Welcome to the Nimiq Protocol Roadmap discussion
What this is
Nimiq’s mission is to empower individuals with money that is open and independent. The two recent posts, A Look Inside Nimiq and Beyond the Crypto Label, explained that direction. This roadmap is the next step: the concrete plan for the protocol, developed internally and now opened to the entire community for questions, comments and suggestions before it is finalized and shared in the Nimiq Website.
The big idea
Nimiq started as a blockchain for paying in NIM. The goal now is open payment infrastructure: a network that also carries stablecoins and Bitcoin, connects to Ethereum, Bitcoin Lightning and potentially other chains, stays secure once quantum computers are real, offers privacy without pushing anyone into a legal corner, and lets anyone build wallets and payment products on top. NIM remains the fuel: it pays the fees, secures the network through staking, and is the go-between when a payment moves from one asset to another. Alongside the protocol, we are building one flagship app as the gateway to the network; that part is covered separately in the second part of the roadmap which will be shared after this part has been thoroughly discussed…
How the roadmap is organized
The work is grouped into eight categories of milestones, Aa to Ah, each with numbered milestones (Aa.1, Ab.2, and so on):
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Aa - Stabilize, de-risk & the Bridge
Security fixes, the bridge to other chains, and one big design decision. The current top priority. -
Ab - Quantum research
Choosing the quantum-safe building blocks everything else will rely on. -
Ac - Account & key management
Self-custody that is safer and more forgiving: key rotation, multisig, social recovery. -
Ad - Token utility, tokenomics & value
Stablecoins and wrapped Bitcoin on Nimiq, and paying fees in the token you send. -
Ae - DeFi & liquidity
Swapping on-chain without a middleman, staking products, liquid staking. -
Af - Payments superiority
Instant, recurring and resilient payments, and possibly a Layer-2. -
Ag - Privacy & compliance
Private by default, provable when needed. -
Ah - Interoperability, network & ecosystem
Browser-to-browser networking, governance, AI agents, mini-apps, scripting.
The bridge has the highest priority at this point because many people already hold stablecoins or BTC, and the bridge is how they bring those onto Nimiq and spend them through the app. Without it, the app is limited to NIM, and tokens being used in other Blockchains.
Not everything here is at the same stage. Some milestones are in active development, some are research, and some are longer-term proposals. Plans remain subject to technical validation, security review, available resources and regulatory requirements, and any protocol change still has to be adopted by the network’s node operators. When plans change, we will explain what changed and why.
How the feedback process works
Each category has its own thread with a plain-language explanation of every milestone. Read the ones that interest you, then post your questions, comments and suggestions in the matching thread.
- We will answer every question within approximately one week. Some answers need input from several people on the Protocol team, so please bear with us.
- We expect to gather feedback over the next couple of weeks.
- After that, we will use what we learned here to finalize the roadmap. The final version will be announced publicly and added to the Nimiq website.
Skeptics are especially welcome. Direct, thoughtful debate is what makes plans better, so doubts and counter-proposals belong here just as much as questions, as long as they come with reasoning.
Ground rules
- Stay aligned with the core values explained in the previous blog post: open source, self-custody, decentralization as a design constraint, permissionless participation, and social impact ahead of profit.
- Comments, questions and suggestions should come with proper reasoning. Explain the “why” behind your point. Negativity for its own sake will not be tolerated.
- Spam, negative behavior, and constantly asking for hype marketing or exchange listings will result in a ban. We said we would not let market noise dominate discussions about the protocol, and this is where that starts.
Posting and Trust Levels
This forum uses trust levels. New members can take part in the existing threads right away. To add comments you need Trust Leven 1. To create new threads here, for example to propose something, you need to reach Trust Level 2. You earn those by using the forum long enough to receive the badge: read topics, spend some time browsing, and it is awarded automatically. If you are new, start by reading and replying, and the ability to open your own threads will follow.
Thank you for taking the time. Let’s build this together.
Pura Vida
Team Nimiq
None of the statements must be viewed as an endorsement or recommendation for Nimiq, any cryptocurrency, or investment product. Neither the information, nor any opinion contained herein constitutes a solicitation or offer by the creators or participants to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments or provide any investment advice or service. All statements contained in statements made in Nimiq’s web pages, blogs, social media, press releases, or in any place accessible by the public, and oral statements that may be made by Nimiq or project associates that are not statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual future results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expected, expressed, or implied by such forward-looking statements. The final decision of implementing any changes to the Nimiq protocol, including its parameters, always remains with the decentralized node operators who agree what version and parameters to deploy and support.