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NXT Coin is an odd remnant of an earlier cryptocurrency era. The native token for the NXT platform, NXT was meant to give cryptocurrency enthusiasts a brand new way to think about and use blockchain technology. This it did with great aplomb, dubbing itself ‘Blockchain 2.0’ following its ICO in 2013. The problem is, with development progressing at light speed in the cryptocurrency industry, we’re well past ‘Blockchain 2.0’ at this point.

So, has NXT cryptocurrency managed to keep pace with the changing times? In some ways yes, and in others no. In this NXT guide, we’ll break down the NXT blockchain and currency, and make some NXT predictions.

Table of Contents

Who Started NXT Coin and Why?

The NXT coin and platform were first theorised by anonymous BitcoinTalk Forum poster ‘BCNext’. BCNext was (and presumably still is) a computer programmer who thought that blockchain technology could move well beyond the simple financial transactions that were Bitcoin’s only capability. BCNext implored upon the community to pay Bitcoin in exchange for newly minted NXT coins in November 2013. This makeshift ICO concluded on November 18, while NXT tokens were distributed by year’s end. The NXT Asset Exchange platform followed.

It was an all-in-one software solution with a NXT wallet, digital asset marketplace, NXT ecosystem voting features for NXT stakers, developer tools, and various other bells and whistles. It was (and is) a shaggy dog of a platform, but the NXT protocol was functional and went well beyond the capabilities of Bitcoin, although other platforms have far surpassed it today.

What Does the Name ‘NXT’ Mean?

‘NXT’ comes from the word ‘next’ without the ‘e’. The platform was supposed to be what comes next, after Bitcoin.

What Does NXT Coin Aim to Do? How Does it Work?

Basically, NXT coin is the cryptocurrency used on the NXT platform. Users can stake NXT (lock it into a contract within the NXT platform) in exchange for voting rights and other privileges. They can trade NXT for goods and services on the NXT digital asset platform. NXT coin can also be traded in outside cryptocurrency markets. How does it work? Clunkily. The NXT protocol is, frankly, not up to today’s standards in terms of intuitiveness, reliability, or unique functionality.

At its best, the NXT protocol (and NXT coin along with it) was an interesting sandbox in which to test new blockchain concepts. Today, though not yet truly dead in the water, the NXT protocol is a dinosaur, and NXT coin an interesting relic with little real investment potential still left in the tank. Crypto projects like Ardor and Ignis have grown from the foundation led by NXT’s pioneers. This seems to be where the NXT spirit lives on today.

Notable NXT Supporters

Anonymous creator BCNext can be thanked for NXT’s very existence. From there, other developers and companies have come into the playing field, advancing NXT in various ways. Farla Webmedia and dev company Jelurida are examples of this latter group, taking the open source NXT code and making it their own.

Invest in NXT Coin: How to Buy NXT, Hold NXT Long Term

Is NXT some kind of hidden gem or sleeping giant in today’s crowded crypto landscape? Not very likely. Though still functional, the NXT platform is dodgy at best and NXT coin has no real use case. Still, as it is an open source platform, renewed developer activity could raise NXT from the dead. And perhaps you’re a cryptocurrency collector who simply wishes to complete your collection. So let’s take a look at why and how to buy NXT coin at this time in history.

NXT Coin Pros & Cons

Pros ✓NXT is cheap ✓The NXT protocol is still functional Cons ✘Pretty much a dead project ✘Obsolete ✘The platform was clunky even when it was new

Similar Cryptocurrencies

NXT coin has quite a few competitors. NXT was meant to be something of an all-in-one blockchain ecosystem. It was also notably Proof-of-Stake before that was a commonplace thing for cryptocurrencies to be. Modern cryptocurrencies like ARK (ARK) and ICON (ICON) are similarly multi-faceted and Proof-of-Stake. Ethereum is vastly more capable than NXT, and is slowly but surely moving to Proof-of-Stake. There are countless digital asset markets now making an appearance, all with greater capabilities than the NXT marketplace. NASH (NASH) and Loopring (LRC) come to mind.

Finally, you could look to the coins that developed out of NXT, Ardor (ARDR) and Ignis (IGNIS), to see where some of the original spirit of NXT innovation has relocated.

NXT Exchanges

NXT coin is traded at STEX, HitBTC exchange, Bittrex exchange, and about a dozen others. Daily volume is light at each, so make sure to choose one with liquidity, as your orders might get stuck otherwise.

