[BOUNTY] Announcements for Nxt (the first pure POS coin)

[lyynx]

Introduction Video Posted to YouTube http://youtu.be/f8dLMoZLMzM

I know it's a bit boring, but at least it's a start, hey, it's thanks giving here in the US.

I will make some more exiting videos, tutorials etc.. and continue to blog regarding Next Coin.

In addition, I used a Logo I created since I had no feed back on it in the main forum.

If you feel I deserve the bounty, please send your donation to: 1881317617924471615

Oh, also, do not forget to like the video on YouTube and share it as well.

[1714682905]

1714682905

[1714682905]

1714682905

[Sharky444]

The narrative is not bad, but the pictures are too general.

[lyynx]

Yes, I know, like I said it's quite boring. But, I figure something is better than noting at this point. Once I get my hands on some better photos and some footage, I'll produce a much better video. The only thing I was looking to accomplish was to get an SEO boost with an original video pointing back to the forums.

[Roddy5690]

Is there any chance of a bounty for adding a faucet?

[cunicula]

I posted a thread on the use of tie-breaking rules in mining in the Development & Tech subforum if anyone wants to take a look.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=355644.0

This is important to evaluation of Nxt's proof-of-stake algo.

PoS miners are able to spam blocks with different sets of txns at the same block height. With n txns, you can make 2^n non-identical blocks.
Nxt uses a set of tiebreakers to compare chains with the same summed difficulty.
Tiebreakers ensure the existence of a single consensus chain at all times.

I'm trying to find out if there is a reason why bitcoin does not use tiebreakers. Post in the thread if you have some knowledge on this issue.

[sangaman]

Why was this coin released before a whitepaper and/or coherent explanation of how the protocol works was published? Or is this published somewhere and I just haven't seen it?

[bybitcoin]

Somebody has registered with my btt username in nextcoin forum offering NXT sale, and as I've received a pm he already scammed one guy for 1 BTC.
Guys I do not have any other forum account with this bybitcoin username. While privacy is a principle for any forum policy, I ask the nextcoin forum manager to investigate and even publish the guy's email address and id. if available.

[lyynx]

Well, the video I created has now gotten 260+ views. I have been answering questions and referring back to the forum, hopefully this helps the coin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8dLMoZLMzM

Also, for those who have an advanced understanding of the coins concepts (advanced features) I would like to schedule a skype call to review, so I can take that info and create a really good video to assist in promotion.

[bybitcoin]

Well, the video I created has now gotten 260+ views. I have been answering questions and referring back to the forum, hopefully this helps the coin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8dLMoZLMzM

Also, for those who have an advanced understanding of the coins concepts (advanced features) I would like to schedule a skype call to review, so I can take that info and create a really good video to assist in promotion.

Good video but there are some points I should mention:
1- preferred a stronger stress on green not energy-hungry based way of PoS mining;
2- decentralized coloredcoin implementation and distributed exchange that makes trading securities or any digital tokens possible in a decentralized p2p way should be included. Without that the video can not win.
3- I didn't like that part you explained about Nxt have been bought by 21 BTC and now investors like to distribute SOME of the coins among other users. Those 21 BTC, as BCNext mentioned once, was a kind of fundraising and also a guiding measurement to distribute the genesis block coins at the launch point. The main goal of Nxt project and also its founders (investors, whatever) is to distribute is as evenly as possible among more and more users (and not only some part of it)!

Your video uses very fixed and general pictures, I guess a more moving style of images could be more attarctive and impressive to get people into Nxt (watch the coloredcoin project video for an example). All in all I liked the narrative overall

[lyynx]

Hi bybitcoin,

Although, I agree with your observations, at this point, not really looking for feedback on the video as I stated when I created the video, it was a quick and simple implementation of what I had at that point.

What I am looking for now, is someone, to volunteer to participate in discussion with me via Skype, Google Hang outs or Conference Call, to provide an overview of this coins more advanced functionality, which in turn, I will then create a more suitable video. I figure, a 1/2-1 hour conversation should suffice.

Any volunteers?

BTW, whatever happened to my Trust +1 ?

