True, Antonopoulos doesn't have the high level of expertise in cryptography that we would need for an independent review. He would be a great endorser if we could get him on board though. His chief axe to grind with Bitcoin is anonymity (he is very pro-anonymity), so if Nxt is going to improve anonymity then he would probably give a high endorsement, if Nxt doesn't plan to improve anonymity over Bitcoin he might be less enthusiastic about it.

Brilliantrocket, living up to your name I see! 

In all seriousness though, read this paper written by Anon136, a Hero forum member who is beyond reproach, before making up your mind on Nxt. If after reading it you still think Nxt is a scam, the best thing you could do is keep your eyes peeled for the first Nxt clone that "does it right". I personally don't think one will be necessary.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=414442.msg4497694#msg4497694
 

I don't think you understand what fungible means. Go look up the definition, or read the wikipedia article on it. Nxt is as fungible as Bitcoin. If, by "fungible", you mean "divisible", your criticism is also unfounded. The number of decimal places currently supported in the code is two, and it can easily be adjusted in future. The lead developers have already stated that they will increase the number of decimal places as value increases, but it is not an immediate priority.
http://wiki.nxtcrypto.org/wiki/FAQ#How_divisible_is_Nxt.3F


There was no "insider team". The release was publicly announced on this forum and everyone had plenty of opportunity to buy in before the genesis (and I wish I did!). The total supply of 1 billion Nxts were created at the genesis block, but that is because Proof-of-Stake coins MUST operate this way. Anon136's paper, which you clearly didn't read or understand, explains some of the huge benefits of this. The first code release was on Jan 3rd, and before that everyone had the opportunity to buy and sell Nxt on dgex.com. Now, after the code release, everyone still has that same opportunity. The reasons for a delayed/staggered code release have been much discussed, and I believe it is a necessary requirement for a truly unique offering in today's competitive market.  

I'm not sure I follow your logic completely, but I think you're predicting that people will lose faith in Nxt and stop buying, the price will plummet, and people who bought in won't be able to regain their losses. That's a risk you take with any crypto, including Bitcoin. I'm very bullish on Nxt though, for these reasons:

1. Simply by existing and bringing this ground-breaking PoS/Transparent Forging paradigm to the market, Nxt has changed the course of crypto-currency development forever. In order to be competitive going forward, all crypo-currencies, including Bitcoin in the long term, will have to compete with these ideas, because they are simply much more efficient and cost-effective at doing what Bitcoin currently does. Most people haven't caught on to this yet. When they do, they'll want to buy in. In this case Nxt enjoys a first-to-market advantage among innovators, much as Bitcoin did.

2. The Nxt lead developers, in releasing a version of their code and providing a working implementation of their key ideas, have proven that they can deliver on their vision. Other talented minds are getting involved because they see its value, and they lend their strengths to the project. This has a snowball effect: good ideas + good people attracts more good people. This is easy to see if you follow the development threads. Development is progressing rapidly, and updates are frequent. It will be very hard for someone who is just trying to copy ideas from Nxt to keep up with this momentum.

3. Smart investors who do their research will understand points 1 and 2, and will buy into any dumps that happen along the way. I actually hope dumps occur (although preferably in a measured way), because it'll enable more people to buy in at low prices, and increase dispersion, which will only strengthen Nxt in the long term. If the large stakeholders are smart and paying attention, they WILL sell, both to take profits in the short term and ensure the long-term growth of their investment. If they're dumb they'll dump sooner or later out of fear that someone else will dump first and ruin their chance to take profits, which will serve the same effect, although perhaps more turbulently.

4. In order for Bitcoin to compete with the innovations in Nxt, fundamental changes will be needed that are not likely to be backwards compatible. Negotiating those changes will require long-term planning and coordination, especially since so much money will be at stake. The last backwards-incompatible change was announced two years in advance I think. It's probably possible for Bitcoin to adapt, but it won't be easy or quick. What do you think will be happening with Nxt in the meantime? You may question whether Bitcoin needs to adapt given its market dominance, but ask yourself what will happen in 2040 when miners are no longer rewarded with newly minted bitcoins, and transaction fees bear the full cost of supporting the energy-hungry PoW mining network. How will it be able compete with the ultra low cost of maintaining the energy-efficient PoS forging scheme of Nxt? Bitcoin is currently being hailed as a potential credit card killer because it eliminates the 2-3% transaction fees of the credit card networks, but once the supply of new bitcoins runs out, fees will rise. Ultimately, PoW as it currently exists with low transaction fees is not sustainable. Low transaction fees are absolutely sustainable with Nxt's PoS scheme. In the end it all comes down to efficiency/operating costs. It's simple economics.

