IOTA is a project that aspires to be the spine of the Internet of Things (IoT). It works using a distributed ledger using a proprietary project called Tangle. This is different from blockchain which is typically associated with cryptocurrencies.
The native cryptocurrency of the IOTA network is called MIOTA. The system utilizes nodes to confirm transactions. The Tangle system boasts greater transaction confirmation speeds suitable for operating IoT devices.
The project is tailored to businesses that aspire to build and use interconnected distributed applications that work with smart devices.
The project is run by a non-profit foundation that seeks to provide speedy real-time microtransactions that are secure, lightweight, and without fees. The company is run by three prominent individuals, including David Sønstebø, Serguei Popov, and Dominik Schiener.
IOTA has a market cap of $1.9 billion. It currently ranks 50th with an average trading volume of $24 million. MIOTA has a circulating supply of approximately 2.7 billion tokens and a similar total supply.
After IOTA launched in 2017, the IOTA foundation stated that it retained 5% of the total supply. The foundation then released the tokens for sale to fund research and incentivize developers.
Companies Adopting IOTA
The company has more than 100 partnerships with companies across diverse industries, including governments, Academia, and business.
Some of the notable companies partnering with IOTA are:
Jaguar Land Rover
Dell Technologies
Trade Mark East Africa
Tech Mahindra
BiiLab
Leading Crypto Exchanges for IOTA
There are over 60 trading pairs for IOTA. Examples include IOTA/USDT, IOTA/USD, IOTA/BTC, and IOTA/ETH.
Some of the exchanges you can use to buy IOTA are:
What to Expect Going Forward for IOTA (Roadmap)
The IOTA 2.0 has been in development, with five objectives achieved so far. The purpose of the upgrade is to facilitate complete decentralization by eliminating the coordinator. IOTA 2.0 has some elements in the research yet to be developed and implemented, including Timestamp Voting.
Despite the competition, IOTA has made vital steps to bring together institutional partners, researchers, and developers. The company hopes to be a household name, connecting billions of devices and interconnecting people.
However, despite the promise, the IOTA team has to deal with several issues going forward. Network vulnerabilities are a vital issue as the IOTA network sometimes experiences sustained network downtime rendering the system unusable. There have been reports of missing funds and unconfirmed transactions.
While IOTA 2.0 is expected to move into full decentralization to avoid attacks on its system, security and software vulnerabilities continue to be an issue.