[lyynx]

In reading my reply, it sounds a bit dismissive (rude) so I want to expand a bit, since it was not intended to be. My original video should no longer be considered for the bounty as I intend on submitting a new video. I want to create a video that is informational, covers some basics and dispel's myths and rumors regarding NXT, but, I need some questions answered. I have done my fair amount of reading, but sometimes a simple conversation suffice's.

So if anyone has time to give me a brief breakdown and answer some questions, the resulting video will be much better and informative.

[klee]

In reading my reply, it sounds a bit dismissive (rude) so I want to expand a bit, since it was not intended to be. My original video should no longer be considered for the bounty as I intend on submitting a new video. I want to create a video that is informational, covers some basics and dispel's myths and rumors regarding NXT, but, I need some questions answered. I have done my fair amount of reading, but sometimes a simple conversation suffice's.

So if anyone has time to give me a brief breakdown and answer some questions, the resulting video will be much better and informative.

Nice of you, you deserve a good bounty for your efforts! I hope I could help you with your questions but I don't have the technical expertise..

[bybitcoin]

Hi bybitcoin,

Although, I agree with your observations, at this point, not really looking for feedback on the video as I stated when I created the video, it was a quick and simple implementation of what I had at that point.

What I am looking for now, is someone, to volunteer to participate in discussion with me via Skype, Google Hang outs or Conference Call, to provide an overview of this coins more advanced functionality, which in turn, I will then create a more suitable video. I figure, a 1/2-1 hour conversation should suffice.

Any volunteers?

BTW, whatever happened to my Trust +1 ?

Hey!
I made a review based on the thought that it is for the 500K Nxt bounty. Sorry if I got it wrong. If it is a free video to help introduce and spread the word of Nxt, I should thank you, that is a nice introducery one!
About the trust, sorry bro, I have been too busy recently, a lot of trading, a lot of pm wrongly directed to me (they think I am a project manager?!) and also my routine daily life and job. As I told another guy, I ll certainly review my pms again when things get a bit calmer and will start to write the proper nice feedback about the trustful trading deals I had with all you guys.
Thank you!

[opticalcarrier]

Here is my candidate for the general article or whitepaper (please verify my statement on the genesis block in item #4 of the list):

What is NXT?

Nxt is considered a 2nd generation crypto currency.  With all the alt coins coming out that only change things such as hashing mechanism, time between blocks, starting difficulty, and so on, Nxt brings much much more to the table and was designated this way for a number of reasons:

1.  It is not an "alt coin" like coins such as litecoin, peercoin, and others who have their code based on Bitcoin's source code.  It is brand new from scratch with its own code.

2. It provides built in support for planned extra features such as a decentralized peer-peer exchange, colored coins, messaging/chat, decentralized DNS, and options for instant transactions.  We will describe these advanced features later in this article.

3. It is a 100% proof of stake versus the proof of work mechanism the vast majority of other coins are based on.  This effectively removes a large security risk inherent in most other coins, as now the issue of a 51% attack or other vulnerabilities inherent to PoW coins are now gone.  The biggest plus here is how green this protocol is (not a reference to colored coins) in power consumption, since PoS doesn’t require massive amounts of hashing power

4. It was announced weeks in advance, unlike mere hours like most coins.  The 71 stakeholders are responsible for distributing the 1 billion Nxt coins that were ejected from the genesis block via an injection of bitcoin (donated by them, 21 BTC total) into the genesis block.  This is a requirement for this PoS system to work and this distribution is now in progress.  Nxt is listed on http://coinmarketcap.com/ and people are trading on a 1on1 basis in the forums as well as on a temporary (centralized) exchange http://www.dgex.com.

Let's get into the first planned feature, a decentralized exchange.  How do we currently trade coins now?  Well you have to sign up for an account on a centralized platform such as Cryptsy/BTC-E/Bter/etc, transfer them your coins and pay them for transactions. This brings in a large concern that I personally have yet to be seen brought to light, in that it’s possible that the exchange could just bail with everyone's deposits.  This has actually already happened when the Sheep Marketplace did just that with 96,000 bitcoins, ending up as the largest theft in history.  The developers of NxT (BCNxt and his crew) are developing a peer-peer exchange into the software to allow for decentralized trading which will eliminate this trust point.  It will also eliminate trading fees!  Obviously this is all still completely secure and anonymous as are current bitcoin transactions.