Now, there is the chance that some show-stopping flaw will be discovered in Nxt, or the large stakeholders or developers will behave in such a way as to erode confidence in Nxt, or the PR will be botched, thus giving an opportunity for a Nxt clone or another 2nd generation crypto to overtake Nxt. I'm not saying it isn't high risk to invest now, barely one week after its official release, but if nothing else you should at least keep a very close eye on it.

They're taking an incremental approach to releasing source code so as to prevent opportunists from copying their hard work and releasing full-featured clones of Nxt with no effort. In today's competitive market this seems like a fair and smart precaution. Bitcoin didn't need to do this because when it was released there was no market for it, and hence no one was trying to make a quick buck off of someone else's ideas. My understanding is that all or most of the new features will be open-sourced over the next 6 months, and by then Nxt will likely have a large enough market share for the network effect to give it a serious advantage over anyone trying to coy it, just like Bitcoin currently has over its clones.

The first Nxt source code release was on Jan 3rd, and it consisted of a slightly older version of the core components of Nxt with some purposefully injected security flaws to encourage the community to review the code and prevent adversaries from blindly copying it. Bounties were posted for the first people to discover these injected flaws. As far as I know, some great code review has been done, but no one has yet discovered the three purposeful flaws. Here's the active review thread if you're technically minded:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=397183.0

utf_tg, you do everyone a disservice by dismissing most of the content of the article. While yours is a valid (and temporary, I hope) concern, people should read the article for themselves to gain an appreciation of the game-changing innovations behind by Nxt. In the spirit of balanced perspectives, I leave you with Anon136's final remarks from the article:


Sounds like you may have missed a few things in your first reading. I suggest you go back and read it again with a little more thought to what it says. Nxt is still in its infancy, it hasn't had the time or the means to gain widespread distribution. Decentralization will improve as more buyers enter the market and the large stakeholders sell to them. As Anon136 pointed out, it's in their best interests to do so. How you weigh risk is your own concern, but I suggest it is equally risky to dismiss Nxt out-of-hand at this stage. It might be wise to hold off from going all-in for now, but a small investment as a hedge against your bitcoin position might be a very smart move.

Full disclosure: I'm not a founding stakeholder, but I've put my money where my mouth is and I have a vested interest in seeing Nxt succeed.

Hello, I just came to this thread today. I'm a Java developer, but quite new to crypto and haven't had time to delve into source code yet. This is a good opportunity to start educating myself on the nuts and bolts, so I'm going to dive in. You probably won't hear from me unless I unearth something that might be useful, but I just want to say hi and congratulate you all on the great work that's happening here.

A very generous offer from 2Kool4Skewl. I've invested all I can in Nxt, but I'd invest more in a heartbeat at current prices. People like 2Kool4Skewl are a credit to the Nxt community, and a reason to put your faith in the future of Nxt. Good ideas + good people attract more good people, and you can see this in the way people are getting behind Nxt and working together for its success.

Very interesting project. You mentioned the possibility of using the Counterparty Protocol with other cryptocurrency blockchains. If this happens, will XCP created by burning BTC be directly useable on other blockchains besides the Bitcoin blockchain, or will it always be married to Bitcoin?

Also, I love the idea of a 100% PoB system with a blockchain supported entirely by PoB. The PoB white paper that I read a while ago proposed such a system, if I remember correctly. Any thought of developing XCP into such a complete self-supporting system? It seems to me that with recent advances in PoS and now PoB, the only thing PoW has going for it is that it happens to be the method that Bitcoin (unfortunately) uses.

Thanks for this thread CoinHoarder.

This seems interesting, but unless NEONs can provide more substance I'm inclined to believe it's a scam. NEONs said programmer #2 would answer some of the more technical questions. Waiting see if programmer #2 shows up.

I think that's a good prediction. Although things may change very quickly. NXT is still so young, but it has a lot of potential. I think most of the copy-cat altcoins are going to go the way of the buffalo once NXT and some of the other new and truly usefully innovative cryptos establish themselves. Bitcoin might have trouble keeping up in innovation due to the inertia caused by so many vested interests, but I have trouble seeing how it'll lose its dominant market position any time soon.

Interesting. I'll be following this.

Thanks LiteCoinGuy. Very interesting discussion. Makes a strong case for the importance of anonymity. I'll be following Zerocoin developments.

Here's a great analysis of the core strengths/requirements of the bitcoin protocol, and it's ramifications for the world at large, especially the underprivileged. One of the best lectures on the need for/possible future of bitcoin that I've come across. Any predictions of where bitcoin will be in the next few years should take this into consideration, both in terms of potential for growth and the challenges facing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6XIBnThpY