Cryptocurrencies are the future of the economy as they deliver transactions that are: fast and globally accessible, irreversible, secured mathematically and run without a central authority. Users having real and full control of their money.
Security and privacy.
Blockchains serve as a log that contains a record of all transactions performed in a specific cryptocurrency secured cryptographically. This entire log history gives the balance of every single account. Blockchains are designed to provide security as they are resistant to modification of the data so that no entity is capable of altering information in any of the recorded blocks.
Although blockchains offer security, only a few of them are private. Privacy, in cryptocurrencies, refers to financial information not being placed onto public databases that can be arbitrarily read without restrictions by any third party. Most coins are not private, in most cases transaction history is easy to be tracked. In addition, the few coins that claim to be anonymous only offer partial privacy solutions for specific use cases with a high degree of flexibility.
Why is privacy important?
Nowadays surveillance is all around us; financial institutions know with details how much we own and how we spend it, online engines know what we seek and what we like, not to mention social networks are easily vulnerable to being accessed by almost anyone.
Privacy is actually about freedom. It stands by the side of freedom of thought and speech. It is a fact that citizens feel uncomfortable when they realize about technologies that can expose them publicly in any matter.
This gives the public a sense of how important privacy is and why it should be respected. Users should not feel guilty for having a basic right granted. Users do not have to choose privacy instead of security. They have the right to choose both.
What is NIX?
NIX Platform is aiming to offer the security features of traditional blockchains plus the integration of the most robust privacy protocol –the NIX Ghost Protocol– that makes transactions fully anonymous in the network, which translates into full privacy. Those private transactions are to be conducted by means of the NIX Ghostnodes.
What does NIX do?
NIX is changing the way digital currencies are traded by adopting multiple privacy mechanisms, scaling solutions, privacy smart contract integration, side-chain utilities, and ease of use towards the end consumer specifically in speed and environment.
As a coin, NIX will allow the transfer of assets in a private way by the implementation of the Ghost Protocol, i.e., intra-blockchain private transactions. Users will be able to send NIX to one another without leaving history record.
As a Platform, NIX is making possible the privatization of coins that are not private per se. Moreover, it will allow trading from one blockckain to another with no centralized third parties involved. As an example, NIX is allowing users to trade BTC for LTC anonymously without exiting the boundaries of NIX Platform due to the NIX Atomic Swaps infrastructure.
As a DEX Manager –a technology first of its kind– NIX goes beyond cross-chain operability by introducing a brand-new concept: inter-DEX private transactions. This means that NIX is bridging communication within external DEX’s to permit private fast decentralized transactions from one DEX to another via the NIX Platform.
How does NIX work?
NIX is powered by the NIX Ghost Protocol, which involves the best technology on the market, including the Zerocoin Protocol, Stealth Outputs, TOR/i2p network protection, Bulletproofs and more.
With the implementation of this unique protocol, NIX will guarantee that intra-chain, cross-chain and inter-DEX transactions are performed in a completely private manner.
Here is explained the DEX Manager trading process to perform transactions using the NIX Ghost Protocol: BTC from DEX A needs to be swapped for LTC in DEX B.
- BTC from exchange A is sent to NIX platform where it is internally traded for NIX.
- Zerocoin Protocol is applied to those NIX in order to scramble user data by creating a system that makes it impossible to guess the correct original location of assets.
- Bulletproofs is implemented with the goal of decreasing block size as a solution for scalability.
- Tor networking can be enabled to provide location privacy in the network.
- Stealth outputs is integrated to create a blockchain element that conceals the destination output resulting in a non-traceable address location. (Sender and receiver privacy).
- NIX with no prior record are generated and finally traded for LTC.
- LTC is finally placed in receiver address in DEX B.
The result of this process is BTC traded for LTC from one DEX to another with no historical trace of the atomic swap.
Conclusion
The use of cryptocurrencies has been widespread globally, they now represent the most efficient alternative to traditional financial institutions by enabling fast and less centralized transactions. Nevertheless, there are still significant flaws that need to be addressed and solved in order to ensure a truly private and decentralized environment.
Whilst some people may have no concerns about whether their transaction history is discoverable by third parties, there are others that refuse to participate in any cryptocurrency platform that cannot guarantee complete privacy.
NIX Platform is ultimately delivering the environment required to allow users of every supported coin to redeem their right of having total privacy over their funds.
Originally published at nixplatform.io on July 10, 2018.
