The Threshold Network is a blockchain-based protocol that aims to provide privacy-preserving smart contracts for decentralized applications (dApps). It utilizes a unique threshold signature scheme to ensure secure and private transactions.
Threshold signatures are a type of cryptographic signature that allows a group of users to jointly sign a transaction, without any one user having full control or access to the signing key. This makes it possible to create secure and private transactions, while also ensuring that no single entity has too much control over the process.
The Threshold Network also uses a privacy layer called “zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge” (zk-SNARKs) to enable confidential transactions on the blockchain. This means that transaction information can be kept private, while still being verified by the network.
The Threshold Network aims to provide a platform for building decentralized applications that prioritize privacy, security, and scalability. It has the potential to be used in a variety of industries, such as finance, healthcare, and supply chain management, where data privacy and security are critical concerns.
How to Buy Threshold Summary
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest Threshold software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your Threshold. Make sure to withdraw the Threshold from the exchange to your personal wallet. Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past) and always double check address before send coins because you can send the coins to wrong address .
The T token is both a utility token for the Threshold Network and a governance token for the Threshold DAO.
The T token is primarily used to stake a node. Node operators receive fees from various applications that rely on the Threshold network’s cryptographic primitives. The T token is also a governance token and users can lock the token in coverage pools to earn yield in exchange for underwriting collateral risk in the network.
Threshold provides a suite of cryptographic building blocks for privacy, access controls, and cross-chain bridges, including: * Proxy re-encryption (PRE) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_re-encryption) * Threshold signatures (TSS) (https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/threshold-signatures-explained) * Distributed key generation (DKG) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_key_generation) * Random beacon (RB) (https://blog.keep.network/whats-in-a-beacon-12c34b0bc078)
tBTC is Threshold’s flagship application. tBTC is tokenized Bitcoin that is completely permissionless (i.e. has no custodian), which allows anyone to tokenize their Bitcoin and use it in DeFi applications without sacrificing privacy or risking censorship.
Keep and NuCypher were merged into the Threshold Network in a decentralized on-chain merger. The idea to merge the two networks was first proposed by the community in February of 2021. The first iteration of the proposal to merge was posted to the Keep Network forum in March. The final proposal rc0 defined the terms of the merger and was approved in June of 2021 by both communities, with a snapshot vote for Keep and NuCypher token holders.
The vending machine contracts, with static conversion ratios, will be available to NU and KEEP holders indefinitely. There is no time pressure or disadvantage in waiting to upgrade NU/KEEP into T, so please be safe, take your time, and confirm everything!
As a reminder, existing NU and KEEP stakers will not be able to use the vending machine contracts until their stakes unlock and become liquid. Legacy stakers will be grandfathered into Threshold via special staking adapters.