But let’s not stop there.  If you can have a decentralized exchange based on the peer-peer model then what else is possible?  Well, quite a bit as it turns out; the developers are also building in a decentralized DNS system to compete with namecoin.  Also in the future we can expect messaging and chat systems that, like the p2p exchange, will also be completely secure and anonymous.  Think of what this will allow:  Completely anonymous websites, AND anonymous payments, to go with an anonymous support system in the chat/messaging feature, all 100% secure, encrypted, and irreversible.

Nxt (pun intended) is one of the more curious services: colored coins.  To understand the concept of colored coins requires a fairly deep view into bitcoin transactions that most people aren’t aware of.  With bitcoin, each transaction's output hashed address is based on a previous receiving address that originally received that coin.  So with the blockchain, a set of bitcoin transactions can be traced.  Not to a person mind you, but what is meant is that an individual coin or pieces of that coin can be traced back on a transaction by transaction basis.  Since this is a case, then if it was possible to expand the protocol to allow a person to designate or "color" a particular coin, then we can build a bridge from the virtual crypto currency world to the physical world.  In effect that coin can then be used to represent some physical entity here on earth.  Property, stocks/bonds, commodites, or really any concept that can be concretely identified could be used.  This protocol expansion is exactly what is being built into Nxt’s unique code to allow for the use of colored coins.

Let’s talk about Proof of Stake and green energy.  Everyone knows how bitcoin is based on Proof of Work.  That is there are thousands of miners around the world crunching away at hashes and gobbling up TONS of power.  Now, PoS doesn’t really involve ‘mining’ per se; it’s important to realize that unlike bitcoin, all Nxt that will ever exist already exists, so client wallets now ‘mine’ for transaction fees.  A growing trend is to refer to this as ‘forging’ instead of ‘mining’.  Since this can be done on a client wallet loaded on a PC (CPU mining), it is MUCH more environmentally friendly and power efficient.

Now, on to the nuts and bolts of Nxt’s implementation of PoS.  Its elegantly simple: transaction fees are distributed out proportionally to all users based on the amount of Nxt a client has. (assuming that client is running and unlocked).  So if a client has 1 million Nxt, then they have 1/1000 of a chance of receiving the transaction fee for any transaction.  The math here is 1 million (amount the client has) divided by 1 billion (total Nxt in existence) is 1000, so that is 1/1000 of a chance.

Some extra notes about Nxt:

Nxt is a brain wallet, a very long and secure passphrase MUST be used to generate your account.

As stated, to forge (AKA mine) for transaction fees, your client must be running and unlocked on your machine.

The software is currently java based, and closed source.  Pieces of the code are available for review upon permission of the devs, but the full code will not be released until Jan2014 official launch.

Many people refer to this as 100% pre-mined, but this isn’t really accurate since there *is* no mining, and the PoS system depends on all coins being distributed out.

The Nxt official thread in bitcointalk.org is at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345619.0

[JohnnyBTCSeed]

Nxt :: descendant of Bitcoin

Decentralized WhitePaper
the quote compilation

Thread originally launched by BCNext September 28, 2013

About the Dev
Starts with some mystic, who is BCNext?
“I’m a veteran member of this forum.  I have to use this brand new account to remain anonymous but later I may reveal my identity.”

The 2nd thread post. More Mystic!!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3253052#msg3253052
Important
15 minutes ago I had a talk with a man (or a woman) who said he is a police officer. We were chatting via Skype, he asked me to make him a phone call because he has important information for me. I refused to do so and closed Skype.

From later in the thread( an admission by Come-from-beyond)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3582242#msg3582242
I posted this message using his BitcoinTalk account. This also adds some headache to CIA/FBI, coz now they are not sure if BCNext wasn't me actually. So they have to spend a lot of resources to figure this out, coz I live in a country that is out of the USA reach.

Nov 14 BCNext stops using bitcointalk
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3579631#msg3579631
No, he just stopped to use BCNext BitcoinTalk account.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3582242#msg3582242
I think the main cause was that someone got his IP he logged to this forum with. He used Tor but it's known that traffic analysis lets to reveal the real IP. So surfing BitcoinTalk as a guest or as another user is the only secure way.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3696814#msg3696814
He won't appear. Just like Satoshi. But I'm not going to be a 2nd Gavin, so u better to cooperate themselves.

