Crypto markets have been positive lately, as the value of many well-known tokens continues to establish new all-time highs. While popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum captured the headlines, few crypto projects continue to work silently in the background as they make valuable contributions to the ecosystem.
When Bitcoin was introduced, the basic tenets of cryptocurrencies were privacy, transparency, and accessibility. However, after over a decade, the ecosystem has undergone drastic changes, thanks to evolving technology. Now, the likes of Bitcoin are not as private as envisioned, as specialized software and services like Chainalysis can track transactions and users with considerable accuracy.
The rising value of these cryptocurrencies also affects blockchain technology adoption for various real-world use cases in traditional settings. In such a scenario, the vision of sustainable development of crypto and fintech ecosystems calls for an alternative that can strike a balance between privacy, accessibility, and scalability of decentralized protocols.
PIVX Makes an Appearance
Conceptualized in 2015, PIVX is a blockchain project that was founded to answer the challenges that hold back the widespread adoption of blockchain technology. It incorporates some of the noteworthy features from various alternative projects to offer an all-in-one data-protection and privacy-oriented cryptocurrency. PIVX provides flexibility for users to choose whether to keep their transaction information private or not through their custom zk-SNARKS based SHIELD protocol.
The self-funded project has implemented a combination of the Proof of Stake consensus algorithm and DAO governance model which is loaded with tools and features that have made bigger projects open their eyes to various possibilities blockchain technology can offer. In fact, the Ethereum protocol will soon adopt some of these features that PIVX has pioneered, as highlighted in this tweet by Vitalik Buterin.
As ETH 2.0 works on creating its version of Proof of Stake consensus, zk-SNARKs anonymity protocol, and mechanism for burning transaction fees (existing PIVX ecosystem features), PIVX, which has already delivered and incorporated all these features into its blockchain already, plans to improve its protocol further to meet the evolving demands of the industry.
PIVX Offers Industry-Leading Features
The PIVX cryptocurrency ecosystem is a robust solution designed with the privacy and security of transactions in mind. It is one of the early movers in a segment that is becoming as popular as DeFi. Among the industry-leading features on PIVX includes:
- Cold staking contracts for energy-efficient staking where users can safely store their PIVX coins offline or on a hardware wallet and earn staking rewards
- High levels of decentralization achieved by over 1700 active masternodes, which also play a role in the governance of the PIVX network
- 2500 full nodes to maintain stability of the decentralized network
- Dynamic Coin Supply Model to tackle volatility & introduce deflationary movement
- Trustless protocol where users are always in control of their private keys and PIVX coins, even while staking or running masternodes
- zk-SNARKs powered SHIELD protocol for on-demand all-round privacy of transactions conducted on the network
What is the SHIELD Protocol?
SHIELD Protocol is a financial data protection protocol implemented by PIVX. It uses zk-SNARK technology-based Sapling protocol on PoS blockchain to provide complete protection for transactions conducted over the PIVX Network. By implementing SHIELD Protocol, PIVX has become the first crypto project in the world to adopt this technology. In addition to enhanced privacy through zero-knowledge transactions, the SHIELD Protocol also optimizes transaction data on the blockchain by generating lightweight proofs.
As a result, the PIVX Network is much faster and scalable compared to others. PIVX SHIELD design also enables users to switch between transparent and private transactions on the blockchain while allowing them to choose whom to share access to their private transaction information using viewing keys.
The SHIELD Protocol will act as a base for future developments on the PIVX Network. The project intends to implement Deterministic Masternodes with delegation capabilities, SHIELD Staking for staking shielded coins, SHIELD Masternodes, and Staking Pool operations by the end of next year with SHIELD Protocol as the foundation.
PIVX – Serious About Privacy
The features offered by the PIVX protocol make it much more advanced than its peers. For starters, flexible transactions allow users to either send a public transaction like a regular bitcoin transaction where the information is visible on block explorers or opt for the private mode without revealing any sensitive financial data, like Monero and DASH payments.
However, the barrier to entry for PIVX is much lower than others as it is very affordable. Unlike other projects, security and privacy features take utmost priority in PIVX. The project had already displayed its commitment by disabling the critical Zerocoin protocol when a bug was found in its “libzerocoin” library. While its action ensured that the project was never compromised, it resulted in PIVX’s rank falling from one among the top 10 to somewhere in the 300s.
Since then, PIVX has developed SHIELD protocol and has emerged as a strong DeFi-ready contender in the crypto space, offering a trustless ecosystem that can annually earn up to 9% in staking and masternode rewards for investors and coin holders.
Apart from earning rewards, PIVX holders play a crucial role in maintaining masternodes and staking nodes contributing to the network’s stability and decentralization. The PIVX Network is compliance-ready, capable of satisfying AML/CTF and FATF requirements if necessary.
Tackling Volatility
Volatility is a major concern when it comes to the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. PIVX has created a simplified Dynamic Coin Supply Model to reduce volatility by balancing inflationary and deflationary forces. A fixed token emission rate and the burning of transaction fees create a restricted dynamic supply directly correlated to the network’s transaction and staking volumes. With no hard cap on the supply and sustained growth of PIVX network usage, the project will regulate the inflation rate to keep it at a minimum.
PIVX is listed on most of the leading crypto exchanges, including Bithumb, Binance, Bittrex, KuCoin, CoinEx and more. It is also DEX-friendly, supports Atomic Swaps and is available on BlockDX. Some of the wallets supporting PIVX include Coinomi, Ledger, Flits and CoinSpot.
With the help of user-friendliness, good governance, a dynamic coin supply model for low volatility and upcoming features, PIVX has positioned itself as the most actively developed cryptocurrency capable of meeting the diverse needs of the highly popular DeFi industry. In the near future, PIVX will potentially regain its past glory as other projects play catch-up.