What is DigiByte?
The DigiByte coin or DGB is the native token of the DigiByte network. The latter is a public blockchain with digital asset creation capabilities.
DGB serves as a medium of exchange within the DigiByte ecosystem.
It’s also used as a block reward paid out to miners in order to incentivize them for validating the DigiByte blockchain. DigiByte has an integrated block reward reduction mechanism that reduces rewards by 1% every month.
There is a total supply of 21,000,000,000 DigiByte coins. According to the schedule of the project, all coins should be mined by 2035. There is a limited supply of DGB, therefore, it’s possible that the DigiByte price will grow as the coin becomes more scarce.
Just like most digital assets, DigiByte is volatile which means that its price tends to fluctuate. Therefore, it's always important to do your research before making any purchases.
In order to make an informed decision, check out the DigiByte price history as well as the current DigiByte price on the graph above.
What are the Main Features of DigiByte?
As mentioned in the What is DigiByte section, it’s a public blockchain. DigiByte operates using a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
It’s secured via 5 mining algorithms - Odocrypt, Qubit, Scrypt, SHA256, and Skein. Their core responsibility is to ensure that ASIC miners don’t hold too much power. In other words, these algorithms prevent mining centralization. Additionally, they protect the network from 51% attacks and double-spending.
Moreover, the blockchain is protected via an exclusive tool called DigiByte. It also secures well-known projects like Zcash and Dogecoin.
The DigiByte blockchain consists of 3 layers:
- Application Layer is reminiscent of an app store. In DigiByte's case, it’s completely decentralized and allows the creation of dApps and smart contracts;
- Public Ledger Layer which is responsible for maintaining security;
- Global Network Layer where all of the communication between nodes happens.
One of DigiByte’s main selling points is its digital asset issuance tool - DigiAssets which was launched in 2019. This tool enables network participants to create not just digital assets like coins or tokens, but also smart contracts, dApps, and others.
Most importantly, these digital assets can represent anything from the real world like documents, cars, and even apartments or houses. To put it simply, users can take their traditional asset (like a car) and link it to the digital asset that will now represent their traditional asset.
No in-depth technical knowledge is needed to issue digital assets through DigiAssets.
Besides DigiAssets can be enhanced through exclusive services like DigiassetX or Digi-Broker.
Additionally, DigiByte provides a user authentication solution powered by blockchain technologies - Digi-ID. This means that it doesn’t use any traditional authentication methods such as passwords or 2FA. Instead, Digi-ID is secured through public key and private key cryptography.
DigiByte was based on Bitcoin. Therefore, when the DigiByte crypto project was first launched, it aimed to tackle issues related to Bitcoin and provide an improved alternative. DigiByte’s main concerns were speed, security, and capacity.
DigiByte offers near-instantaneous confirmation speeds of 15 seconds when compared to Bitcoins 10 minutes.
The project never received support via ICO or pre-mine events.
Don't forget to have a look at the DGB price on the graph above if you're considering purchasing this cryptocurrency.
Who Developed DigiByte?
The idea behind the DigiByte crypto project was born in 2013 while the project itself was fairly launched in early 2014. This makes DigiByte a long-standing project of over 8 years.
It’s managed by volunteer organizations DigiByte Foundation, DigiByte Awareness Team, and DigiByte Developers. They are responsible for empowering DigiByte through education, outreach, and development respectively.
It was founded by Jared Tate aka DigiMan. He has taken the role of president of DigiByte and later took a break from the project. However, as of September of 2020, Jared Tate has returned to the DigiByte crypto project.
Jared Tate went to the College of Idaho where he earned his degree in Psychology and Business.
He’s considered to be the first author that also founded a blockchain. Jared Tate and his co-author Andrew Knapp published their first book called “Blockchain 2035: The Digital DNA of Internet 3.0.”
