As the challenge of Blockchain scalability continues to handicap cryptocurrencies ascension to mainstream adoption, an industry wide arms race has been launched to produce a distributed ledger capable of achieving faster transaction speeds without compromising security or decentralization. Although solutions like the Lightening Network, Raiden and Plasma currently lead the way, they still haven’t been proven to be the definitive solution for achieving true scalability.
In response to this, the Mixin Network brings to market a multilayered platform built to enhance the speed, privacy and security of transactions between digital assets across multiple distributed ledgers.
Mixin provides a messenger app — ‘Mixin Messenger’, where users can store cryptocurrencies in their wallet, and perform lightening fast peer-to-peer transactions between contacts. Developers can also build new Dapps on top of the Mixin Networks infrastructure.
With bold claims of over a billion transactions per second, 0% transaction fees, and an infrastructure for cross chain Dapp development; Mixin is positioning itself to be the dominant solution to the blockchain scalability problem.
How it works
The Mixin Network is composed of different high performance distributed ledgers, with the core ledger called the ‘Kernel’, and the supporting ledgers called ‘domains’ and ‘domain extensions’.
Domains are gateways that feed assets from Bitcoin, Ethereum, other Blockchains, and even central banks into the kernel. The kernel is responsible for verifying and governing the assets and their transactions.
Domain extensions are the distributed ledgers that store Ethereum, EOS and other blockchain smart contracts and trusted applications.
Mixin Kernel
The Kernel is a core component of the Mixin network. It uses a directed acyclic graph design to scale digital asset transactions.
A directed acyclic graph (or DAG) is a structure consisting of nodes that are connected to each other in a non-linear pattern. With DAG’s, information is dispersed using a ‘gossip protocol’ across multiple nodes simultaneously, allowing consensus on transactions to be achieved faster.
Consensus Protocol
The Mixin Kernel distributed ledger uses a proof of stake consensus protocol. Kernel Nodes stake at least 10,000 XIN as collateral in exchange for the ability to validate transactions on the Kernel distributed ledger.
Each Mixin Kernel Node represents 10,000 XIN, which is approximate 2% of the network stake. The Kernel can only operate with at least 7 nodes joined, which is about 15% of the whole networks stake.
Privacy
For privacy, Mixin kernel uses a 1-time key generation algorithm, which allows the system to generate a ‘ghost address’ that can be discarded after each transaction a user makes.
Mixin Domain
The Mixin domain communicates with the kernel via system calls.
In order for an external asset (from the Bitcoin blockchain for example) to become associated with the Mixin kernel, a Mixin public key is first produced to connect with the domain, and then an asset specific public key (i.e a Bitcoin public key) is produced to connect the asset to the Mixin Kernel. If someone wants to send funds from their Bitcoin wallet to the Mixin network, the domain will create a transaction to the Mixin public key, and the Mixin kernel will verify the transaction.
Mixin Domain Extension
The Mixin domain extensions enable users to setup ‘smart contracts’ from a single computational unit (i.e your laptop or iPhone). These smart contracts are higher performing and more robust than those currently offered on the Ethereum blockchain.
XIN Token
XIN tokens are the main token used in the network. Like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the token is paid to those who support the network by validating transactions. XIN tokens are also staked in the proof of stake consensus protocol (at least 10,000 XIN tokens must be staked to join the network as a full node).
The Mixin Network also connects to different Dapps using API calls. These Dapps pay the network in XIN tokens based on the amount of resources the Dapp consumes.
Total Supply: 1,000,000
Circulating Supply: 438,154
Token Sale Date: Nov 25 ~ Dec 25 2017
Market Cap: $231million (rank #45)
Current price: $529
Mixin Messenger
Mixin provides a messaging application called ‘Mixin Messenger, which allows users to take advantage of the secure and efficient distributed ledger infrastructure they’ve built.
The app is available on the Google or Apple store, and can be used to transfer cryptocurrencies to anyone with their phone number, even if they are not a Mixin user. The app also features a digital wallet, and is capable of performing lightening fast peer-to-peer transactions between Mixin contacts.