About NXT
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3253022#msg3253022
Nxt uses brand new software, it’s not a fork of Bitcoin source code.  Nxt improves different features of Bitcoin, removes some disadvantages (e.g. bloated blockchain) and resolves a big environmental issue.  I won’t write too many words, let’s jump straight to TL;DR version.

Coins are earned solely by charging transaction fees.
All coins will appear in Nxt via “transferring” them from the Bitcoin blockchain.  Not all bitcoins will be transferred hence the total number of coins is unknown yet.
Time between blocks is one minute.  This increases the rate of orphaned blocks but makes it more convenient for the users.
Nxt doesn’t use so-called “scripts” aka predicates.  This simplifies and accelerates transaction processing.  Advanced features like multisig will be created on top of the core as 3rd party services.
Mining is 100% proof-of-stake, Greenpeace will be happy.

How the initial coins were generated, (which is closed BTW,)

So, if you want to get coins do the following:
1.  Choose a secret phrase
2.  Calculate SHA256 hash of this phrase (an online calculator can be used)
3.  Calculate SHA256 hash of the hash you got on the previous step
4.  Send any amount to 1BCN1ugdKdWd9pQ8Am9hMhtHZfmbXzxE8a, don’t forget to attach a message with the hash you got on the 3rd step. (The amount is capped at 1 BTC!)

Fund raising ended on Nov 18th!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3620732#msg3620732
1. Fundraising is over. That last 1 BTC, sent after the 2nd marking transaction, will be accepted but no more deposits should be made.
2. Nxt will be launched earlier than on the 3rd of January, right after the final test.
3. New Nxt users r supposed to be attracted by selling NXT and distributing via Nxt Faucet.
4. Messaging feature will be released later to avoid situation when somebody attempts to bloat the blockchain making it too huge for newcomers.

About Nxt proof of stake
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3279997#msg3279997
1]  Nxt is 100% proof-of-stake currency.  Why?  Because this lets not to waste tons of electricity and protects against 51% attacks.
2]  Proof-of-stake means that users must own some coins.
3]  How to generate coins?  Premine 100% and giveaway like Ripple?  No way.
4]  Let's transfer tiny amounts of bitcoins to my address.  More you send, more you get.  Looks good to me.
5]  Why send coins to my own address, not some unspendable address?  I need a way to send the coins back, just in case.  Or fund development of services to promote Nxt, if the total amount happens to be decent.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3290949#msg3290949
After thinking about the mining algorithm I came to conclusion that original proof-of-stake used by PPC and NVC is a bit flawed.  Bob could accumulate small amounts on different accounts during a long period of time and then attempt a 51% attack.  Artificial limits like max 90 days don't seem to work as intended.  Nxt will use a different proof-of-stake approach, I need time to nail some details and then I'll post them here

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3298139#msg3298139
Nxt doesn't need 4000 BTC for a huge success, it needs 4000 participants.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3360898#msg3360898
Nxt keys are not compatible to Bitcoin ones.  Nxt uses Ed25519 and there is no a way to convert a Bitcoin key into a Nxt key.
Nxt gives a way to skip Bitcoin's inflation age and jump straight to the time when there is 21,000,000 coins.  Do I need to be an economist for that?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3360933#msg3360933
There are not so many differences between Bitcoin and Nxt.
1]  Nxt uses Ed25519 (http://ed25519.cr.yp.to/)
2]  Nxt is 100% proof-of-stake currency.  I will publish technical details in this thread soon.
3]  100% of coins is premined in the genesis block.  No a whitepaper required for that I believe.

I will explain how PoS works in Nxt.  The source code will be published when Nxt is launched.
1,000,000,000 coins will be distributed proportionally to sent amounts if an early adopter bonus is not applied.  3rd of January is a good day for the launch.  I am still thinking of the bonus.  The cap is set by common sense, noone will trade a lot of BTC for NXT because of uncertainty the project won't fail.

