In 2019, the distribution of cloud storages and servers became widespread; Internet users appreciated the advantages of this method of storing data. Cloud storage requires expensive hardware and therefore the main niche in the market is filled by large corporations. It is quite difficult to compete with such giants as Microsoft, Amazon, DropBox, Google and the cost of cloud storage services is kept at the same level. This market situation cannot be unchanged, and now there are companies offering an alternative approach to cloud storage. One of these companies is Sia.
Sia offers cloud storage services at a reduced cost. At the same time, the company guarantees high speed of data transmission, protection of information from attacks and hacking, reliability and decent quality of the services offered. Sia offers to pay for the use of cloud resources in its own cryptocurrency - Siacoin.
It is not easy to assess the prospects of the project in general, and the Siacoin cryptocurrency in particular. On the one hand, the mechanisms of interaction between network users offered by Sia are quite interesting, on the other hand, users prefer to cooperate with companies that have already established themselves in the market. The success of the Siacoin cryptocurrency directly depends on the prospects of the main project, therefore, conclusions about the role and prospects should be based on the indicators of the economic efficiency of Sia.
Siacoin (Sia) is a decentralized platform on the basis of which a cloud storage service has been developed. The project competes with large companies providing centralized cloud storage services.
Like many other software products, Siacoin works thanks to public blockchain technology, so the project looks like a mutually beneficial cooperation of Internet users: one part of the users provides the capacity of their equipment for storing data, and the other pays for the use of this capacity and places their data in the system. In this case, Siacoin is both an intermediary in transactions between users and a supplier of a unique software product.
Siacoins developments allow encrypting data that users pay for cloud storage. Verification of contracts, transactions, evidence of data safety is carried out thanks to the public blockchain technology. Payment for the services of users who provide equipment capacity for rent, and the company itself, is carried out by transferring the Siacoin cryptocurrency to digital wallets.
The reliability of the described scheme is based not only on the standard storage proof algorithm, but also on smart contracts that ensure the security of the system as follows:
The holder of the Siacoin cryptocurrency leases the power of the Sia host.
The Siacoin coins listed for the storage service are stored in the Sia system until the host fulfills the data storage obligations.
After the data is downloaded after the time interval specified in the smart contract, the host receives payment minus the commission.
Thus, if the data transferred to storage is lost, the host loses the right to receive payment.
In this case, the distributed structure of Sia has the following advantages:
optimization of response time;
reliability of data storage;
high throughput;
security of content storage;
low entrance threshold and the price of storage services.
the ability to make money by providing storage facilities.
The Siacoin (SC) cryptocurrency provides a decentralized system and an equivalent cost of paying for cloud storage services. Simply put, with the help of the Siacoin cryptocurrency, users of the software product and the Sia network are able to carry out financial transactions without reference to the exchange rate of national currencies. From this we can conclude that the Siacoin system consists of three elements: hosts, clients and a payment cryptocurrency to ensure financial transactions.
The difference between Sia and centralized cloud storage companies is that Sia is not interested in inflating the price of data storage in the cloud. The Siacoin system is built in such a way that hosts and clients have equal rights and, in fact, with the help of Sia, free market relations are ensured between both parties to smart contracts.
The interests of the hosts are taken into account. For example, they have the right to refuse services to clients for any reason, which protects hosts from storing files of questionable content. In addition, hosts have all the rights of ordinary centralized data storage companies: they can set any rates for services, as well as the amount of compensation for non-compliance with the terms of a smart contract. Also in the Sia system it is possible to promote host services through self-promotion.
The interests of customers are also respected, for non-compliance with the terms of the contract by the hosting, a fine may be imposed. The Sia system allows content to be duplicated and stored in different hosts; Clients can stimulate especially reliable hosts with additional payments. In addition, sophisticated data encryption protects clients personal files from intruders both inside and outside the system. The fact that Siacoin cryptocurrency is available for mining makes paying for cloud storage services in the system more profitable than using the capacities of centralized cloud storage companies.
Sias story began in the fall of 2013 in the United States. It was then, at the annual student hackathon of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that the participants of the event had the idea of developing a cloud file storage system based on blockchain technology.
