The Future of Nimiq

#1

As the Nimiq project matures and the crypto landscape evolves, it’s more important than ever for the community to come together and reflect on where we’ve been—and where we’re headed. This thread is an open invitation to anyone with a stake or interest in Nimiq to share your thoughts, ideas, critiques, and hopes for the future. Unlike fast-moving chats on Telegram or Discord, this forum aims to provide a more permanent space for thoughtful, long-form discussion. Whether you’re a core team member, long-time supporter, developer, or simply curious about the Nimiq ecosystem, your perspective is valued here.

The goal of this post is not to arrive at firm conclusions, but to collect a wide range of insights, suggestions, and questions about the future of the Nimiq project and the NIM currency. Ideally, this becomes a central place that the community and team can refer back to—a snapshot of sentiment and ideas that can help guide Nimiq’s direction moving forward.

This is also an opportunity for Team Nimiq to engage directly: to share updates, reflect on past successes and missteps, and offer transparency about current priorities and challenges.

Everyone is welcome—community members, developers, ecosystem partners, Bitcoin maxis, critics, and supporters alike. If you care about the Nimiq payment ecosystem or the future of the NIM currency, your voice belongs here.

Here are just a few starter questions to inspire the conversation:

  • Should NIM focus exclusively on payments, or expand into areas like smart contracts?
  • How can adoption and real-world usage of Nimiq and the NIM currency be meaningfully increased?
  • Is there a need for formal governance—such as a constitution or voting framework—to shape Nimiq’s evolution?
  • When and why are community votes (like changes to the emission curve) triggered, and should this process be more clearly defined?
  • Should the 21 billion NIM supply cap remain fixed?
  • What role should decentralization play in shaping the project’s future?
  • Should Nimiq prioritize NIM itself, or broader crypto payments adoption—including BTC, USDC, etc.?
  • What are effective ways to empower the community to contribute to marketing and adoption efforts?
  • In an ideal world, how is NIM being used?

Of course, these are just starting points. Everyone will have their own priorities, questions, and ideas—and all are welcome. As certain topics generate momentum, they may evolve into standalone threads. But for now, let’s keep this a central hub for thoughtful discussion about the future of Nimiq.

Let’s see where it leads!

3 Likes
#2

Nimiq should expand into smart contracts, but not a general purpose one like that of ETH or SOL. Instead, it should focus on ways to distinguish itself, thus in a way become a special purpose smart contract platform. It cannot just be focused on being a payment coin only as stablecoins are gaining more widespread adoption. NIM can be the gas token for transactions or use if for escrow on HTLCs. In addition, using the smart contracts should be easy and cheap like Solana.

Focus on OASIS, expand it to exchanges, leverage it more as a DEX, let it be able to exchange crypto for crypto, not just fiat/crypto.

Next, focus on the wallet app, make it more feature-rich, add more support for more crypto. Phantom Wallet is immensely popular because it can do a lot, Nimiq wallet should try to strive for that. This is a way to expand the reach of Nimiq, people like using good and useful apps on their phones.

#3

I summarized my idea with chatgpt. The general idea is:

Universal Stablecoin Receiver: A Vision for Seamless Multi-Chain Acceptance

The Problem:

  • Today, stablecoins like USDT exist on multiple blockchains: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, etc.

  • Users often interact with stablecoins through wallets (e.g., Nimiq) that only support specific chains (e.g., USDT on Polygon).

  • Since Ethereum-style addresses (0x…) are identical across chains, users may unknowingly send tokens via the wrong chain to a wallet that does not support it — resulting in lost funds and poor UX.

  • This problem is especially relevant for user-friendly wallets like Nimiq that aim to simplify crypto payments for the masses.

The Idea:

  • What if a user could send USDT (or another stablecoin) from any chain — BNB, Polygon, Ethereum — to one address, and the wallet would automatically recognize and handle it correctly?

  • No chain confusion. No risk of loss. Just seamless receipt of stablecoins, regardless of their origin chain.

Why It Matters:

  • Solving this would eliminate one of the most common mistakes in stablecoin transactions.

  • It would enable a new level of chain-agnostic user experience — essential for onboarding new users and merchants.

