Review: Minima Crypto Blockchain – What it is and How it Works

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Bitcoin was designed to change the world.

The decentralised nature of the ‘original’ crypto marked a seismic shift in the way individuals managed their finances.

It removed the need for third parties, ie banks and other financial behemoths, to be involved in your transactions.

This meant they couldn’t profit from them or impose any controls or restrictions on what people did with their money.

It was a libertarian’s dream.

However, this is changing and the cryptosphere is becoming increasingly centralised. For example:

• A relatively small number of Bitcoin miners are responsible for the majority of ‘hashing’ power needed to mint new coins.
• A small number of crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance, dominate the retail sector.

Consider also that regulators are increasingly turning the spotlight on crypto, with more controls and restrictions bound to follow.

While some feel this flies in the face of everything Bitcoin originally stood for, others welcome it.

Why? Because regulation would add legitimacy to crypto and see a surge in institutional investment, forcing prices – and hence profits – up as a result.

Related link: Will Bitcoin be regulated or banned?

Minima – an alternative blockchain running on smartphones

Minima is designed to claw back control of the crucial infrastructure behind Bitcoin – the mining process – and empower every individual to become an equal partner in maintaining the network.

The Minima blockchain (base layer blockchain protocol to be precise) can potentially run on billions of devices across the globe.

This includes smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, meaning anyone can run a ‘node’ from their pocket.

The core philosophy behind Minima is, according to the company’s website, that: “Minima has created the possibility of operating a completely decentralized network. One that is scalable and inclusive, while remaining secure and resilient.

“This level of total decentralization guarantees anti-censorship by ensuring that there can be no overarching authority controlling the network, creating an ecosystem that is truly autonomous and accountable.”

Minima has a hard-capped supply of one billion coins at launch.

Does Minima slow down your smartphone?

Minima is designed to permanently run in the background on your mobile device without any impact on the user, according to the development team.

They say that it’s designed to make “every user on the network equal”, ruling out the need for third parties or specialist user groups to manage aspects of the network.

I’ve been running Minima on my smartphone for three months now and I haven’t noticed any performance issues (Samsung S21+).

The app has frozen on a few occasions, but this has been cured by a quick reboot.

Is Minima crypto a good investment?

The Minima whitepaper sets out a compelling use cash for the protocol.

Some of the key points are:

• Anyone can run a node on a smart device meaning the infrastructure is already in place
• There is no hierarchy – everyone is equal and there are no niche groups who have greater control over the network.
• The network is censorship resistant – no central authority can prevent user activity.
• It overcomes the environmental concerns associated with Bitcoin because it doesn’t use bespoke technology or require vast amounts of additional energy to run.

Minima is likely to appeal to people who hold the original of ethos of Bitcoin close to their hearts, together with those who support blockchain technology but have concerns about the environmental impact.

But Minima will live or die based on the number of people who jump on board to contribute to the network by running a node.

At the time of writing more than 7,000 nodes (more than half of Bitcoin’s complete nodes) had been onboarded in more than 100 countries around the globe, ahead of Minima’s Mainnet launch in 2022.

The price of Minima tokens will be established by the market when mainstream adoption begins.

In October 2021 the Minima team closed a Series A funding round while raising $6.5million from investors.

There are several features of Minima that make it stand out from the thousands of other projects in the cryptosphere. If enough people adopt the protocol, the potential for long term growth is high.

Getting started and earning tokens with IncentiveCash

Anyone with a mobile device can run and maintain a complete node and earn 1 Minima coin each day for doing so as part of the Minima IncentiveCash program.

Minima offers a great way of earning a passive income through free crypto rewards delivered to your smartphone.

You’ll need to register then follow the instructions to get your node up and running and connected to your IncentiveCash account.

There are a few technical steps that you need to take before your node is functioning, but the instructions provided on the Minima website are extremely straight forward, even for newbies.

There are options for Android, Windows, Mac and Linux computers.

Their Discord channel is also super responsive. I’ve found that when I’ve had an issue it’s been resolved within minutes by the Minima team.

The tokens that you earn will be distributed during the Token Generation Event schedule of Q2 2022.

MiniDapps and smart contracts

Minima is designed to enable developers to build decentralised applications (DApps) on a scalable platform.

Developers can build ‘MiniDapps’ in JavaScript and HTML5 which will then interface with smart contacts hosted by the Minima network.

Conclusion

On paper Minima presents a strong use case and should have a wide appeal because of its low barrier to entry.

It really does seem like a blockchain for the masses, and its environmental credentials make it an appealing alternative to Bitcoin.

Now, it needs growth. Given what has happened in the world of crypto over the past couple of years, this shouldn’t be hard to achieve, especially given the rewards you can earn for running a node.