TEAMTALKS #19 — NYZO
TEAMTALKS PROVIDES A SOAP BOX FOR THE CRYPTO TEAMS THROUGH RAW AND UNEDITED Q&A — THIS TIME I MET WITH THE ANONYMOUS CREATORS OF NYZO
INITIAL INTRODUCTION
Who are you?
We think it’s important to focus on the core technology.
Satoshi did it right — people don’t talk about Satoshi’s latest tweet; they talk about the ideas that Satoshi introduced to the world. So we prefer not to talk about ourselves and stick to the important concepts we want to contribute to blockchain.
What’s your role on Nyzo?
Code, documentation, ideas. A little bit of everything needed.
PROLIFIC PROJECT
What are Nyzo’s key features?
The block time is 7 seconds.
Finality is absolutely guaranteed one block behind the frozen edge.
The system is fully democratic and fully open.
A lot of people probably don’t realize or even believe this, but the Nyzo web server and the Nyzo verifiers are nothing special at all.
The Nyzo verifiers run the same code that we release publicly, and the Nyzo web server uses only standard messages to communicate with the Nyzo verifiers.
Why does the world need Nyzo?
The world needs blockchain. Unfortunately, decentralized blockchains don’t work very well. They either don’t scale well, or they are too wasteful of computing and energy resources, or they aren’t secure enough, or they have some combination of these problems.
The blockchains that do work well sacrifice decentralization for effectiveness, though. If you’re going to do that, you’re missing the whole point of blockchain.
COMPROMISING COMPETITION
Who are Nyzo’s competitors?
All decentralized blockchains.
Why is Nyzo superior/different to its competitors?
It actually works well: it’s secure, scalable, and fast.
It also doesn’t require kilowatts of power to process a single transaction.
It’s fully decentralized and fully democratic.
We consciously avoided putting any features into the blockchain that can be implemented as add-ons (smart contracts, for instance), but we have a few key features that many other blockchains do not have.
We calculate transaction signatures in a way that allows sender metadata to be cleaned without compromising the signature calculation in case someone injects illegal sender metadata into the blockchain.
We allow users to pin new transactions to previous blocks to prevent a particular type of eclipse attack.
Most importantly, we have a sustainability plan and a blockchain structure that will allow the value created with Nyzo and the Nyzo community to seamlessly transition to new technology and an entirely new blockchain in the future without compromising the structure or value established in the current blockchain.
Deeper Dive:
How was the concept of ‘Proof of Diversity’ born?
We didn’t see a single proof system out there that actually worked well. We wanted to fix that.
Transactions are efficient: you use your private key to sign them, and your posession of your private key proved that you should be able to transfer the coins you are transferring.
We felt that we should be able to have that same efficiency in establishing the authoritative version of the blockchain.
After looking at the problem from a lot of angles for a long time, the idea of the cycle arose, and everything fell into place after that.
Do you have funding for development and if yes, from which source?
No. We do not have funding, and we do not need funding to continue to improve Nyzo at our current pace.
If, at some point, Nyzo is freely traded on exchanges, we may sell some coins to hire programmers or allow us to pursue Nyzo full time.
We have worked hard, though, to keep the Nyzo codebase simple and manageable, and this means that we will be able to continue maintaining and improving Nyzo without any funding.
Would it be possible for a single entity to register a vast number of verifier accounts, so as to be able to 51% attack the network?
All decentralized blockchains must be open to a 51% attack, or they are not honest about their decentralization. So, yes, a 51% attack is possible, but Nyzo is not like other blockchains.
In Nyzo, the existing verifiers have to vote in new verifiers, and the proof system strictly controls the rate at which new verifiers can be added.
So, someone can spin up a lot of servers to try to take over the cycle, but the current cycle would have to choose to allow the verifiers into the cycle, and it would take a really long time to do so.
In a typical mined blockchain, anyone with sufficient resources can execute a 51% attack. In Nyzo, you have to have both the resources and the sustained consent of the current cycle to execute a 51% attack.
Then, if you are able to take over 51% of the cycle, you would probably find it much more profitable to just hang around and collect verification fees than to do anything dishonest.
What do you in genereal see as Nyzo’s major obstacles towards becoming an adopted cryptocurrency?
Time and patience. This is a very different blockchain, and it is going to take time for people to understand how powerful and how useful it is.
TEAM TENACITY
How does the Nyzo core team look right now?
Focused on the core technology.
Are there any plans of team expansion?
We will gladly work with anyone who wishes to contribute code. Right now, though, we are happy with the progress that Nyzo is making.
END EXPERIENCE
How will the man on the street experience/use Nyzo?
I hope, eventually, to be able to use it for all my daily purchases.
How will ordinary shop owners & small businesses?
Nyzo is a great alternative to credit cards, debit cards, and cash. The fast block time and near-immediate finality make it usable for daily purchases, and the transaction fee (0.25%) is dramatically lower than credit cards and many debit-card transactions.
How will government bodies and large corporations?
Even for large transactions, the transaction fee is still remarkably low. To put it in perspective, if you are transferring the equivalent of $100,000, the transaction fee would be the equivalent of $250. That is a reasonable fee for such a large transfer.
How will the crypto investor?
We want to create a blockchain for everyday use that is valuable to the world. We are concerned about long-term, sustainable value.
We feel that our technology is superior to anything else available now, and we have a sustainability plan for transferring the value that is created with this technology to other, even more advanced technologies in the future.
As anyone who has spent enough time in technology understands, all technology eventually becomes obsolete. Our sustainability plan ensures that, when Nyzo’s technology is superseded by newer technologies in the future, the value in this blockchain doesn’t have to be wiped away and replaced with a clean slate of value in the new technologies.
While we understand that Nyzo will likely attract investors, we are committed to the fundamental technology and long-term value, and we don’t want to encourage speculative investment in Nyzo that could result in high volatility.
While a lot of people have made significant profits investing in cryptocurrencies, much of those profits have been the result of corresponding losses for others. We want this to be a positive experience for as many people involved in it as it can be.
FORESEEN FUTURE
What is the next big thing for Nyzo?
We’re focusing on the core technology, so we don’t have any plans for a next big thing.
We’re focusing solely on iterative improvements in performance and robustness.
We’ve been asked many times for a roadmap. The roadmap is to keep making the code more stable, more robust, and more efficient.
Where do you see Nyzo in 5 years?
We just want to help build and maintain a healthy and diverse community around Nyzo.
Let’s see where that leads us.
THANKS TO NYZO FOR WANTING TO PARTICIPATE & PROVIDING SUCH GREAT ANSWERS! I, FOR ONE, WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS PROJECT CLOSELY!
MUCH OBLIGED, FLASHY GORDY
Nyzo Links:
Homepage: https://nyzo.co
Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/REzrUZG
Github: https://github.com/n-y-z-o
Twitter: Nyzo don’t have a Twitter account — all accounts claiming to be are fake!