Mixin Messenger also provides a series of Bots created by a community of developers to automate certain functionally for users:
For Transactions:
· Red Envelop (Red Pocket): Gamification bot for winning tokens in a group chat.
· Assistant (Group Chat Admin): A group owner can invite this bot to join their group chat, and decide the conditions for all members. For example; the group member should have 20 XIN on their account.
· Exin (OTC, Exchange): Users buy cryptocurrencies OTC (over the counter) and the bot provides several trading pairs, for example: BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XIN/BTC, etc.
· Coin Exchange: Comes in 2 parts: paid question and coin exchange. Paid question section shows several valued questions, and people have to pay to check the answers. The exchange section is a small and simple crypto exchange on the Mixin network.
For News and Information:
· Mixin Log: This is the official channel to post development log or news about Mixin, etc.
· Hacker News: Hacker News is a news channel belongs to Y-Combinator. Delivers interesting news automatically.
· IMEOS (fresh updates): The bot connects IMEOS, the first media portal about EOS, and it also reports worldwide blockchain news, EOS marketing data, etc.
· Bot (Bishijie News Fresh Update): The bot links a famous blockchain media named Bi Shi Jie. It sends the news from the official site to Mixin.
Gaming:
· Virtual American Roulette: Decides what kind of token, how much you bet and which color or number you choose. Players send these orders to the bot, pay the bot, and then you receive the results immediately.
AI/Chat Bot:
· MX (Virtual Friend): A virtual girl named Xiaobing who you can communicate with users like a real human.
Team
The Mixin Network team consists of experienced developers who have worked in the blockchain and tech space for many years and produced a variety of unique multimedia apps. Overall the team has 20 members who are based in China and Japan.
Cedric Fung — CEO — Blockchain Architect of Asia’s top emerging exchange BigONE, Co-Founder of Yixia.com, China’s video ecosystem leader with products including Miaopai short video app, Xiaokaxiu dubsmash app and Yizhibo live stream app
Danna Li — COO — Earliest blockchain adopter, former 8BTC Columnist, Bitmain Investment Lead, INBlockchain core team member and BigONE Operation Lead
Crossle Song — CTO — Former Yixia.com Technology Lead, Vitamio SDK Architecture Lead, seasoned Android and iOS developer
Oven Tang — Product Lead — Developer of Miaopai, China’s leading video app with 300M users
Investors
Xiaolai (IN Blockchain Partner)
Lao Mao (IN Blockchain Partner)
Yonghao Lou (CEO of Smartisan)
Roadmap
2018 mid July — Debut of Mixin Exchange
2018 September — Mainnet beta launch
2019 February — Mainnet launch
Community Development Plan
2018 early July — Mixin Developer Hackathon
2018 July 7–9 Hack Summit
Pros:
- Byzantine fault tolerant security
- Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) is used to reenforce security and boost transaction times by eliminating network latency
- Ghost address generation enhances user privacy when transferring funds
- Messenger application enables lightening fast peer-to-peer transactions between contacts
- Provides an infrastructure for cross chain Dapp development.
- Strong technical team
- 40,000 daily active users who store assets valued at over $100 million
Challenges
- Mixin faces stiff competition from other blockchain protocols like EOS, ICON, NEO, etc. These protocols are all trying to achieve the most scalable solution. However, Mixin has the advantage of offering a network that enhances the transaction speed, security and privacy of all digital assets belonging to these Blockchains.
Conclusion
In a highly competitive space where hundreds of protocols are fighting for market dominance, Mixin stands out by providing a multilayered infrastructure that enhances scalability, security, privacy, and cross chain functionality.
At the base layer, Mixin aims to solve blockchain scalability by creating a network of distributed ledgers that function under a highly secure directed acyclic graph design. On top of this high functioning network sits a simple mobile messaging application, which enables users to seamlessly store and transfer a variety of cryptocurrencies between contacts. Lastly, Mixin is aspiring to become a platform for cross-chain Dapp development.
Overall, Mixin still has a ways to go before it becomes a household name like EOS or Ethereum. However, their unique value proposition, current user adoption and highly advanced technical infrastructure make it a very promising project to keep watching.