Digibyte: A Technological Masterpiece
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“Blockchains are politically decentralized (no one controls them) and architecturally decentralized (no infrastructural central point of failure) but they are logically centralized (there is one commonly agreed state and the system behaves like a single computer)” -Vitalik Buterin
Introduction
Most people reading this are likely to know the basics of Digibyte (DGB). If this applies to you, please feel free to skip the introduction and go directly to the partnerships and investment prospect sections. As an added bonus, I’ll include my opinion about the origins of the recent 300% increase in DGB’s price. In my view, Digibyte could be one of the most undervalued projects in the digital asset space. The recent run in Digibyte’s price has brought it to many peoples’ attention. For this reason, I felt it was a good time for me to share my nuanced thoughts and insights with the community. At some point I’ll also publish a video review for those who prefer a video format to share with family and friends.
Background
I first came across Digibyte at the height of the 2017 mania. Like most, I was exploring investment options to exploit the opportunity presented by the market. I began my research by looking into the creator’s background. Jared Tate developed Digibyte back in 2013 and launched the genesis block back in January 2014. Notably, he launched the blockchain without an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) and with very little early support. Upon launch, Jared dedicated himself full-time to the project. It’s reasonable to assume Jared and early developers received a large allocation of the pre-mine. Historically, pre-mines aren’t well received but this may be one of the exceptions. About 52.5 million DGB were given away to early adopters and 52.5 million were allocated for development purposes. The transaction history is posted publicly and can be verified by anyone. I’ve been following Jared closely and I can attest he is perhaps one of the most ethical people in the crypto space. He speaks openly and candidly without fear of social reprisal. For example, he was quick to blow the whistle on Binance when they tried to extort a listing fee.
This utterly destroyed DGB’s prospects of being listed on Binance. However, Jared stayed committed to his ethics and acted morally responsible. Despite this set back, Digibyte has since been listed on more than 51 exchanges with most of the volume originating from Bittrex.
Technology
Much like Bitcoin and Litecoin, Digibyte is built on a UTXO-based blockchain. Originally, Digibyte launched as a single proof-of-work algorithm but afterwards forked into five proof-of-work algorithms. This includes the following algorithms:
- SHA256
- Scrypt
- Skein
- Qubit
- Odocrypt
Adding to the innovation, the DGB team created the world’s first rebalancing technology. Dubbed Multshield, it adjust mining difficulty to prevent any one algorithm from dominating. Additionally, Digbyte was the first to implement Segregated Witness technology to improve scalability. A new block is mined every 15–18 seconds compared to Bitcoin’s average of 10 minutes, making Digibyte 40x faster. This in return aided the Digibyte blockhain to become the longest in existence. Being the longest blockchain also makes it one of the most secure. From a scalability and security perspective, Digibyte is ahead of both Bitcoin & Litecoin. Moreover, it’s arguably one of the most decentralized blockchains in the world with 280,000 active nodes dispersed globally.
The team has made some progress on the second layer with issuance of decentralized digital assets, token, smart contracts, digital identity and more to come in the future. I personally find this very intriguing because one could envision an infinite amount of use-cases for Digibyte. The ability to issue digital assets has already attracted entrepreneurs looking to build platforms in real estate, finance, remittance, identity, point of sale, racing, trade, healthcare, supply chain, government and more. I hope the team will exploit their advantages in scalability to entice Ethereum developers to jump ship. Unless Ethereum 2.0 provides real results in terms of speed and scalability, this could be an opportunity for Digibyte to absorb some market share from Ethereum. However, Digibyte has a long way to go. The last time I checked, 18 out of 20 blockchain projects with most developer activity were being built on Ethereum.
Partnerships
Here’s a consolidated list of a few collaborations with the Digibyte team. Technically, anybody can leverage the benefits of the Digibyte blockchain without asking permission or engaging in a formal partnership. But in the early stages it is helpful to form connections to facilitate community cooperation. Otherwise, the various parties will be working in silos. With that said, here are a few collaborations I would like to highlight.
