10 Things You Should Know About SiaCoin

1. SiaCoin cryptocurrency (SC) is a token of Sia company that has created a unique cloud storing platform based on blockchain technology that stands apart from other clouds. Most people are familiar with such cloud storages as Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, ICloud. Sia is reinventing cloud storage by connecting people who need to store files in cloud space with those who have enough hard drive capacity to host storage. Unlike traditional centralized cloud storage services where data is stored on the exterior servers gathered in one place, Sia represents totally decentralized network of data processing centres, The main feature of the project among the other similar crypto platforms (such as Storj or Maidsafe) is a rigid smart-contract that sets out a reward for a host-provider providing the quality storing.

2. SiaCoin serves as an internal payment for the access to this storing space. In fact, SiaCoin is the only way to get an access to SIA platform. You cannot pay for it with any cryptocurrency or fiat money, so it’s the interesting way to increase a coin value. Renters use Siacoin to buy storage capacity from hosts, while hosts provide the safety of storing data by depositing Siacoin into a file contract as a collateral. If a computer is online and everything is fine with files, you will get your Sia as a reward. For instance, there is a Pay-as-you-go model in Storj implying that payment depends on how often members of a system use their files. Sia also provides a deposit while signing a contract for data storage. If a host doesn’t confirm the fact of storing or uploading data then a part of a deposit is deducted. That’s why hosts are interested in secure data storage and increasing of the platform reliability.

3. Sia distributes encrypted file segments by chopping them into little bits. Such technology provides much higher data security and nobody knows what these files contain inside. That leads to higher speed and much lower fee in comparison with other cloud storages. Storing of 1TB on Sia blockchain network costs about $2 per month compared to $23 on Amazon S3 while Storj set a price at $0.015 for 1GB per month. It is worthwhile to notice that Storj still has only beta version while in Sia network all the service features and smart contracts are available for users.

4. Sia project was first mentioned during the student hackathon in 2013, but officially the project was launched in June 2015. In February 2018, SiaCoin market capitalization reached over 700 billion USD . This is a huge increase from the $5 million market cap at the beginning of 2017.

5. Like any other cryptocurrency, SiaCoin can be bought at the crypto exchanges (like Bittrex, HitBTC, Cryptopia, and many others) by Bitcoin or Ethereum.

6. The other way to acquire SiaCoins is mining. Those who want to succeed in SiaCoin mining have a chance to enjoy a new kind of micro schemes called ASIC A3. This model was produced at the end of January 2018 and targeted especially for the Blake2b algorithm to get SiaCoin that makes mining 100 times more effective than standard Nvidia. However, the cost of such micro schemes is quite high (the manufacturer’s price is about $2375 not saying about higher prices in retail).

7. One more way to get SiaCoin is to take part in promo campaigns holding by Sia itself or mining pools. The aim of such campaigns is to increase the number of Sia miners that became obviously less recently as miners focused on bitcoins and ethers due to their hype.

8. Staging ICOs has turned out to be a mainstream. It looks like every company somehow connected with Blockchain or cryptocurrency is dreaming about launching its ICO. Moreover, instead of developing or upgrading its product, companies tend to promote their token generation events. In opposite, SIA team has decided not to hold an ICO but to focus on its platform enhancing. Thanks to prominent investors such as Fenbushi Capital, Raptor Group, Procyon Ventures along with angel investors like Xiaolai Li, the Sia team has managed to raise over $1.25 million in funding without any TGE event.

9. Professionals consider SiaCoin as an underestimated asset. According to CoinMarketCap, Siacoin's price is $0.01 per unit. It is planned that the price will grow along with the increase of files storing number at the SIA network.

10. Sia platform issues one more cryptocurrency – Siafund. The amount of Siafund cryptocurrency totals 10 000 that makes it more valuable and rare. The major part of Siafund is located in its developer’s environment (Nebolous Inc). Siafund can be considered as an alternative to cryptocurrency pre-mining by the altcoins developers. Deductions at 3.9% from payments of successful contracts are distributed proportionally among Siafund holders. The more Siacoin is used for storing files the higher profit Siafund brings.

Alexander Barkovskii, the founder of one of the biggest altcoin mining pool Nanopool and the CTO of Finom AG has picked up the most interesting facts about this coin.