On the creation of Nxt coins
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3256852#msg3256852
All nxts will be in the genesis block waiting for someone who knows the secret phrase entered on the 1st step.  I won't be able to take these coins because the network will reject any non-legit transaction.  Everyone will get nxts in proportion to the bitcoin contribution.

Original Dl instructions
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3261520#msg3261520
This is the networking part: https://mega.co.nz/#!6owCCbyS!DvGh_0jftXCF317RkpZT1WIxVI9lXsWpoPj3cJpDPDo
1. Download Nxt.zip
2. Go to the directory with the file
3. Type "java -cp Nxt.zip Nxt"
If your computer is visible on the Internet then type "java -cp Nxt.zip Nxt <my_IP_address>" instead of #3.
This soft logs 2 types of messages:
- Number of connections (changed each time a peer connected/disconnected)
- Number of peers (changed each time a list of known peers is updated)

Block Generation
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3280548#msg3280548
I think it's a good idea to tell about block generation in Nxt.
Alice has 2500 nxts on her account.  Last time she found a block 4 days ago.  Her money is like a mining rig with hashpower equal to 2500 * 4 = 10000 GH/s.
Bob has 1000 ntx on his account.  He was on vacation and hasn't opened his account for 20 days.  His money is like a mining rig with 1000 * 20 = 20000 GH/s hashpower.
Each time Alice or Bob opens their account they have a chance to generate a block.  More money they have, higher a chance to do it.  More time passed since the previous generated block, higher a chance to generate a new one.
Even a small amount can generate a block by accident.
An exchange that holds coins of its customers can afford to provide the service with 0% fee.  It will still earn money via block generation.

Block Time Calculation
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3699819#msg3699819
It's changed each new block. To know how it's calculated u should read 1st 10 pages of this thread starting from Cunicula's question how mining works. Scroll pages until u see a vampire rabbit avatar with a lot of skulls around.

Address generation
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3283626#msg3283626
I created a small program for address generation.  https://mega.co.nz/#!94IETDZL!FRbFAnAi4uu4G5dh6HUSvmHfgK5GXKsh4NWdgY2avJ0

How to generate an address
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3290394#msg3290394
At the moment only one boot-strapping server is available:  http://88.198.210.245:7875
How to generate an address:
1]  Visit http://88.198.210.245:7875
2]  Click on the orange lock in the top left corner
3]  Type a secret phrase, later it will be used to unlock your account
4]  Hit OK button
5]  The address will appear next to the lock icon

How to send money
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3314850#msg3314850
Added transaction handling.  
How to send money
1]  Go to http://88.198.210.245:7875/
2]  Click the orange lock to unlock an account
3]  Enter any digit into SECRET PHRASE field, for example "1" (the genesis block contains only 10 addresses with 100 mil coins on each)
4]  Click the purple arrow in the top right corner
5]  Fill the form, amount must be not greater than 10,000 and fee not greater than 100 (limited for testing)
6]  Deadline (in hours) can be less than 1, enter 0.1 to set it to 6 minutes
7]  See the balance adjusted and the transaction appearing in the unconfirmed transactions list

If a transaction is not included into a block (it's not because mining is in development yet) then after the deadline is reached it will be removed.  We tested that transactions are correctly propagated over the network (sent some from one peer and watched them appearing on another).

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3347084#msg3347084
Added a button to generate authorization tokens that can be used on third-party websites.  Such token identifies an account owner and removes necessity in registration.  Using a token any website can get the account id (for withdrawals and other needs) and make sure that a user is the legitimate owner of the account.

Authorization workflow
1]  Unlock an account in Nxt client
2]  Press KEY button and enter the website url
3]  Copy a token (160 chars) and paste it on the website to log in

Mining
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3331297#msg3331297
There will be 1,000,000,000 coins.  And amounts can be only whole numbers.  Later we can add fractional numbers but now it would be inconvenient.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3329604#msg3329604
A version with mining is deployed.  Visit http://88.198.210.245:7875 and open BLOCKS widget.  Use any digit as a secret phrase to unlock one of the funded accounts and send some money to your own account (limited to 10,000 at once).  After a confirmation you will be able to generate blocks as well.