The most recent partnership was announced in Feb 2020 with Safe Haven. This includes a complete integration of the Safe Haven inheritance platform on the Digibyte blockchain. Moreover, Safe Haven has agreed to be the gold sponsor for the Digibyte Foundation to help the team financially. Rumor suggests Safe Haven will start to blend their digital asset legacy solution, Inherti, by the end of 2020. In return the DGB Foundation will run a Safe Haven Legacy Node for next 24 months.
Utrust, a leading platform for payments solutions decided to integrate with the Digibyte blockchain, empowering Utrust to send faster and more secure payments. This provides an opportunity for Digibyte to experience organic growth while augmenting awareness. In other words, a real world use-case should theoretically attract interest in Digibyte as an open source project. Within the last year I haven’t witnessed significant progress on this front but I remain hopeful.
CDM Exchange is now offering Digibyte for IRA and direct OTC purchases. Digibyte can also be exchanged for gold, silver, and platinum on the platform. To my knowledge, this is the first platform to offer this service. However, I’d like to note CDM Exchange isn’t a large or well known company. Their Twitter following is lower than mine. Nonetheless, it inches Digibyte closer to adoption. Many metals investors will be exposed to Digibyte and may decide to exchange some of their existing portfolio for some Digibyte.
Lastly, AntumID, a Belgium-based privacy ID platform has generated a lot buzz recently by joining the the consortium of the Covid-19 Alert App. AntumID is the world’s first blockchain-powered password generator based on Digibyte. The app users are alerted when they come in close proximity with an infected person. Unlike other similar apps, Covid-19 Alert app doesn’t compromise user privacy. Moving forward, a hackathon running from 5/22/2020 to 5/25/2020 will determine the depth of AntumID’s involvement with the Covid app. Although, just the news alone has resulted in a 600% plus price increase for DGB. Generally speaking, this is good for the entire blockchain industry because now we’re discovering real world use-cases for the technology. Successful integration of this technology will directly and indirectly aid in the adoption of blockchains such as Digibyte’s. Additionally, by association Digibyte will gain free exposure. This may help attract more parties to build on the Digibyte blockchain.
Community
Digibyte enjoys strong community support and is perhaps its biggest asset. The numerous members are very vocal on social media platforms and routinely cast votes to get Digibyte listed on exchanges. In May 2018, the Digibyte Awareness Team (DGBAT) was established as a community-driven outreach initiative to promote the Digibyte blockchain. The aim is to advance the adoption of the Digibyte blockchain through education, meet ups, hosting events, and many other outreach efforts.
Aside from the formal Digibyte team, the rest of the community never fails to showcase their fervent support for the project. This is clearly displayed in community votes hosted by platforms and exchanges. DGB has won countless listings through this manner.
The face of Digibyte is clearly Jared Tate. However, Josiah Spackman, through numerous interviews and unflinching support, has informally become the Digibyte ambassador. He has a YouTube channel where he routinely hosts Digibyte-related conversations. After years of making interview appearances he has become a relatively well known figure in the digital asset space. Unlike a traditional company, the marketing arm of this organization is fragmented and decentralized. Nevertheless, with minimal cohesive action, the members have successfully broadcasted the key features of the blockchain to the crpyto community. It’s very rare to meet a committed crypto investor who hasn’t heard of Digibyte.
Investment Prospect
The framework for assessing value of digital assets has yet to be carved out by the investor class. In fact, the average mainstream investor does not have these tokens on their radar. In my view, this presents a unique opportunity for investors who are able to think outside the box. Many teams in this space are building autonomous protocols and/or decentralized blockchains. Initially, most of these projects will be centralized with an aim towards decentralization. This is understandable given the core infrastructure is nascent and no community has been formed. Over time, many of these projects will achieve their end goal of creating autonomous and self-governing protocols. Also, in comparison to a traditional company, there is no balance sheet or formal structure for many of these projects. For this reason, we must formulate contemporary perspectives for determining the investment prospects of a decentralized project. Below I’ve outlined a few metrics I’ve developed over the years to determine investment-worthy projects.