NXT Price History

The NXT price history is as wild as that of any coin that has survived from 2013 until the present day. When NXT coin was first delivered to NXT ICO contributors, it was trading for lest than a Pence. Between 2014 and May 2017, prices oscillated between 1 and 2p. NXT coin prices shot up in the summer of 2017, before regressing toward the mean. Finally, in November 2017, NXT coin rocketed to the moon, hitting £1.39 before crashing back down to whence it came. More recently, NXT coin prices traded around 2p, just like back when NXT coin was new to the crypto markets.

Can You Mine NXT Coin?

NXT coin mining isn’t a thing. NXT was an early Pre-mine Proof-of-Stake coin. All 1 billion NXT coins presently exist on the market, and no more will ever be created.

NXT Wallets

NXT is storable on the NXT platform/client. You could also use the NXT Freewallet, the NXT Light Client, The Nxt Wallet Android, and, of course, a NXT paper wallet.

Future of NXT Coin

You’ll still hear someone talk about NXT from time to time, but we don’t hold out much hope for the future of this cryptocurrency. NXT was an interesting project in its day, but the NXT protcol has failed to stand the test of time, and doesn’t stand up to modern standards of design and functionality. The NXT platform has yielded some interesting other crypto projects, such as Ardor and Ignis, but NXT coin itself is looking like a digital currency without a purpose. There are probably some dogged NXT users who will argue this, but for these people just Google ‘Is NXT Dead?’. How many hits did you get? A whole bunch? That’s the sign of a coin that, if not dead, may be dying.

NXT Coin vs. Bitcoin

At certain times in its history, NXT may have had ambitions of going beyond Bitcoin. In some ways, it succeeded. Bitcoin BTC was an is a unitasker; it’s digital money and nothing else. NXT wanted to be a coin that could do anything. Like many projects that try to be everything, NXT ended up doing nothing particularly well. Like the tortoise, Bitcoin ended up far outpacing NXT and its clever ambitions.

Today, it’s absolutely no contest. Bitcoin rules the crypto space and NXT coin is an obscure reminder of what might have been. If and when NXT coin news happens, we’ll cover it in CoinJournal.me News. If you want to know about this and other Altcoins, check out out exclusive CoinJournal.me Handbook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Have the Developers and Users From NXT Gone?

While NXT appears to still have some users (and perhaps developers), the majority have moved on to sister projects like Ardor. This appears to be where NXT developer Jelurida is focusing most of its attention on today. Ardor is another Swiss Army Knife of a blockchain, offering lots of different features to an eclectic set of blockchain fanatics. Ignis is an early offshoot of Ardor, and it too is receiving plenty of attention from people who used to be all about NXT.

What Are Interesting Features of Ardor?

We can’t speak to the quality of NXT-affiliate projects, like Ignis or Ardor, but Ardor does have some interesting ideas behind it. Ardor originally intended to make it possible for anyone to create a blockchain or cryptocurrency of their own, existing as a “daughter chain” attached to the main Ardor chain. Whether or not this is presently successful is a topic beyond the scope of this guide, but do check out Ardor and Ignis if that sounds interesting to you.

Was NXT an Early Decentralised Exchange?

To its credit, the NXT Client served as a very early iteration of decentralised exchange technology. DEXes are all the rage today, but it wasn’t always this way. Cryptocurrencies used to be sold only through centralised, server-based exchanges and brokerage sources, like Coinbase exchange and its competitors. With NXT, cryptocurrencies, digital goods, services, and all kinds of random stuff could be sold by users in the NXT marketplace. Sometimes, real world goods were even exchanged this way. Of course, like all early blockchains, NXT didn’t offer its users any kind of true anonymity, but for conventional purchases, NXT markets worked pretty well as long as there were enough users around to make things interesting.

What Are the NXT Client Performance Issues?

We referred to the NXT Client as ‘clunky’ earlier in this review, and this descriptor was not arbitrarily chosen. The NXT platform seems homemade, amateur, not polished. It looks like a platform that is a mishmash of countless ideas because that’s very much what it is. NXT might take 20 minutes to load one time, then fire up in seconds during the next use. Your coin balance might take a long time to appear, or seem to go missing, before turning up at the last minute. No single user is likely to take interest in all facets of the NXT protocol, so there will always be a bunch of irrelevant features cluttering up the interface. NXT is a mess by today’s standards. This doesn’t mean it’s bad, but it’s unlikely to make waves with mainstream users, who will find it confusing and frustrating.

Did NXT Development Leave for Ardor/Ignis?

The community seems split on this point, but developer pools like Jerulida seem to have transferred their attention to Ardor and Ignis. NXT communities on Reddit and other forums are all but dead, with days or weeks between new posts. Ardor communities seem much more active, with frequent posts and even a new roadmap from developers. It’s conceivable that NXT would continue to function as some kind of developer sandbox, but we don’t see much development potential beyond that.

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