Now we are testing the retargetting.  100 % base target equals to the target that lets to generate one block per minute with 1,000,000,000 coins on the balance.  Actual generation time is displayed on BLOCKS widget in RECENT BLOCKS section.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3329891#msg3329891
Estimated time changes each block due to retargetting and different block hashes.  10'000 NXT gives you 0.001% to generate a block.

Extra services
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3299484#msg3299484
We need someone to launch services available shortly after the Nxt launch.  An exchange, a gambling site, a faucet, etc.  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3354807#msg3354807
I got some offers, on the launch or shortly after it we will have the following services:
1]  Faucet.  It will be funded by our donations
2]  Currency exchange.  Classical BTC-to-NXT-n-back exchange
3]  Stock exchange.  If I got it correctly this is going to be a simplified (for non-pro traders) version of a stock exchange, can be used for crowdfunding
4]  Virtual goods store.  The goods will be provided by ordinary users (books, links, game codes, anything represented as plain text)

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3355477#msg3355477
Nxt is being developed with payment privacy in mind.  I have not revealed details yet, but I can say that there is a special account in Nxt (recipient #0), later it will be used for advanced features (mixing, escrow, etc.)

BCNext talks about development and features
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3386608#msg3386608
Frankly speaking I need these bitcoins to start the development and then I expect Nxt price to skyrocket (when users see Nxt has a lot of superior features like reliable instant transactions). Then I sell some of my nxts to get the rest of the money.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3392429#msg3392429
There is one thing here that gives Nxt the potential.  I do write the code instead of talking how it should be written.  I mean Bitcoin improvement process, which is so slow mainly due to necessity to co-ordinate work of all core developers.  Also, Nxt will be the first currency implementing colored coins and other advanced features.  Anything that comes to the market later will have to work very hard to catch up with the leader.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3441890#msg3441890
I had a bad experience cooperating with some ###coin developers.  A lot of time was spent on talking, the outcome did not satisfied me.  That is why now I am working alone.  The things are implemented much faster this way.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3394230#msg3394230
Nxt requires 10 times less bandwidth and storage.  It uses signing algorithm which is faster than Bitcoin's one.  Thus it can scale to a higher degree than Bitcoin can

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3426466#msg3426466
And now let's look at Nxt:
1. Decentralized, u can't shut down it.
2. Invulnerable to ASICs/supercomputers coz it's not a PoW currency.
3. All features necessary to run a nxt Silk Road r being developed in 1st place.

From Nov 8
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3517437#msg3517437
All the features? They require a little coding.  Nxt core is completed, adding new features on top of it is very fast and easy. The only thing that slows me down is the client.  I have to cooperate with the client developer.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3520595#msg3520595
All main features r completed and Nxt can be launched even today. I can do it by myself after I figure out how to create Genesis block. Disassembled code is quite ugly but readable. This coin is the most innovative among all other coins I supported, so if bcnext is hit by bus I will launch it.

Features
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=317607.0
Nxt client will have widgets that scan the blockchain and visualize digital goods.  I'd like to hear how this should look and what features should be implemented in the client software.

Oct 19th, A vote is had for first advanced features(hint: colored coins won)
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3368035#msg3368035
Features voted on
Messaging
Storing messages in the blockchain.  The amount will be determined by the length of a message, this money will be destroyed increasing value of all other coins.  Such messages can be used as digital contracts because they will be signed with the account key.
Two-phase payment
A payment that must be commited.  This should stimulate sellers not to cheat their customers.  A payment can't be rolled back and the sender can't get the funds back in any case.
Voting system
A tool that lets to vote on anything.  Number of voices is determined by the stake of coins.
Colored coins
A system that tracks ownership of any digital property.  

Quotes that mention colored coins
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3378899#msg3378899
I had a small talk with the guy who is launching the stock exchange for Nxt.  He was curious when the colored coins feature would be ready.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3390529#msg3390529
Colored coins + Messaging let to easily run USD-NXT gateways.  Merchants can ask dollars but customers will pay with nxts.  Gateway owners are the only ones who will have problems but it's their business.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3509385#msg3509385
UPDATE nov 7th
Implemented Colored Coins.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3517537#msg3517537
Nxt lets to trade assets represented by colored coins for NXT in atomic transactions.  All the rest is up to asset issuers.