  • For projects like Nimiq, this would be a powerful differentiator in a crowded market.

How Is This Different from Existing Solutions?

  • Centralized exchanges (like Binance) require users to manually select the correct network. Errors lead to loss or costly recovery procedures.

  • Cross-chain bridges (e.g., Rango, Li.Fi) focus on token swaps, not on receiving payments across chains.

  • Naming services (like ENS or Unstoppable Domains) resolve to different addresses per chain, but do not provide automatic chain detection or routing.

  • Circle’s CCTP for USDC comes closest but is specific to their token and doesn’t unify the address experience.

Proposed Solutions:

  1. Preventive UX & Smart Warnings (Short Term)

  • Display clear network-specific warnings in the wallet UI.

  • Use chain-aware QR codes or payment links to reduce user error.

  • Lowest cost, minimal technical change, but doesn’t fix the core problem.

  1. Multi-Chain Listener + Unified Address Backend (Mid Term)

  • The wallet backend listens for incoming transfers to the same address on supported chains (e.g., BNB, Polygon).

  • Funds are either made visible separately, or routed via internal bridging to a preferred chain.

  • Provides a “universal stablecoin address” experience with some operational complexity.

  • Requires token bridging logic and chain monitoring infrastructure.

  1. Smart Address Routing Layer (Long Term / Visionary)

  • A “universal” address like you.nimiq receives incoming payments from any chain.

  • Middleware layer detects chain, accepts funds, and automatically routes or wraps the assets.

  • Could optionally unify the balances behind the scenes.

  • High complexity but creates a truly visionary UX: send from anywhere, receive safely, always.

Is This Visionary?

  • Absolutely. While individual pieces exist (multi-chain swaps, naming, bridges), no one has solved this at the wallet level in a way that feels native, safe, and chain-agnostic to the end user.

  • It’s the kind of problem that, once solved, makes blockchain feel invisible — and that’s exactly what mainstream crypto needs.

1 Like
#4

  1. On the base layer, payments only.
    But it would be possible to do “based” roll ups, as Kaspa is doing.

  2. Real world usage comes after you conquer a slice of the crypto market, you first need volume to capture free listings from exchanges

  3. A formal governance would be cool (like Cardano), but I suspect you cannot do it with SCs.

  4. I never understood what triggers community votes.

  5. 21 billion only, absolutely.

  6. Decentralization is non negotiable

  7. Yes, Nim should prioritize itself, absolutely. Then stablecoins (for merchants especially), and BTC as last.

  8. I proposed this to empower the community based on objective metrics.
    Proposal for strengthening Nimiq social presence on X and TikTok

  9. Ideally, it should be used as both SoV and MoE. But for large scale adoption you have to wait for fiat currencies to collapse, first.

1 Like
#5

This is a really cool concept and would go a long way towards simplifying the wallet experience, at least regarding stablecoins. It can be challenging to explain the basics of crypto to people unfamiliar with it, so then having to explain why USDC exists on many different chains adds layers of confusion to an already confusing topic. Any idea how feasible this is to build?

1 Like
#6

Absolutely agree — explaining crypto layers to newcomers is nearly impossible. It’s like telling someone they can pay in EUR, but only if it’s sent via Visa, not Mastercard — and they first need to swap it themselves. Totally confusing.

Even for experienced users, managing stablecoins across chains is a constant headache. We get it, but it’s still a pain — especially when juggling multiple wallets and chains.

That’s why I believe the Nimiq Wallet should support USDT (and other stables) across all major chains — and automatically detect the origin chain when funds arrive.
Then show the user something like:

“You have 354 USDT total (across 4 chains). Merge them all to the cheapest chain for 3 USDT?”

Keep it simple. That’s what Nimiq is known for.

We could use atomic swaps to consolidate or convert — and even generate fees for the protocol or discount them for stakers (e.g., stake X NIM → pay 90% less in fees).

Personally, if this existed, I’d move all my stablecoins to Nimiq Wallet.
Once they’re there, you’re just one click away from swapping into NIM, or using them directly via Nimiq Pay. It’s the smoothest entry point possible.