To begin with, for many of these projects to succeed they require community involvement to secure their respective networks. Transaction validation and network securitization methods vary but most require staking, mining, or some hybrid approach. This presents opportunities for entities to extract value from networks by first adding value. For example, consider all the early miners who mined Bitcoin when it was still an infant blockchain. I have heard numerous stories about individuals who were able to mine 1 Bitcoin every three days when it was worth $30 and later sold each Bitcoin for $1200. Whether it’s Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other project, they all require community participation through proper alignment of incentives. Digibyte offers this opportunity through mining and potentially staking within the next couple of years. Also, earlier I noted Digibyte’s robust community support. This is a severely underrated metric because it helps create awareness about the project. Without a large microphone many people will never know about the project’s existence. Fortunately, Digibyte it has a very large microphone. With proper incentives to encourage network support and a large global marketing team, Digibyte has the key ingredients for a successful blockchain project.
From a technological perspective, DGB is a masterpiece. It’s perhaps the safest, fastest, and most secure blockchain in existence. This creates infinite opportunities for parties seeking to build on top of Digibyte. Currently, many developers are leveraging DGB’s technology to build applications with varying use-cases. For instance, V-ID, Docusign, Digi-ID, and Digi-Assets are examples of projects working on real world use-cases. Moreover, there are additional parties planning to build platforms in real estate, finance, remittance, identity, POS, racing, trade, healthcare, supply chain, government and much more. In particular, I believe Digi-Assets could bring tremendous value to token holders and the ecosystem. To issue a Digi-Asset, users must use a fraction of a DGB. This creates a use case for the token aside from speculation. Ethereum in large appreciated in value in 2017 because it was required to invest in many ICO’s. In other words, there was a real use-case for the token which required people to purchase Ethereum. Moreover, the Digibyte blockchain is smart contract capable much like Ethereum. Jared has already expressed interest in supporting solidity to encourage more developers to build on Digibyte. In my judgement, this will play a pivotal role in the project’s trajectory. For this reason, I’m keeping an eye on the number of entities using Digibyte. It’s essentially a barometer for adoption from my standpoint.
Jared Tate is perhaps the most honest and transparent individual in crypto. My frenemies call me an astute observationalist. After watching numerous interviews and seeing him engage on Twitter, I personally believe he has good intentions. He’s dedicated a lot of his time to Digibyte since its inception in 2014. He’s essentially been working and advocating for the project full time. He never shies away from calling out corruption and malfeasance in the digital asset space despite it being at Digibyte’s detriment at times. For instance, he blew the lid on Binance’s pay-for-listing policy. He openly criticized the Binance team on Twitter for trying to extort him for money in return for an exchange listing. In a different incident, in one Tweet he criticized Tron for being the biggest scam in crypto and Poloniex for harvesting US customer data. His open critique prevented a Digibyte listing on Binance and resulted in a delisting for Digibyte. Regardless of the setbacks I appreciate Jared’s candidness. It’s refreshing in a space plagued with scams and unethical behavior. Consequently, I firmly believe having Jared as the face of Digibyte will bring the project a tremendous amount of credibility.
Digibyte has yet to achieve the exchange ubiquity of Bitcoin and other popular digital assets, however, it’s currently listed on over 51 exchanges. This doesn’t include the numerous platforms who’ve decided to incorporate Digibyte’s technology. In 2017, Digibyte wasn’t listed on nearly as many exchanges as it is today. Additionally, the Digibyte mobile app is available on both iOS and Android. It supports 50 plus languages and makes it easier for investors to store their Digibyte off exchanges. This enables investors to easily send their Digibyte to family and friends to increase awareness. I can only imagine what users will do when their gifted Digibyte appreciates significantly in value. In contrast to 2017, they’ll have ample exchanges to choose from to purchase Digibyte.
Over the years the project has been suppressed by exchanges and competing blockchain projects. Jared never attempted to over hype or mislead the public about Digibyte. I admire his character, but it has resulted in limited exposure for the project in its early years. This also makes it harder to defend the project against the perpetual onslaught of trolling from bots and crooks. However, in the long run this could prove to benefit investors who have strong convictions. The suppression may make Digibyte one of the best investments opportunities of a life time. Perhaps without the misinformation Digibyte would be trading many folds higher. Assuming in time Digibyte achieves the recognition it deserves, it may be trading at a significant discount today.