More Features
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3413767#msg3413767
Nxt has such features as
# Instant transactions ("0-confirmation transactions")
# Anonymity of IP address send transactions & mining blocks (with Tor or the cloud client)
# P2P exchange BTC (with colored coins)
# Faster difficulty changes (adjusted each block)
# Name doesn't contain "coin", "cash", "kash", "money", "dollar",  nor "bit" (at least now, Nxt is a codename)

Decentralized Stock Exchange
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3438612#msg3438612
Next week we will test a prototype of a decentralized stock exchange built on top of Nxt.  The very first decentralized exchange as far as I know.
Then we will test the very first decentralized app store.  Then decentralized voting system.  You can extend this list, just add "decentralized" and "built on top of Nxt" to any thing that comes to your mind.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3578391#msg3578391
I updated my server (http://88.198.210.245:7875/) to show BCNext the stock exchange interface. U can take a look and post ur suggestions/improvements. Tomorrow the development will be continued.
Click "Apple" icon in the bottom to open the exchange. If u log with "1" secret phrase u can see an asset issued by this account.

Chained Transactions
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3462942#msg3462942
Added chained transactions support.
What chained transactions are.  Each transaction may refer to other transaction.  For example, a message-type transaction may refer to a payment-type transaction to describe what the payment is made for.  If a transaction refers to other transaction it can not be added into a block until the referred transaction is confirmed.

Chained transactions can be used in different ways.  A SatoshiDice-like service can accept unconfirmed transactions and do instant payments.  The only thing necessary is to refer a betting transaction.  If a bet is not confirmed (due to being double-spent, etc.) the reward paying transaction will not be confirmed as well.  Your homework is to think what else the chained transactions could be used for.

Decentralized DNS
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=323909.0
Namecoin has never worked because necessity to install browser plugins (or do other things like setting special DNS servers) ruined its brilliant idea at the very beginning.  I would like to announce a feature of Nxt that offers a solution to the problem.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3472657#msg3472657
By the way, in addition to decentralized DNS Nxt will have decentralized file storage.  Nxt client will be hosted on the blockchain, updates will be published from my Nxt account (the same as the generator of the genesis block).  I hope my Nxt stake will be enough to push all planned updates.  The current version takes the same volume as 1280 payment transactions, that can be quite expensive to pay fees for storing 160 KiB.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3517509#msg3517509
Let me show this using Nxt DNS as an example.
What I have to do to add Nxt DNS
1]  Add a new subtype of messages -- SUBTYPE_MESSAGING_DOMAIN
2]  Add code for processing "resolveAlias" request -- ~30 lines of code
That's it.  Now an Nxt node processes transactions that set domain aliases and requests from JavaScript that asks for real address.

On the Launch
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3256852#msg3256852
03/Jan/2014 is a very good day for the launch.  Exactly 5 years after the launch of Bitcoin.  The genesis block and software will be published much earlier so the community will have enough time to check and test everything.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3685194#msg3685194
BCNext wants to launch Nxt on the 24th of November at 12:00:00 GMT.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3517403#msg3517403
At the beginning of December we will start the final test when new features is not be added and I have 3 weeks to fix found bugs.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3668246#msg3668246
BCNext explained why he speeded up the launch. He wants the stake holders to make all important decisions.

Upon the launch we will have only basic features, Messaging and Colored Coins will be disabled. In a week (if no serious bugs found) Colored Coins (decentralized exchange particularly) will be enabled, but Messaging can lead to blockchain bloating and become an obstacle for newcomers, so we will vote when we let it to be enabled.

The 1st voting will be when to publish sources. We'll get SHA-256 hash of the source code but it will be published on the 3rd of January if we (stakeholders) decide so. If we choose to postpone then we will vote about other date.

BCNext thinks it's not necessary to wait until we get correct hashes. He will move this coins to a special account and will give them to owners when they prove ownership. If some unclaimed coins left after the 3rd of January they will be transfered to Nxt faucet.

Genesis Block data
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3641968#msg3641968

Instructions to claim coins
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3674067#msg3674067

Nxt Market cap as of Nov 24
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3700395#msg3700395
Right now Nxt market cap is 800'000 USD. I hope with a good exchange we'll reach 10'000'000 USD very soon.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3701699#msg3701699
1'000'000'000 NXT in existence. This is cap. No inflation at all. Generation is from transaction fees only.