Let’s make stablecoins truly simple — the Nimiq way.

1 Like
#7

Have you considered what format the universal stablecoin address would look like in the Nimiq wallet? Just thinking of the possible pitfalls here… the part that might be tricky is when withdrawing to the Nimiq wallet from an exchange that uses ERC-20, TRC-20, or some selection of blockchain networks. Since addresses on Tron are different than addresses on Ethereum, how can an address in the Nimiq wallet be compatible with both when entering a withdrawal address to the exchange? In other words, USDT addresses on Ethereum or EVM-compatible chains all begin with the characters 0x, on Tron it is T, on Nimiq it is NQ… so how could addresses be structured in the Nimiq wallet that would be compatible with the existing standards for USD stablecoins?

It seems like going the other way and sending from the Nimiq wallet to another address would be easier as there could be something built on the backend that will swap USD between chains before sending. This might actually be a good application for the OASIS architecture as it could use smart contracts to guarantee swaps/transactions between the various chains. Gas abstraction AND chain abstraction would make the experience seamless.

1 Like
#8

A solution with unstoppable domain feature would be great.

1. “Email-Style” Identity with Unstoppable Domains
By partnering with Unstoppable Domains, every user’s “address” becomes a human-readable name, like bigmac.crypto. Under the hood, your wallet maintains a mapping from that single name to multiple on-chain addresses:

  • USDT on Ethereum (ERC-20)
  • USDT on BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20)
  • USDT on Tron (TRC-20)
  • And any other supported chains (Polygon, Avalanche, etc.)

Whenever you load bigmac.crypto, the wallet queries the domain’s TXT records or Unstoppable’s API and retrieves the list of associated addresses.

2. Unified Balance Dashboard
Instead of juggling four different addresses, you’d see:

USDT Total: $200.00
▼ Breakdown:
  • Ethereum (0x…):        $125.00
  • BNB Smart Chain (0x…):  $50.00
  • Tron (T…):              $25.00
  • Total is front and center, so you instantly know your full USDT holdings.
  • A little arrow (▼) drops down to reveal each chain-specific balance.
  • Clicking on any line expands transaction history, a “Receive” button, and a tiny copy-address icon—great for when you need to paste the raw on-chain address somewhere else.

3. One-Click Bridge / Merge
Below the breakdown, a clear action button:

Bridge all USDT → Polygon
Estimated fee: $2.50
Your fee (Nimiq Staker): $0.50

  • Standard users see the default fee.
  • Stakers at the long-term tier automatically get the discounted rate.
  • Clicking “Advanced” reveals options to choose any destination chain or set up an Auto-Bridge rule that whenever you receive USDT on a non-preferred chain, it’s automatically bridged to your main chain of choice.

A progress bar and real-time status updates keep you informed during the bridging process.

4. Incentivizing Non-Custodial Growth
Once you hold stablecoins in your wallet:

  • We surface a “Swap to BTC/NIM” prompt right below your balances—no extra screens needed.
  • To reward loyalty, the next time you bridge or swap, you earn small NIM rebates proportional to your staking level.
  • Referral banners invite you to share your Unstoppable Domain with friends; when they onboard and bridge, both of you get an additional fee discount.

5. Robust Fallback & Security

  • If a domain lookup ever times out, the UI gracefully degrades to showing raw NQ-addresses with a gentle warning:

    “Couldn’t fetch domain info—sending directly to your Nimiq address.”

  • All bridging and swapping flows remain non-custodial: your private keys never leave your device, and every transaction is signed locally.

By centering on Unstoppable Domains, we hide blockchain complexity behind a single, memorable name—yet retain full power and transparency for advanced users.

#9

I think there’s some good ideas here. Personally speaking, I think Nimiq should strictly be a payment coin. I agree that some sort of universal stablecoin platform within the wallet is good; it meshes really well with Nimiq current style (i.e. abstraction of the tedious parts of crypto).

I was a little taken aback by a comment made on a podcast by a Nimiq staff member earlier this year. I can’t remember what they said precisely, but they suggested the possibility of adding “memecoins” to Nimiq. I sincerely hope they were being facetious-- staying as far away as possible from “memecoins” should be the goal as it will only devalue and taint Nimiq’s reputation and detract from all their hard work.

