What is SiaCoin?
In this review of Siacoin, I will go over its blockchain and it’s native SC coin. First created back in 2013, the Siacoin project was founded by David Vorick and Luke Champine when they were still undergraduate computer science students at the Renssealer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
The Siacoin cryptocurrency is a cooperative and decentralized network platform for storing data using smart contracts to designate hosts that are scattered around the world. This allows users to purchase or sell storage space in a secure and trustless way. Siacoin aims to become the blockchain equivalent of Google Drive or Dropbox, but without data being centralized to one company.
Currently, there is no maximum cap on the supply of SC coins and there are no intentions of putting one. The network uses a Proof of Burn mechanic, which at a certain interval burns coins out of circulation.
Advantages
Siacoin can be quite forward thinking in its field. For example, the way the network stores your data is completely decentralized through Redundancy. Pieces of your data are stored in different places and not all in one place. The network uses the redundancy algorithm to piece your data back together when you need to access it. Other noteworthy advantages are:
- Low priced storage – compared to its competitors, Siacoin will offer lower storage fees than other cloud-based services
- Encrypted data – all of the files in the network are encrypted and secure while being accessible only to the renter
Disadvantages
Of course, just like any other project, Siacoin can have its deficiencies. For example, the user experience is not the best. Even with a user-friendly interface, it is still not simple or intuitive enough. Other cons that I consider should be mentioned are:
- A Work In Progress – it is vital to keep in mind that Siacoin is still being developed even though it is live and active
- Possible Hardware Issues – the concern is regarding the rapid advancement in technology and what would that mean for storage service providers as the data grows, but at this point, these are just speculations
History and evolution
The Siacoin network was founded in 2014 by the Nebulous Inc company and was released in March 2015. The goal of the developers was to create a decentralized blockchain version of a cloud storage service. No third-party entity can access your data and it is not stored in one place, but split into pieces and scattered around different hosts, later retrieved with the help of the redundancy algorithm.
Nebulous Inc, the company behind the project, is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. In the lead is CEO David Vorik, who is also the lead developer on Sia Core, along with co-founder Luke Champine, who dropped out of college to work full time for advancing the Siacoin cryptocurrency. Other well-known figures in the company are the Sia Core developer Johnathan Howell and Head of Operations Zach Herbert. Their current goal is making the Siacoin network ready for cold storage.
SiaCoin’s Future
The Siacoin team has put very little effort in the marketing department and still, the project is gaining speed very fast and getting more and more popular. With the large growth of the cloud storage market, it is predicted to increase from 24$ billion to 75$ billion by the year 2021. This gives a great opportunity for the team to grow and solidify their position.
Future plans and upcoming updates include – improved UI, easy p2p file sharing between users on the network, faster contracts, better recovery from backup options, blacklisting of undesirable hosts, improved support for diverse file sizes and many more.
SiaCoin Blockchain
The Siacoin blockchain is a decentralized peer to peer network that uses the Proof of Work consensus mechanism and the Blake2b hashing algorithm. The way rewards are calculated is you take the number of the block you hit and take it out of 300,000. For example, if you hit block number 200 thousand, then your reward will be 300,000 – 200,000 = 100,000 SC coins. This goes on and on until reaching the bare minimum reward of 30 000 SC, where it becomes locked and won’t drop any further. The block time is 600 seconds with a size of about 1.9MB.
SiaCoin Nodes
In the Siacoin network, there are two types of nodes – full nodes and light nodes. The full nodes are the ones that require to download the full blockchain history and are the ones who are in charge of distributing it among the light nodes. On the other hand, light nodes don’t need the full history to operate as they refer to the full nodes for that. Most online devices on the network can be considered light nodes.
Forks or Tokens based on SiaCoin
The Siacoin cryptocurrency has two hard forks that happened at block number 179 000. This was the block, after which the change of the hashing algorithm was changed in order for the network to disable all other ASIC miners, except their own Obelisk ASIC. The two hard forks are called SiaClassic and SiaPrime.
HARD FORKS:
- SiaClassic: Forked at block number 179,000 – date October 31, 2018
- SiaPrime: Forked at block number 179,000 – date October 31, 2018
How to Get SiaCoin
There are two options open to you if you would like to obtain some SC coins. You can either mine it if you have the necessary hardware or just go to an exchange platform and buy the coins using either fiat currency or other crypto coins as trading chips.
Where to Buy SiaCoin
Siacoin, in general, has good coverage on the exchanges. Some of the more popular ones support it, like Binance, Upbit, Poloniex, Shapeshift, Yunbi, and Bittrex. Unfortunately, on most of them, SC cannot be purchased with fiat money, so you will have to buy another crypto coin that is supported in a pair with Siacoin. Since the project is gaining popularity and even more investors are paying attention to it, now it is a good time to be trading the SC coins.
| Exchange | Cryptocurrencies | Fiat Money | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
BINANCE
|
Bitcoin, Ethereum | – | Trade now |
|
Upbit
|
Bitcoin + 2 more | – | Trade now |
|
Bittrex
|
Bitcoin + 2 more | USD | Trade now |
How to Mine SiaCoin
As I mentioned earlier it is possible to mine Siacoin cryptocurrency due to the network using the Proof of Work consensus mechanism. In order to do that, you will need mining hardware, which consists of either a PC with powerful GPU or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) miner.
After the hard fork of the network, the only ASIC miner that can be used is their own developed by Nebulous, called Obelisk. The best way to mine Siacoins is with that ASIC miner and GPU mining is no longer profitable. You will need to be aware that except the investment for the miner itself, you need to consider where to place it, as the room needs to have adequate electrical installation and well ventilated, as the device radiates a lot of heat. Also, worth to consider is the noise it produces.
| Мining Hardware | Hash Rate | Power | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obelisk SC1 | 550 GH/S | 500W | $ 1699 | buy now |
Wallets for SiaCoin
If you would like to own Siacoins, you will need a wallet to access and manage your funds. Your best bet would be the official Siacoin core wallet that is backed and supported by the Nebulous organization. It is compatible with Windows, MacOS and Linux and offers two types of core software – Sia UI and Sia Daemon. The Sia UI wallet is essentially the Graphical User Interface (GUI) version of the wallet that is suitable for most users that don’t like to get too technical. On the other hand, the Sia Daemon is the Command Line Interface (CLI) version of the wallet, which is more suitable for users with experience with command lines. For your convenience, I’ve listed the installation guides below:
I would like to also remind you that backing up and securing your wallet are vital steps that you should not forget to make. This will ensure that whatever happens to your wallet, you will be able to restore it and not lose your funds. Here is the Siacoin Wallet Backup and Secure Guide in case you need it.
Alternative Wallets
If the official core wallet is not what you are looking for, I am afraid that it is your only option. While there are many alternatives out there, almost all of them are purely scams or completely unsecured. If you create any other wallet, you will not be the owner or manager of your wallet’s seed, which means that at any moment your funds can be stolen.
SiaCoin Network Security
Even though there are no security breaches up to this moment and Siacoin generally being safe against 51% attacks, it is a fact that it is less secure than Bitcoin due to the sheer size of the titan’s network.
News and Useful Links
After learning what is Siacoin and reviewing the SC coin here you can stay up to date with all the changes and news by visiting the official website. Alternatively, you can follow them on their social media accounts shown below.