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The Symbol project was officially launched on 17th March, 2021, and was developed by the original core team behind NEM, known for its proof-of-importance algorithm. NEM is still maintained, and will eventually run off the newer Symbol blockchain as a subchain, as announced by the developers in June, 2021. But what is Symbol? Let’s explore the newer and better blockchain solution and get acquainted with its key features, perspectives and background.
What is Symbol?
Symbol is a blockchain protocol characterized by a consensus algorithm that rewards users of the platform (over hoarders of wealth), and an extensible architecture via plugins (as opposed to fixed opcodes in a virtual machine, like Ethereum).
Partially owing to the reputation of NEM, Symbol has already attracted a strong community of developers, particularly in Japan. Some notable projects on Symbol include Quest, a tipping platform for streamers and NFT-Drive, a blockchain storage platform.
Symbol is also notably famous for its team’s recent move to a fully decentralized working environment, operating entirely on the public community Discord. Developers do all their day-to-day communication there, and community users can keep track of progress and get engaged if they want to.
The native currency of Symbol is XYM, just like NEM’s currency is XEM. As is common practice, XYM is used to pay for transaction fees which revert to node owners, incentivizing the network.
Key features of XYM
Some of the platform’s key features include:
- Proof-of-Stake Plus (PoS+)
Symbol utilizes a novel consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Stake Plus (PoS+), a modified version of the popular Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm that seeks to reward users of the chain preferentially to hoarders of wealth. PoS+ assigns accounts an importance score in the network, factoring in transaction activity, and current stake. The activity factor includes collecting harvesting fees (see below) so running a healthy node is profitable.
- Extensible Architecture
Extending Symbol is easy. In contrast to protocols like Ethereum where new functionality in the virtual machine must be rigorously tested to prevent unexpected behavior, Symbol allows users to contribute new functionality through self-contained plugins. This enables Symbol to quickly support new transaction types without impacting the security of existing features.
- Mosaics
Symbol allows for the creation of mosaics – purpose-built tokens that are customizable at creation with features such as account restrictions. Mosaics can be namespaces (human-readable identifiers that can serve as your Web3 username, cryptocurrency address or website), NFT’s (collectible tokens that can represent any kind of digital asset, including art and music), or STO’s (secure token offerings), to name a few.
- Aggregate transactions
A good example of the compromise between flexibility and ease of use. Aggregate transactions allow multiple transactions to be bundled together – providing users with the power to create highly specialized, secure smart contracts in an easy-to-use manner.
- Harvesting
The process of creating new blocks in Symbol is called Harvesting. The account owning the node that harvests a block is called the harvester and is rewarded for doing so. In PoS+ the probability of harvesting increases with the account’s importance.
- Delegated harvesting
Accounts not owning a node can still delegate their importance to one, increasing the node’s chances to be the next harvester. The rewards are then split between the harvester and the delegated harvester so this is a beneficial agreement for both of them.
How does XYM work?
XYM is the underlying utility token for the Symbol network: it is earned by harvesters when producing blocks, and it is paid as fees by every transaction issued on the blockchain. XYM powers everything from simple transactions to mosaic creation and aggregate transactions.
Nodes commit hardware resources to maintain the Symbol blockchain and their owning accounts are rewarded XYM tokens for doing so. In order to have enough importance to harvest (see Proof of Stake Plus above), accounts must hold a minimum of 10’000 XYM. Node owners with insufficient balance can benefit from delegated harvesting (see above) and split the harvesting rewards with an account providing the required balance.
Perspectives of Symbol
As of the time of writing this (September 2021), Symbol’s crypto value is currently at $0.16 with a total market cap of $881,251.504. The 24-hour volume is set at $3,606,633. Additionally, XYM sits at rank 216 according to CoinMarketCap. Thanks to its recent price growth and development changes, Symbol is beginning to gain quite a traction. Its price has remained bullish and there are chances that it might rise again before the end of the year. Therefore, our perspective on Symbol remains bullish.
Why is Swapzone the best place to exchange XYM?
If you are looking for the best place to exchange XYM coin, then we highly recommend that you take advantage of Swapzone. Not only is Swapzone an excellent exchange platform, but also it provides the results of the top best crypto exchange platforms for you to exchange your XYM.
In case you don’t know how to use the platform, don’t worry. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to exchange XYM on Swapzone:
Step 1. Head on over to the Swapzone website.
Step 2. Look for the “select pair” tab and identify the kind of crypto you want along with the amount.
Step 3. In the “get up to” section, select XYM.
Step 4. Enter all the correct details in the tabs. After this, you will be able to see different exchange rates being offered on Swapzone.
Step 5. Choose the offer that you want and then proceed to click on “exchange”.
Step 6. Enter your wallet details and make sure they are correct. Click on “proceed to exchange”.
Step 7. This prompt the transaction to start. At this point, just be patient and wait for the transaction to finalize.
Step 8. Once it’s done, take a minute to rate and review the exchange partner. The process is complete.