Road Blocks & Concerns
Of course like any other project this one could easily end up being a complete failure. During my deep dive I developed a few concerns in relation to the Digibyte project. To begin with, relative to popular projects I don’t see enough development activity. Josiah in an interview mentioned there are currently 600 contributors. However, to be considered a contributor all you have to do is make negligible changes. For example Josiah said the following in an interview,
“I know one of them is just a guy who simply changed the copyright information from 2018 to 2019. But he came along and did that, so technically he is a contributor.”
I understand in the future this could change as more developers become educated on Digibyte. However, to my knowledge the influential members haven’t made a concerted effort to recruit developers or create developer-related tools. I’ve been keeping a keen eye on the NEO. The project leaders have been working hard to make NEO a very developer-friendly blockchain. It’s unfortunate not to see an equivalent initiative promoted by the Digibyte Foundation.
Despite the robust community support, Digibyte has not been listed on any major exchange. With the exception of Bittrex and Bitfinex, most exchanges supporting Digibyte do not generate much volume. Without the support of popular fiat on-ramps, investors will have a more difficult time purchasing tokens. I’ll concede it has become increasingly easier over the years to purchase Digibyte. However, without the support of major exchanges it’ll be hard for Digibyte to achieve ubiquity.
Block30 was a company believed by many supporters to be pivotal in Digibyte adoption. This was going to be one of the first companies to use Digi-Assets to create a full market place & financial ecosystem. The project was often touted as a huge milestone for adoption of the Digibyte blockchain. Sometime in 2019 the company just went dark. I’ve emailed the company and to date haven’t received a response. The company’s Twitter profile hasn’t seen activity since August 2019. I’d love to be corrected, but I believe this company didn’t live up to the community’s expectation. I’ll concede there’s been a tremendous amount of progress over the years, however we also need to highlight the failures. The team has outlined an ambitious road map and Jared has made soft suggestions for upgrades. In particular, Jared has expressed interest in smart contract support and stablecoin creation. Given the presumed failure with Block30, it is reasonable to be skeptical about proposed improvements. Having a large organization of decentralized actors makes it easier to pursue multiple objectives simultaneously, however it’s still possible for the team to get over extended. In return, this could hinder the progress and adoption of the Digibyte blockchain.
Before I publish my next critique I’d like to highlight the contributions of Noah Seidman to the Digibyte ecosystem. His background as Android developer makes him an important asset. However, he admits Digibyte’s inherent weakness is developer availability. Being an open source project in the long run confers a huge benefit once a network has been achieved. Yet, in the early stages open source projects struggle to gain momentum and traction. This puts Digibyte at a disadvantage to highly centralized projects who plan decentralize in the future. One example is the 0x Protocol which you can learn more about about by clicking HERE.
Closing Thoughts
I sincerely hope Digibyte is successful because it epitomizes the characteristics of a truly decentralized project. In comparison to other projects, Digibyte is laser-focused on blockchain development and promoting adoption. I’ve never for a minute suspected Jared or the community of acting in bad faith. I’m a strong believer in facts and logic, however my intuition is partly guiding my sentiment. This may sound overly esoteric but I get good vibes from this project.
We’re in the early innings of this technological innovation and we got a long way to go before mass adoption. Despite some of the hurdles, I genuinely believe decentralized open source projects will win the marathon. Look at the core internet protocol layer or an open source framework like Node.js. These projects didn’t receive much acclaim or support in their early days. However, over time they attracted developers and other parties to build. Developers join open source projects because they don’t need permission to participate, it’s free, and they’re able to audit the code. As these developers build, more value is added to the network. As the value of the network increases, it provides strong incentives for more parties to participate. This snowball of support inevitably leads to broader adoption. Assuming everybody stays motivated and committed, I envision Digibyte following the same success pattern. To a certain extent we’re beginning to see adoption of Digibyte tech today with the likes of AntumID and others. In large, I believe Digibyte’s potential has yet to be realized. I look forward to tracking the progress in the coming years.
