The private computing and storage network, known as Nillion or the “blind computer,” launched its mainnet and native token NIL this Monday.
Despite this, the token’s market cap fell by 12% within its first 24 hours, even as major exchanges like South Korea’s Bithumb listed it and analysts maintained a positive outlook on the project’s future.
NIL was introduced with a total supply of 1 billion tokens, of which 19.52%, equating to 195.15 million NIL, were airdropped to the community on launch day, establishing an initial market capitalization of slightly over $165 million.
Since then, its market valuation declined by 12% to $144.93 million, with the token trading at 74 cents across major platforms such as Binance, Gate.io, MEXC, and Bitget, according to data from Coingecko.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bithumb, one of the top crypto exchanges known for its focus on altcoins in South Korea, revealed the launch of the NIL-Korean won trading pair on its exchange.
Understanding Nillion’s blind computing
Nillion operates as a decentralized platform aimed at facilitating secure storage and computation of private, high-value data, paralleling how blockchains decentralize transactions.
However, it differs fundamentally: instead of focusing on transparent ledgers like most blockchains, Nillion leverages Nil Message Compute (NMC) to perform computations on encrypted data without needing to decrypt it, thus ensuring that sensitive information remains inaccessible to any single node or party.
The architecture features a Coordination Layer referred to as nilChain and Petnet, with the latter employing advanced privacy technologies such as multi-party computation, fully homomorphic encryption, and trusted execution environments to uphold data security.
This blind computing approach presents a stark contrast to conventional methods that demand decryption prior to processing, leaving sensitive information—like personal health or financial data—vulnerable to potential security breaches and misuse.
Significant for the AI surge
Nillion addresses ongoing challenges related to data privacy and trust, particularly in fields like artificial intelligence (AI)—including personal assistants and healthcare AI—and in the realms of decentralized finance with private order books, among others.
“Nillion is confronting AI’s most significant challenge: trust. By incorporating advanced privacy technology into a cohesive framework for AI applications, Nillion could emerge as essential to AI as SSL is to the internet. If Nillion achieves user-friendliness alongside its robust capabilities, it will drive the next wave of AI adoption,” commented Yau Teng Yan, founder and chief evangelist at a research firm, in a detailed post on X.
“The privacy revolution is just beginning,” he added.
Optimistic tokenomics
The NIL token serves as the governance cryptocurrency utilized for network fees associated with blind computation and transactions across Nillion’s Coordination Layer and Petnet, facilitating network security through staking and participation in on-chain governance.
“The economics of NIL are structured for widespread adoption. NIL will empower the network, ensuring operational security while generating burn-based demand as usage grows,” Yan noted.