The main developers of the Sia project were Luc Champin and David Vorick. In 2014, they founded Nebulous Inc., which develops the Sia software product. Thanks to the efforts of developers and financial contributions from the founders of Nebulous Inc. the release of the Sia network took place already in June 2015. Moreover, the Siacoin project was launched without an ICO, exclusively due to the investments of the founders of Nebulous Inc.
After the successful release of the network, the Siacoin cryptocurrency went on sale on the Binance, Upbit, Bittrex, Poloniex, HitBTC exchanges. At the end of August 2015, the Siacoin coin rate was 0.000036 USD, for several months the rate fluctuated, making unpredictable jumps, at the end of December 2015, the currency reached a minimum and was traded on exchanges at a price of 0.000013 USD.
After the pump in July 2018, the currency rate rose to the level of 0.093 USD, however, this value did not last long, the currency went into the predicted bearish trend. At the moment it is traded at 0.0015 USD.
Over the 4 years of the projects existence, the market capitalization of Siacoin has grown to 63.7 million USD, and the daily trading volume in January 2020 amounted to 2.7 million USD. These results indicate the prospects for the development of the coin and confirm that Siacoin is not a scam.
Siacoin is not very popular among traders. In the CoinMarketCap ranking in terms of market capitalization in January 2020, this altcoin took 67th place, therefore, as an investment object, this cryptocurrency can only be considered as a long-term investment with a high level of risk.
But the Sia platform is quite popular. This is due to a number of advantages over centralized cloud storage companies:
security (a method of encryption through fragmentary file separation provides protection against hacking, copying or interception of data);
protection against loss (copies of files are stored on several nodes);
low storage costs (flexible pricing model allows you to choose the available options, for example, storing a terabyte of information on the Sia system is 10 times cheaper than on Amazon);
open source for developing platform-compatible applications;
confidentiality (only the key holder, that is, the host client, has access to the contents of the files).
Currently, the Sia network is the only one that guarantees clients confidentiality and complete protection of information. In contrast, centralized cloud storage has full access to the content of clients files and is regularly attacked by hackers.
The gradual introduction of the Sia network gives reason to think that the Siacoin cryptocurrency will become more popular over time, but at the moment it has only one advantage - low volatility. As for the popularity of altcoin among miners, it is quite high: unlike bitcoin and other top mining cryptocurrencies, Siacoin mining does not require an exorbitant hardware power, and the size of the block reward is not small, especially if tokens are mined in pools.
The main purpose of the Sia project is to compete with centralized cloud storage, to ensure re-decentralization of the network, security and availability of file storage in the cloud. The purpose of the Siacoin cryptocurrency within the framework of this project is to serve as a universal means of payment for settlements between clients and hosts.
Already, the goals of the developers of the Sia project have been partially achieved, the cost of storing a terabyte of data in the Sia network is on average 2 USD or 1300 Siacoin. This availability of services, combined with complete confidentiality and a high level of protection, ensures the implementation of the ideas of the creators of the platform.
Financial transactions in the Sia system are carried out within the framework of the terms of smart contracts prescribed in the public blockchain technology. To conclude a smart contract and make a transaction, both parties to the agreement must have digital wallets with a sufficient amount of Siacoin. The high speed of Siacoin transactions is ensured due to the fact that the payment channels operate separately from the Sia network.
The growth prospects of the Siacoin cryptocurrency are closely related to the further development of the Sia network and Nebulous Inc. The developers of the project claim that in the near future the Sia network will become the main decentralized cloud storage and oust the leaders from the market - Microsoft Corporation, Amazon, DropBox and Google. If the predictions of Luc Champin and David Vorick come true, then the rate of the Siacoin cryptocurrency will rise.
Currently, the prospects for the Siacoin cryptocurrency look like this: the altcoin ensures the functioning of the Sia network, the network is constantly expanding, the popularity of the platform is growing, and at the same time the demand for network tokens is increasing.
The prospects of Siacoin are confirmed by other projects of Nebulous Inc. So, for example, the developers are planning to create their own torrent client based on the Sia platform, which means that the Siacoin will be able to squeeze the positions of the Bittorent cryptocurrency.
Siacoin has serious growth prospects, so this altcoin can be purchased in terms of long-term investments.
Added: 15.01.2020 
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