Total amount sent in originally
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3703586#msg3703586
there was about 21 btc total for the original 1,000,000. but consider that some paid more than others cause later donators paid more per nxt

All new and current information at the new thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345619.0



tip address for the author of this compilation
Nxt      7808957934806968659
BTC     12eBGdEk6xNMaVo9AiWaSy8ijf5voYXWyM

[Come-from-Beyond]

Amazing compilation! Especially I liked that part were I was part of the mystery.

[salsacz]

This is my article that describes NXT for a general audience, without technical details  

Do you know Bitcoin? This online currency was created a few years ago and it had many followers. NXT is first of the second generation online cryptocurrencies. NXT is a brand new software that provides many cool features that Bitcoin didn't have. It also prevents of all bad things that Bitcoin came up with.
 
NXT concentrates on decentralisation. With NXT you won't need to use online marketplaces, exchanges, forums. Everything will be included in the application, so you won't have to be afraid of DDOS, censorship...
 
First block, Genesis block, was given to the early adopters. They are very important part of the NXT. First holders will be distributing NXT among more users. It is their duty to share the NXT with other people so it can become a new worldwide online currency.
 
No inflation. There is and will always be only 1 billion of NXT. So there is no mining. If you transfer some NXT, you pay a little fee. This fee goes back to the system as an interest for people that own NXT. The more NXT you have, the merrier NXT you get from fees. So the price of NXT won't be affected by miners!
 
NXT is based on green pure proof of stake mining. You will never need fast processor or graphic cards to get more NXT. That's really a big difference of Bitcoin and it might save our planet too. Maybe.
 
Nxt doesn't need millions of scripts, so it provides instant transactions. You can send your NXT from the USA to China within seconds!
 
Would you like to exchange $ € ¥ with Bitcoins, Litecoins or NXT within seconds, without using any provider, exchange with high fees, banks? No problem! You can send colored NXT that represent stocks, smart properties, other currencies (such as dollars, pounds, yen, or euros), and even other cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Namecoin).
 
Do you know, what is centralized exchange? That's the Bitstamp, Cryptsy or BTC-E with huge fees and also dozens of hacked marketplaces or sites that had to be taken down by governments or simply because of DDOS. That's why people are looking for decentralized p2p exchanges, where no provider (or hacker) can steal all of your money. Nxt buyers and sellers trade directly with each other! So there are no commissions, only small network fees.
 
Do you have to login to the forums to communicate with the potential seller? NXT provides internal instant messaging, so you can talk to him throught the main application.
 
Decentralized DNS is another invention of NXT. Well, it is also used by Namecoin, but NXT has improved version. Why is it important? It's very useful for security and also prevents from cybersquatting and censorship. Centralised DNS adress can record a lot of transfers and that is something that NXT doesn't want.

Version 2.0 here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345773.msg4065929#msg4065929

[psybits]

We would like to offer a Press Release for NTX for 0.4 BTC in NXT

It would be the full service at http://bitcoinprbuzz.com/services

Our clients get published on Yahoo Finance, Google News, Routers, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal and more!

We will write the Press Release draft and send it to one of the NXT dev team before we start the distribution.

We really like the vision behind NXT and would love to help get the word out!

Looking forward to hearing from you

You can see our main thread here for real testimonials: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181318.msg3765639#msg3765639

[opticalcarrier]

We would like to offer a Press Release for NTX for 0.4 BTC in NXT

It would be the full service at http://bitcoinprbuzz.com/services

Our clients get published on Yahoo Finance, Google News, Routers, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal and more!

We will write the Press Release draft and send it to one of the NXT dev team before we start the distribution.

We really like the vision behind NXT and would love to help get the word out!

Looking forward to hearing from you

You can see our main thread here for real testimonials: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=181318.msg3765639#msg3765639

When will we be notified on selection from the candidates for the 100k general article bounty?

[myhoho]

 Just to announce. I'm working hard on nice animation for general public, trying to make it perfect and meet the deadline. So, bybitcoin, will you wait for the best or just pick the first you like? I hope I'll be able to publish it on friday 13 december.