Since its launch in 2014, DigiByte has worked to improve the scalability and cyber security of Bitcoin. The decentralized blockchain network is known to be significantly faster than Bitcoin and Litecoin, making it a popular option for users looking to trade smart contracts, decentralized applications (DApps), and other digital assets. Blockchain transactions are conducted using the network’s currency, DGB, which has a limit of 21 billion tokens and a circulating supply of 15.65 billion tokens. As an open source network with a strong developer community, DigiByte is constantly improving.
What is Digibyte?
Founded in 2013, DigiByte is a scalable blockchain platform that leverages the P2P (peer-to-peer) cryptocurrency, DGB, for decentralized application exchange (DApps).
History of DigiByte
The DigiByte network was founded in 2013 by Jared Tate, a programmer who has been working with Bitcoin since 2012. The goal was to expand the Bitcoin blockchain technology and create a secure, decentralized network that would quickly reach a larger community. While the open source blockchain network shares some similarities with Bitcoin, it does have some key differences.
This network launched by January 10, 2014. A small portion of the blockchain network’s initial cryptocurrency, DGB, was pre-mined and given at launch to those who supported its development.
Since the initial release, DigiByte has made several improvements. MultiShield was introduced in December 2015. In April 2017, DigiByte became the second major blockchain to use SegWit to improve scalability
DigiByte’s speed has also increased significantly since the blockchain’s launch in 2014. At the time, the blockchain used a single algorithm with a two-hour difficulty rating. After several updates and the implementation of different algorithms, both speed and security have been improved. For example, block mining speed in 2014 was about one minute, while in 2022 it will be about 15 seconds.
How does DigiByte work?
Since DigiByte is a scalable blockchain known for its high speed, users from all over the world can make irreversible and unauthorized transactions with DGB coins faster than Bitcoin or Litecoin.
DigiByte’s decentralized blockchain uses a PoW (Proof of Work) consensus mechanism to secure and validate transactions. While miners can still get rewards for DigiByte blocks, DGB has a limited supply of 21 billion. The PoW consensus mechanism is very similar to Bitcoin; however, there are no halving events that reduce miner rewards. Instead, block premiums are reduced by 1% monthly until all 21 billion DGB coins are minted.
The DigiByte blockchain consists of three layers: the application layer, the consensus layer, and the network layer. While other blockchains may have multiple layers, the layers of this decentralized network work a little differently.
The application layer is the user-facing part of the Blockchain network, which is used to exchange DGB coins and run DApps. Smart contracts and other DigiAssets are also traded at this level.
The consent level stores and manages DigiByte transactions. It is also the level that unlocks the new cryptocurrency for DigiByte miners. It works like an efficient electronic public accounting system.
The network layer manages all the operating procedures of the device using the blockchain software. The global network of nodes also validates transactions.
Applications/DigiAsset
DigiAssets are customizable cryptographic assets residing on the DigiByte blockchain. They can represent anything from notarized documents and smart contracts to NFTs and even traditional financial assets. DigiAssets can be created using a wide variety of digital tools, making the underlying technology available to the general public.
Digital assets/ledger
Digital assets in the middle tier of the blockchain are different from DigiAsset, which is in the upper tier. The middle tier focuses on transaction storage and blockchain security. The goal is to ensure that blockchain tokens have value and that the data exchanged is genuine. The ledger records every transaction on the network.
Because security is incredibly important to the DigiByte ecosystem, it uses the same key encryption methods used to protect nuclear launch codes. To mitigate forgery, hacking, duplication and other security vulnerabilities, the network uses five different proof-of-work mining algorithms: SHA-256, Scrypt, Odocrypt, Skein and Qubit.
SHA-256, also used by the Bitcoin blockchain, creates a unique 32-byte hash that can act as a digital signature and verification.
Scrypt, also used by several altcoins (including Dogecoin and Litecoin), is a mining algorithm that actively reduces the centralization of mining. It automatically changes every ten days to prevent ASIC dominance.
Skein helps make mining more efficient no matter what type of hardware a miner uses. It is known to be significantly faster than the SHA-256 mining algorithm.
Finally, Qubit is a fast, efficient, and secure hash algorithm. While the algorithm was originally only compatible with CPU hardware, it is now compatible with GPU and ASIC mining hardware.
Core protocol/global network
The operations are performed on the lower level of the blockchain. According to the DigiByte website, DigiByte software is used by thousands of people around the world at any one time. This lower layer allows data to be transferred between network nodes.