Nym (NYM): Safeguarding Digital Privacy for All

Digital privacy tools such as VPNs, Tor and I2P protect our online identity by hiding IP addresses while ensuring a fast internet connection. However, it’s not always apparent to the average user how such existing internet protocols work, or how thoroughly they can protect personal data.

In actuality, current internet protocols are prone to several threats, including internet traffic analysis attacks, breach of privacy through logging of user data, and single point of failure in centralized VPNs.

Nym takes a different approach to protecting personal data by leveraging blockchain technology to create a mixnet immune to the various threats faced by VPNs. Let’s learn more.

Key Takeaways:

• Nym Network provides users with next-level privacy by using a sophisticated architecture comprising the Nym mixnet and Nym Credentials to ensure anonymity.

• The Nym blockchain is secured by validators and delegators who stake NYM tokens to earn mix-mining rewards.

• Nym’s mixnet has been integrated into the Monero network, validating Nym’s crucial role in the blockchain-based privacy niche.

What Is Nym Network?

Nym Network is a next-generation privacy blockchain whose decentralized and tokenized design aims to provide a holistic, secure and sustainable approach to curb mass surveillance of humanity.

Nym combines two of the most commonly implemented cryptographic designs of decentralized networks, proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS), to create a hybrid proof of mixing called mix mining. 

The Nym system brings together various privacy technologies. They include a mixnet that encrypts traffic; the Coconut cryptographic signature scheme, which enhances signatures; Sphinx, a highly encrypted data transmission packet; and the Nym blockchain to track all transactions in a decentralized manner.

The mixnet’s infrastructure comprises two main components: the decentralized network of mix nodes, which routes the traffic in an untraceable way, and an anonymous credential system to verify users.

NYM token holders secure the entire network by staking their tokens, and are rewarded based on a participant's stake for offering high-quality validator and delegator services.

Nym Network Key Components

Nym combines a sophisticated architecture consisting of validators, end users, gateways and mix nodes to ensure that your data is protected during transmission. Service providers are also critical to the smooth functioning of the Nym network.

On a higher level, the basic architecture of the Nym network consists of the following:

• Mixnet — Nym’s mixnet consists of layered mix nodes that encrypt and mix traffic to ensure that communication remains anonymous (more on this below).

• Gateways — These act as connectors between the end users and the mixnet. They prevent free riders on the network by ensuring that the necessary credentials are available before any communication is allowed.

• Validators — Validators maintain and secure the Nym blockchain. They also issue the necessary credentials needed to transmit and encrypt data.

• Service providers — Nym allows third-party service providers to send and receive messages anonymously via its network.

Source: Nym white paper

Nym Mixnet

At the core of Nym’s operations is its mixnet. When data enters Nym, the mixnet re-orders it into an indistinguishable Sphinx packet format, which is immune to any form of surveillance. The mix nodes in Nym’s mixnet have a layered design, which allows the network to handle more traffic because of the ease of analysis, leading to enhanced privacy and scalability.

Due to Nym’s layered routing and the random selection of mix nodes, it’s difficult to compromise the network through malicious activities, such as Sybil attacks and unwarranted surveillance. Furthermore, to ensure that messages reach their recipients, the mixnet uses a reliable feature on Sphinx known as Single-Use Reply Blocks (SURBs) for dependable transportation.

Though it’s still in the experimental stage, you can use the NymConnect app to secure the privacy of your apps via the Nym network. NymConnect encrypts your messages and online communication using the Nym mixnet, ensuring complete privacy and unobservability. 

Nym Credentials

Nym network uses an anonymous crypto system of credentials to prove the right of use of the service for users. Nym Credentials are encoded with certified attributes relating to a user, which are then deposited into a nympool. Once deposited, the credentials are certified and issued by Nym validators through a decentralized process designed as an extension of the Coconut anonymous identity model. The key features of Nym Credentials are unlinkability, and the capacity for selective disclosure by users.

