 bank is extremely auspicious as TEN31 is headlining a very promising crypto ecosystem. A revolution is imminent and Nimiq has positioned itself ideally.
