Hi there, newb question incoming ;-)
I have a few things about NXT and ARDOR, but would not say that I understand everything. The way I got it is basically that ARDOR tokens "power" the main chains, whereas IGNIS powers the child chains...in the sense that other child chains inherit features from IGNIS. Hope that´s not complete BS, but thats what I understood.
Now, what I don´t really get is: Which token is the better investment? Why should I own ARDOR instead of IGNIS, or the other way around?
Comments appreciated
Hello, you're not quite right in your interpretation.
The Ardor tokens, ARDR asset id 12422608354438203866 in the Nxt blockchain until the snapshot, "power" the main chain (there's only one main chain) in the new platform. This means they are used to generate blocks and secure the whole Ardor ecosystem. But they are exclusively used for this purpose.
IGNIS is the token for the first child chain under Ardor. Child chains in Ardor, unlike the main chain, can have for starters all the existing features in the Nxt blockchain. Issuing assets, sending messages, voting, trading digital goods, etcetera. So IGNIS has all the features, except for generating blocks, which only ARDR can do. But other than this, IGNIS does not "power" anything. Any other child chain that will be added to Ardor, including other few initial child chains like Janus or Bitswift, can have access to the same Nxt features and other features that will be added to Ardor.
What is particular for IGNIS is that it is the first child chain, hard-coded by developers, so it becomes the initial transactional token for many things inside of the ecosystem, which should give it good usage and volume.
And about investment advice, it is difficult to give. ARDR has in principle more long term potential because it will gather fees from all child chains, but IGNIS will have more usability out of the box. You should make your own investment decisions after reading and understanding the platform.