It really seems like stablecoin usability and accessibility is the ascendent trend within the space. Some might say that this makes Nimiq redundant, as paying with stablecoins would likely be easier. While I understand this critique, I believe that Nimiq isn’t quite achieving the same goal as stablecoins. While stablecoins are a medium of exchange, they aren’t an investment: they are symbolic USD. Nimiq, on the other hand can be both: a medium of exchange via Nimiq Pay as well as a investment, via staking and its finite quantity. There are many people who want both from their money.

As such, all the Nimiq team should be doing is:

  1. Making the Nimiq wallet even easier to use
  2. Making the Nimiq wallet even more powerful
  3. Increasing the acceptance of Nimiq Pay via Bluecode, NAKA, and other integrations.

I don’t believe there’s any need for additional functionality on the base layer of the chain at this point in time; it is solid enough for the task ahead. The focus should be on getting as many integrations as possible while also making the Nimiq wallet the natural choice for the inevitable breakout of stablecoins.

1 Like
#10

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I totally agree with you: Nimiqs wallet is definitely a great benefit for many crypto users. I wrote down some more features I could imagine could fit - not all of them will probably, but it’s just ideas that came into my mind over the last weeks.

  • Memecoins don’t fit Nimiq’s mission, but on the other hand bring a lot of attention. (If there’s ever demand, we could expose them later under an “expert mode” toggle?)

  • Multi-stable support won’t make Nimiq obsolete—rather:

    • Users can send any DEX/CEX stable into one wallet.
    • The wallet can earn “atomic-swap” fees when merging chains.
    • People feel safer holding stables and are then one click away from swapping into NIM.
    • You still need NIM & the Nimiq Pay app for Bluecode payments.

  • Pro-user features or features you can toggle to keep the wallet simple but personalised:

    • Expert mode to turn on additional coins (Solana, Kaspa, XRP, ETH…)
    • Transaction tags and spending reports (like a banking app)
    • Custom dark mode or user-selectable accent colors
    • Personalized greeting (“Good morning, Champ”)
    • Crypto stats module (market-cap)
    • Feed of Nimiq updates (X, YouTube) with simple share/repost prompts
    • Highlight CryptoCities: save favorites, get notified of new or upcoming spots
    • Optional double opt-in pairing between wallet and Nimiq Pay app

  • Staker incentives:

    • Stakers would get free/discounted swapping - not just for whales, but for long-term small stakers too—“shrimp” supporters matter for network stability.

All of these keep Nimiq focused on payment + investment, supercharge the wallet, and drive real-world adoption without touching the base layer.

#11

I had a chance to read an early discussion paper that was circulated in the Cardano community as they were hammering out their governance constitution. Depending on how the discussion goes here, maybe we can come up with some similar proposals for Nimiq. One of the areas I would like to see formalized in the future is everything around the voting process. I’ll post some of the questions that I think are relevant, in a number/bullet format similar to how questions were asked in the discussion paper:

1. Voting and Protocol Changes

From time to time the Nimiq Foundation will need to conduct votes to assist in determining the future direction of the protocol and ecosystem. Previous community votes were held using a 1 NIM = 1 VOTE weighting system. However, there lacks a formal structure on how and when a vote should be triggered, as well as who should be allowed to take part in the voting process.

1.1 Voting Rights & Weighting

  • Should ecosystem partners (eg: Bluecode, NAKA etc.) or others with a vested interest in the project’s success—such as developers, contributors, or strategic collaborators—be allowed to participate in the voting process even if they hold little or no NIM? If so, how should their votes be weighted to reflect their contributions?
  • If voting is limited to NIM holders only, should it be based on a 1 NIM = 1 VOTE model, or should an alternate weighting system be considered?
  • Since not all users follow social media or official channels, how can awareness and participation in community votes be ensured?
  • How should large institutions, retailers, or custody providers be treated in the voting process? These entities could accumulate significant NIM holdings and potentially influence decisions disproportionately compared to everyday users of the ecosystem. What safeguards, if any, should be in place to prevent concentration of influence and protect the project’s decentralized nature?
  • Should the Nimiq Foundation be allowed to use NIM held in the treasury to vote?

