Your guide to Nucleus Vision and buying, selling or trading its nCash token.
Nucleus Vision is a contactless identification system designed to help retailers interact with and better serve their customers. Using proprietary blockchain and real-time sensor technology, Nucleus Vision allows bricks-and-mortar retailers to identify customers who walk into their store.
Following a successful token launch in January 2018, Nucleus Vision’s native currency, the nCash token (NCASH), is now one of the world’s top 100 largest digital currencies by market cap. If you’re thinking of buying nCash tokens, read on to find out where and how to do it as well as what factors you should consider before purchasing.
Where to buy nCash
You can buy and sell nCash on a small handful of crypto exchanges, including the following:
A step-by-step guide to buying nCash
So you want to buy some nCash tokens? Here’s how you might get started:
Step 1. Register with an exchange that lists nCash
The first step is to compare the exchanges that list NCASH in one or more currency pairings and choose the platform that best meets your needs. You can then provide your email address and a password to create an account, but you may also need to supply your personal details and proof of ID (to satisfy Know Your Customer regulations) before you can start trading.
Another important step before depositing any funds is to enable two-factor authentication on your account. This provides an added layer of security for your crypto holdings.
Step 2. Deposit funds into your account
Many exchanges only offer crypto-to-crypto trading, so you may need to own or acquire a currency that’s actually listed in an NCASH pairing before you can purchase any tokens. For example, both bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) can be directly exchanged for NCASH.
Step 3. Buy nCash
Now it’s time to navigate to the markets section of your chosen platform and search for your desired currency pairing, such as NCASH/ETH. You can then enter the amount of NCASH you’d like to buy or the amount of ETH you’d like to spend, making sure to review the full cost of the transaction before clicking “Buy NCASH” and completing your purchase.
How to sell nCash
If you need to sell your nCash tokens, the process for doing so is essentially the same as that detailed in step 3. However, you’ll obviously need to look for the link to “Sell NCASH” rather than buy.
Also, don’t forget that NCASH is only available in a limited selection of currency pairings, so it may not be possible to exchange it directly for the currency you want.
Which wallets can I use to hold nCash?
Unless you’re looking to place a trade, storing crypto tokens or coins in an exchange wallet is not recommended. Exchange-based storage comes with the risk of hacking and fraud, so moving your tokens into a secure, private wallet can provide extra peace of mind.
nCash is an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, so it can be stored in any wallet that supports these types of tokens. For example, you may choose to store your funds in MyEtherWallet, MetaMask or in a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S. Nucleus Vision also has plans to launch its own wallet at some stage in the future.
To find out more ways to store your cryptocurrency, check out our ultimate guide to wallets.
How Nucleus Vision works
In its own words, Nucleus Vision is an “end-to-end technology solution that captures and provides previously inaccessible data to retailers and other ‘brick-and-mortar’ businesses through its proprietary blockchain and real-time sensor technology”.
Founded in 2014 by Abhishek Pitti, a Harvard Business School dropout, Nucleus Vision received early-stage funding from venture capitalist Tim Draper. Following a proof-of-concept and development phase, it officially launched its product in 2017.
What exactly is the product? It all centres on ION, a proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) sensor that can uniquely identify any customer that visits a retail store. It does this by detecting the unique signal given off by customers’ mobile phones as they enter a store or any other location where an ION sensor is set up. The sensor can also pick up temperature, pressure, motion, acceleration and sound in a 200-metre radius. Customer identities and data are then securely transferred across Nucleus Vision’s blockchain platform, Orbit.
This ties in to Neuron, an analytics engine that helps retailers work out when customers are at their most receptive. The end goal is for retailers to get a better idea of their customers’ needs and wants, and to then be able to deliver better service to those customers.
What to consider if buying nCash
Cryptocurrencies are complicated and incredibly volatile assets. Buying any coin or token is a speculative move and one that should be thoroughly researched first, so if you’re thinking of buying any nCash, make sure to consider all the factors that could potentially impact on the price of this digital token.
You should take the following issues into account before purchasing nCash:
- Supply. Data from CoinMarketCap reveals that, at time of writing (April 2018), the circulating supply of nCash is 4,112,034,634. The maximum supply is limited to 10 billion tokens, and Nucleus Vision has stated that there will be no further issuance of nCash tokens.
- No ICO. Having reached its US$40 million hard cap thanks to the support of investment firms during its pre-sale phase, Nucleus Vision made the decision to cancel its ICO. Instead, nCash tokens were airdropped to whitelisted users and Telegram/Reddit community members.
- Use. As the native cryptocurrency of the Nucleus Vision network, nCash has two main uses:
- It forms the basis of the Nucleus Vision Universal Loyalty Program (retailer rewards system). Retailers in the Nucleus network can reward customers with offers using nCash, which can then be redeemed at any retailer in the Nucleus Vision network
- It allows the transfer of data between users
- Earning tokens. There are four ways to earn nCash tokens:
- Entering a retail store that’s part of the Nucleus Vision network
- Receiving discounts and coupons (in the form of NCASH) from retailers who want to increase in-store shopping conversion
- Buying something at a store that is part of the Nucleus Vision network in order to earn loyalty reward points
- Authorising and exchanging customer data on the Nucleus Vision platform. nCash tokens are required for this data transfer, and a portion of the fee is paid into your wallet
- Limited availability. nCash is still a relatively new player on crypto markets and is only listed on a small number of exchanges. Consider the impact this lack of widespread availability could have on public perception of the Nucleus Vision project as well as the ease with which new crypto buyers can access the token.
- Partnerships. Nucleus Vision’s technology has already been deployed in 10 retail stores, and its roadmap sets the goal of deploying 5,000 ION sensors by the end of 2018. The project also announced a new relationship with Indian fintech firm Paytm in April 2018, while its website lists Vodafone and Reliance Communications among its telecom partners and Intel and Radisys among its technology partners.
- Working product. With many crypto projects still in the developmental phase, often with little more than a theory or idea and years of work in front of them, the fact that Nucleus Vision already has a working product is well worth mentioning. However, whether it can achieve widespread adoption of its network, and therefore of its native token, remains to be seen.
By assessing these and a range of other factors, you’ll be able to make up your own mind about whether Nucleus Vision is headed for large-scale success and whether nCash tokens represent a good buy.
Frequently asked questions about nCash
Picture: Shutterstock
At the time of writing, the author holds IOTA and XLM.
