The blockchain ecosystem started with Bitcoin being the premier digital asset offering a way to transfer value while eliminating centralized authority. The Ethereum network has taken this further with the use of smart contracts to carve out an entirely new market structure built using blockchain technology, and without any form of centralized control.
However, the reliance of both blockchain heavyweights on a competitive validation protocol called the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm has led to a number of trade-offs, chief among which are slower transaction times than conventional payment rails, cost inefficiency, and lack of interoperability. These issues have been duly dubbed the “blockchain trilemma” with a host of new generation protocols on the treadmill looking to be the first to offer an all-inclusive blockchain experience for the rapidly expanding blockchain market.
One smart contracts platform carving an entirely different path from the pack of hopefuls is the Nexus blockchain, which is building its entire technology from the ground-up while addressing key challenges of the blockchain space.
The Nexus blockchain has been around for a while now. The official launch date is pegged at September 23, 2014. This makes it one of the earliest projects to grace the crypto space. The protocol is distinctively different from the flock of blockchain hopefuls and wannabes, and is creating something more robust and dynamic than what we are currently getting in the crypto ecosystem. This is apparent from the way the Nexus team launched off without much fanfare as the project jettisoned the ICO process entirely.
Instead, the Nexus blockchain has duly focused on the larger picture, which is to simplify the lives of people, empower communities, and streamline the entire business process for companies. This is also apparent in its choice of the word ‘Nexus’ which signifies a connection of two or more items into a significant whole.
Satoshi Nakamoto - the anonymous developer of Bitcoin - sought to redefine society as we know it. In his famous P2P whitepaper of 2008, the pseudonymous revolutionary sought to spark a decentralized wealth redistribution, thereby causing a global wealth reset and creating a global community. The Nexus blockchain also taps into this mission and is community-focused in the building of its technology and the solutions it proffers.
To achieve this mission, the Nexus blockchain is building a truly decentralized, quantum-resistant three-dimensional chain (3DC) to address the famous blockchain trilemma of interoperability, scalability, and security, while using a time-based weighting mechanism called ‘Trust’ in a bid to reimagine and totally redefine blockchain technology and the internet.
With so much on offer, we will be looking at the current discourse surrounding interoperability and the real issues major blockchains are facing. We will also view how Nexus blockchain defines interoperability and if there is really a need for it.
Interoperability - A Necessity or A Farce?
Blockchain interoperability is thrown around more frivolously than ever. All new generation protocols are looking to connect permissioned and permissionless blockchain projects. What does interoperability really entail?
Well in layperson’s terms, interoperability is the seamless transfer of value between two siloed blockchain protocols. More aptly put, interoperability enables the seamless communication and movement of values, be they digital or not, across blockchains and without major trade-offs in price and energy expended.
The issue of interoperability is one that meets constant agitation among many, and a host of protocols like Polkadot and Cardano - two projects with strong ties to Ethereum - have saddled themselves with solving the issues around interoperability. By this, developers and users alike on any blockchain can transfer value from one blockchain to another. For instance, Polkadot users will be able to transfer value to Cardano or Ethereum because of the bridge that connects both networks.
As idealistic as this dream is, the roadmap towards building a really interoperable network has been fraught with challenges. Case in point is the foremost smart contract network Ethereum. The foremost smart contract platform’s reliance on the PoW consensus algorithm has seen it eschew a lot of major benefits. Also, the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) uses Google’s LevelDB data management system, which is not built specifically for blockchain protocols. The offshoot of this mismatch is slow transaction speed or throughput - a major disadvantage in the fast-paced blockchain ecosystem.
Ethereum has also endured astronomical price hikes in blockchain transactions run on its network with gas fees surging as high as $5,000 during peak transaction periods. Ethereum also lacks a memory level execution which helps in predicting advance fee for transactions. Despite all these significant challenges, Ethereum still boasts the largest decentralized economy ecosystem, and this has prompted several rival blockchains to build a linking bridge in order to tap into the booming Ethereum network.
Nexus has not taken this route largely due to the hobbled throughput of the Ethereum network. Building a bridge with Ethereum or becoming interoperable with the foremost smart contract protocol would see all the critical issues resurface, making it hard for Nexus to fulfill its core mission of building communities and streamlining business processes.
Instead, the Nexus team is building a significantly different architecture - one better suited to distributed systems - from the ground-up. One such innovative move is the development of a lower level database which is a constant time database that is 5 to 10 times faster than Google’s LevelDB data infrastructure.
The Nexus blockchain also features a lock-free-up programming called the lower level library which features an atomic section where different data structures are developed. A recently developed form is the constant queue which performs 4 times as fast as the STLQ.
Nexus is built to be scalable while ensuring that the energy demands required are kept to a minimum. Costs on running transactions are also in focus and the development team are building a fair market fee model for users on the Nexus blockchain.
A blockchain-focused economy is on the horizon, and likely winners are building without the media distraction. While Ethereum may seem like a clear favorite due to its vast resources and popularity, truly innovative protocols like the Nexus blockchain may upend the stage as the years roll by.
About Nexus
Nexus.io (NXS) is building a new internet driven by a blockchain-based operating system (LX-OS) and routing protocol (Nexus Protocol), creating distributed satellite constellations and ground based content delivery and edge computing. Underpinning the foundation is the Nexus TAO Framework, a seven layer software stack that enables the simplified implementation of smart contracts, Decentralized Applications (DApps), tokens, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT’s, i.e. Assets) through a set of extensible Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
Contracts: Nexus supplies a 64 bit register-based virtual machineas the heart of its smart contract engine. A suite of APIs gives developers access to numerous ready-made contract functionalities. This relieves DApp developers from the burden of learning a smart contract language.
Tokens & Assets (NFT’s): Basic token creation is simple for even non-technical individuals with the Nexus desktop wallet. Arbitrary data can be stored on the Nexus blockchain in the form of assets. Once established, assets can be transferred to other accounts optionally with specified contract conditions (i.e. exchanging NXS / tokens).
Ease of Use: Nexus’ SigChains addresses a primary blockchain limitation — private key management. Users can login to their Nexus wallet with a username, password, & PIN, providing access to all accounts, tokens, and assets. This eliminates the need to backup wallet.dat files and manage private keys.
Database: Unlike most other blockchains that rely on Google’s LevelDB or Oracle’s BerkeleyDB for blockchain storage, Nexus has developed the Lower Level Database (LLD) that outperforms most storage engines by orders of magnitude and remains constant time, meaning it doesn’t slow down as you add more data to it.
Security: The Nexus security model uses many layers of redundancy to provide security to the system. The primary methods include using uniquely generated private keys for every transaction (attack window reduction), and the secondary use of Quantum Resistant (QR) cryptography such as FALCON and SABER.
Nexus.io Website
Resource Hub
Nexus Team
Roadmap
Nexus Github