1.2 Alternative Voting & Sentiment Measurement

Should there be a way of measuring community sentiment without having a formal vote on a topic or protocol change? If so, how would an informal poll be conducted?

1.3 Veto Power

Should the Nimiq Foundation reserve the right to veto community-led voting initiatives? If so, should the Nimiq Foundation be required to provide a public rationale for doing so?

1.4 Voting on Protocol Changes

-Should major protocol updates require a community vote? If so, what type of protocol updates should trigger a vote? What thresholds should be met to determine this? Are different voting thresholds needed for different magnitudes of protocol change? For example, 50% +1 for regular decisions // 66.6% supermajority for major protocol decisions.

1.5 Reversibility of Changes

If a community vote on a protocol change is later found to be harmful to the ecosystem, or if superior technologies are developed concurrent to implementation, should a vote be overridden? If so, should the Nimiq Foundation reserve the right to retroactively veto community voting results? If not, how should this decision be made?

I’m curious to know what people think, or if anything should be added? Also curious to know peoples’ thoughts on developing a formal governance model or constitution that outlines rights and responsibilities, voting, etc. Is this a waste of time? Is it absolutely necessary? Does it help or harm decentralization?

#12

Potential for a silent, scalable revolution.

Idea: Every Shopify website runs a Nimiq browser node in the background.

How does this work technically?
The shop operator integrates a small JavaScript snippet into their site.

This script launches a lightweight Nimiq browser node when the page loads.

The website visitor temporarily becomes part of the Nimiq network (e.g., relays transactions, assists with syncing, validates lightweight blocks, etc.).

For Shopify merchants:
Advantage: Explanation
Zero setup effort. Simple script or Shopify app – no software installation.
Passive participation in the network. The shop “does good” in the background.
Crypto integration on a new level. The shop becomes not just a payment acceptance point, but an active part of the decentralized internet.

For Nimiq:
Effect Significance
Massive decentralization. Every shop visit brings new nodes – automatically.
Exponential growth. 1.7 million Shopify pages → potentially millions of nodes.
Stronger network resilience. No more central dependence on full nodes.
Real-world use case. From “technology project” to “invisible backbone of the payment web.”

Possible effects:
Network usage grows organically with e-commerce.

Payments & node operation run in the same interface – the web browser.

Nimiq becomes the TCP/IP of web payments.

Example visualization (in words):
You open a Shopify store – say, a bookstore.

A Nimiq node starts in the background in your browser.

At the same time, you pay for a book with NIM (or fiat via OASIS).

Your node helps relay this transaction – you’re not just a customer, but also a participant in the network.

Next step: Shopify app or plugin
Such functionality could be implemented as:

Shopify app (public or private)

CDN-optimized JavaScript module

Open source toolkit for merchants

Conclusion
Any Shopify website as a browser node is not only possible, it’s brilliant.
It connects the payment network, infrastructure, and decentralization in an invisible yet powerful way – exactly as good technology should be.

2 Likes
#13

Architecture: Proof-of-Usefulness (PoU) Reward Server
Goal: Reward website operators (e.g., Shopify stores) whose visitors participate in the network as passive Nimiq nodes through their browsing time.

Component Overview
Browser Node Snippet (Client)
Is embedded on the website (similar to Google Analytics)

Starts passive Nimiq browser node

Sends regular “activity pings” to reward servers (every X seconds)

Calculates:

Active browser nodes per page

Total uptime per node/site

Validity of connections (header sync or TX seen?)

Issues PoU points or reward units

Example logic:

1 active browser node for 10 minutes = 1 PoU point

Maximum 100 PoU points per day/site

Automatic exclusion of bots

Reward payout / Dashboard
Admin area for merchants (e.g., “Shopify Store XYZ”)

Display: "Today 43 Visitor Nodes – 12.3 NIM earned

Payouts are made:

Automatically every month

Or manually via a button (via Wallet Connect)

Payouts are based on:

PoU score

Budget pool

(Optional) DAO voting or partner funding

:moneybag: Reward model (example)
Activity PoU points Equivalent value (e.g., in NIM)
1 active node for 10 minutes 1 PoU ~0.01 NIM
100 PoU / day / merchant max. 100 PoU 1 NIM
30 days active 3000 PoU 30 NIM (~decentralized server cost compensation)

:bulb: The values ​​are customizable – NFTs, badge systems, voting, etc. are also conceivable.