The two main types of Nym Credentials are as follows:

• Bandwidth Credentials — These are used to encrypt a proof of payment, and are mandatory when sending data through the mixnet. They’re handy for service providers, who may want to embed them in a client’s software.

• Service Credentials — These encrypt a proof of payment once a user makes a deposit into the nympool. They aren’t mandatory, and are used to access third-party privacy services through Nym.

Source: Nym white paper

What Is the NYM Token?

NYM is the utility token for the Nym blockchain. There’s a total supply of 1 billion NYM tokens, which are released into circulation through a quarterly vesting schedule that helps increase the number of tokens available for staking to power the mixnet. As of July 2023, the circulating supply is 475,497,423 NYM tokens.

There are two types of NYM tokens: the native NYM, and the ERC-20 NYM. Native NYM tokens are issued on the Nyx blockchain, built on Cosmos, while ERC-20 NYM tokens are built on Ethereum, making them easier to buy from exchanges.

The native NYM tokens are used to unlock the true privacy infrastructure of the Nym network by securing the mixnet as a validator or a delegator. You can either stake your NYM tokens to become a validator to run mix nodes or become a delegator to a mix node, helping to improve the Nym blockchain's overall security while earning mix node rewards from it.

Source: Nym blog

NYM Token Price Prediction

As of Jul 24, 2023, NYM has a market cap of $95,926,501 and a token price of $0.20, which is a 96.5% drop from its all-time high of $5.76 on Apr 15, 2022 and a 30.09% increase from its all-time low of $0.155 on Dec 12, 2022.

Price analysts are fairly cautious, albeit bullish, in their NYM price predictions. According to PricePrediction’s price forecast for NYM, the token may hit a maximum price of $0.58 in 2025 and rise to $3.36 in 2030. DigitalCoinPrice shares a similar view, with a NYM price prediction of $0.71 in 2025 and $2.11 in 2030.

That said, these bullish price predictions aren’t a guarantee of the future NYM price. We highly recommend that you do your own research before investing in NYM or any other cryptocurrencies.

Is NYM Token a Good Investment?

Nym’s mixnet has taken blockchain-based privacy to the next level. We’re living in an era where our right to privacy has been infringed through sophisticated and unwarranted surveillance.

With the Nym network, end users such as individuals and organizations can send and receive encrypted data in a cheap, secure and decentralized way. In contrast, while VPNs may provide an anonymous way to bypass censorship, you must trust that data provider with all your data. Other privacy platforms, such as Tor, tend to be vulnerable to traffic analysis attacks as they don’t fully protect from end-to-end.

Furthermore, Nym features some outstanding differences from existing privacy blockchains, such as Monero and ZCash. Unlike these two, the Nym network has a sophisticated identity management system powered by credentials, which further enhances privacy. That said, Monero has partnered with Nym to allow users to enhance their privacy using NymConnect to access Nym’s mixnet on the Monero network.

Looking forward, a privacy cryptocurrency like NYM is a favorable asset to hold, since it powers a much-needed solution to the threats of invasion of privacy and increased censorship.

Where to Buy the NYM Token

You can buy NYM as a spot trading pair (NYM/USDT) on the Bybit exchange.

Note that NYM is available as an Innovation Zone Token, which means that it’s either been selected by valuable traders through voting or handpicked by Bybit's professional team. Such tokens do hold some level of investment risk, such as substantial price volatility.

Closing Thoughts

As the invasion of privacy through unwarranted surveillance continues to threaten humanity, Nym presents a scalable and decentralized solution that uses blockchain technology. Its tokenized and incentivized mixnet ensures that communication is achieved through secure channels in which anonymity, unlinkability and strategic micro delays prevent unauthorized eyes from analyzing it.

Looking to the future, the Nym network will play a crucial role as a privacy blockchain that provides users with a wholesome and strategic approach to protecting data privacy.

#Bybit #TheCryptoArk