:chart_with_upwards_trend: Advantages
:white_check_mark: Promotes decentralized infrastructure on the web
:white_check_mark: Rewards sites with high traffic
:white_check_mark: Simple to integrate
:white_check_mark: Data protection compliant (no KYC, no accounts required)
:white_check_mark: No mining, no power consumption, no wallet installation

:white_check_mark: Conclusion
Proof of Usefulness works 100% with the existing POS.

You only need:

Access to the Nano nodes in the browser (already possible)

A reward server for tracking (decentralized or centralized)

Reward logic (off-chain: API, smart contract optional)

This gives you a rewarding, ecological, web-based participatory network
that extends the existing Nimiq ecosystem – not changes it.

1 Like
#14

Is there a way you can condense this into a few sentences or a paragraph that captures the essence of your ideas in a simplified way? I find it difficult to fully grasp what you are proposing here.

#15

The idea behind Proof-of-Usefulness (PoU) is to reward website operators – such as Shopify stores – for their visitors automatically participating as passive nodes in the Nimiq network while browsing. A small JavaScript snippet mimics the behavior of a Nimiq node in the browser, sends regular activity data to a reward server, and collects PoU points in return. These points are paid out in NIM (or other rewards). This creates a privacy-friendly, ecological incentive to promote decentralized infrastructure – without any mining, logins, or wallets.

#16

Thank you for that. It makes a lot more sense now. It’s a really cool idea to incentivize people to learn and take part. One question that comes up is who will supply the NIM rewards in this case? Would it come from the Nimiq Foundation treasury or somewhere else?

Maybe there is a way to incorporate Cryptocity points into this as a PoU rather than a separate points system? I think it is awesome that Nimiq is attempting to bring crypto payments into the physical “brick-and-mortar” world, and something like Shopify is a digital, largely decentralized (having no central ‘Shopify physical store’) version of that.

1 Like
#17

As stable coins are more and more on the rise (i.e. USDC Support in Shopify), I personally think that stable coins are a key point of Crypto adoption why I would still like to get some feedback on my initial idea regarding multi chain stable coin adoption in the Nimiq wallet.

People use different chains, currently you can’t send USDC/USDT on Polygon to Kucoin and it’s just a pain in the a**!

I created little demo in Figma and would like to show an idea of the feature. Videos are not allowed so here is a screenshot. I will share the video on Telegram

"Merge to" button is a little extra that could bring some attention and generate a little extra revenue. All technical aspects would have to be discussed anyway, but would anyone use this feature?

image
image1904×630 71.2 KB

1 Like
#18

Any sort of simplifying moves like the “Merge to” button are always welcome and remove yet another barrier to entry to crypto - I would certainly love to see this, as many other mainstream wallets have yet to implement something like this and it sooo adds to the ease of use that the Nimiq Wallet excels in.

If Nimiq figures this out, it could even be a service that those mainstream wallets could license / integrate into theirs.

There are technical challenges I’m sure, especially since USDC swaps are so smooth and inexpensive because of Gas Abstraction, which might not be feasible on the other chains. But maybe the trading volume and trading from Cryptocity.exchange partners could be utilized here.

2 Likes
#19

Do you guys have any thoughts or ideas about the creation of a Nimiq consitution as a guiding document for the project into the future? Nimiq is weird because in some ways it is both decentralized and centralized; the currency is highly decentralized, but the organization building it is more of a centralized entity, although team Nimiq has chosen a structure which also partially decentralizes itself.

If NIM succeeds as a currency, then one day the faces of Team Nimiq will be all new faces. So how does the torch get passed through time in a way that protects and grows the currency? How should major disputes be resolved? How should voting work? What happens if a faction breaks off the development team? How can Foundation funds be protected? Imagine the year is 2060…

1 Like