Cryptocurrencies are starting to play a bigger role in our lives due to the various services that have proven to be more efficient than traditional services. After Bitcoin, many cryptocurrencies started offering more services that would slowly replace centralization. In other words, services that would eliminate the need to have third parties would usually regulate the services in hand.
In this article, we are going to focus on a cryptocurrency that has exploited decentralized data storage. Storing data online has become one of the biggest essentials during the internet era. The Sia network is one of the best cryptocurrency networks that provide such services, and its native token Siacoin (SC) has recently become one of the biggest cryptocurrencies of 2021.
But what has determined the success of Siacoin, and can it continue to grow at the same rate in the future? Knowing the answers to these questions could be the turning point that makes you decide on whether you should invest in this cryptocurrency. So, to answer those questions, you first need to know about Siacoin in general, its price history, future goals, price factors, and many more. Let’s briefly begin with the fundamentals of Siacoi
What Is Siacoin (SC)?
Created by computer scientists Luke Champine and David Vorick, the Sia network started as a startup project during the college years of the aforementioned experts. Billionaire investor Jim Pallotta liked the concept of Sia and offered to fund the development of the project. But why name it Sia? It turns out that the inspiration behind the name is from the Egyptian God of perception that goes by the same name.
The native currency of the Sia network is Siacoin (SC). It is considered one of the first cryptocurrencies to provide cloud storage services in a fully decentralized manner. Sia network has other underlying projects that make its services possible, namely those of SiaStream and Skynet. The former offers decentralized media streaming, while the latter provides the other main features of Sia.
Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Siacoin does not have a limited supply. An unlimited supply often entails inflationary properties. This unlimited supply is key to benefiting everyone in the network since if the supply was limited and its price would increase, the demand for storing data in the Sia network could decrease.
As of 2021, the storage used by people in the Sia network has been growing in Terabytes, where more than 700 Terabytes have been used in the first two weeks of May 2021.
Like other cryptocurrencies that offer more services than just transactions, Sia uses smart contracts. Such smart contracts in the Sia network are known as File Contracts. File contracts last 90 days, and a host is required to provide the storage to the users. After 90 days, the host needs to prove that data is still being stored by sharing a portion of the data. All of this process of proof is known as Proof of Storage. The host is rewarded with SC if they can prove that storage is being provided after 90 days and that the proof of storage is valid.
User data is decomposed into 30 parts so that it is uploaded quicker. This is achieved through Merkle Tree technology, or also known as a hash tree. As the name suggests, a hash tree is formed as a tree, where each block is linked with one another, forming a tree-like structure and achieving higher efficiency. Erasure coding is another process involved in file contracts, where the files are stored redundantly. Due to this redundancy, 10 out of 30 parts of a decomposed file are sufficient to recover all the files if the host goes offline and 20 files are not accessible.
If the host fails to prove that the data is being stored through proof of storage after 90 days, the network automatically finds another host and transfers all the data to the other host in a process known as file repair. If file repair cannot find a new host, the user is refunded for unused Siacoins allocated on storing data.
Rank: 192
As a consensus mechanism, Sia uses Proof-of-Work (PoW), similar to Bitcoin. The circulating and total supply of Siacoins is around 47.8 billion SC. But there is another token used in the Sia network, which is Siafunds (SF). SF are security tokens that are used to grow the network by incentivizing its owners by generating revenue. Owners of SF earn 3.9% of every transaction fee required for storing data. This comes from rent storage fees, bandwidth costs, or host collateral. There are only 10,000 SF in circulation, and 8,000 are owned by the Sia network team, Nebulous.
Siacoin entails much more privacy and anonymity when compared to traditional data storage options. The data in Sia is encrypted, broken down, and the host that shares the storage cannot access your files (unless they get your private keys). Traditional cloud storage options, on the other hand, can access your data and may use them for manipulative purposes.
Also, Sia cloud storage is much cheaper than the likes of Google, Amazon, or Microsoft.
Some external storage applications or projects developed on the Sia network have made data storage possible for Sia. The main ones are Filebase, Skynet, Nextcloud, etc.
Siacoin (SC) Price Analysis
Based on the price chart of Coinmarketcap, Siacoin had a starting price of around $0.00004 when it was first launched in the third quarter of 2015. It had a relatively stable price for a few months and then had a bigger increase, reaching $0.001 by June of 2016. The price fell to around $0.0004 in the rest of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017. In April of 2017, the price started a bullish run, reaching as high as $0.02 in June. The price got stable again to around $0.004, but then had another big increase in January of 2018, following the bullish runs of a lot of other cryptocurrencies. The price reached very close to $0.10 for the first time that month.
The bearish run started shortly after that, with the price of SC reaching as low as $0.001 and remaining in the range of $0.001 and $0.004 for the rest of 2019 and the whole of 2020. In January of 2021, the price of SC started following another bullish trend of other cryptocurrencies, where one of the factors might have been the BTC halving of 2020. The price started increasing at quick rates, and it has reached as high as $0.06 in April of 2021. The price has started declining again and averages around $0.03 midway through May of 2021. This suggests that the price of SC is yet to exceed its highest of all time.
Since the circulating supply is 47.8 billion SC and its price is around $0.03, the market capitalization of Siacoin is around $1.4 billion. This ranks Siacoin at number 84 in the crypto market.
Siacoin (SC) 2021 Price Prediction
There are various price predictions for Siacoin for both the short term and the long term. Let’s firstly see what the experts have to say about the price of Siacoin for the rest of 2021. Digitalcoinprice suggests that the average price of Siacoin might range from $0.04 and very close to $0.05 in the months left of 2021. Walletinvestor also predicts relatively slow decreases in the price, as the price might range from $0.02 to $0.05 for the rest of 2021.
YouTuber Investing With Jaxx is one of the more optimistic predictors in the price of SC. After a careful analysis, he forecasts that the price of SC can get close to $0.2 or even exceed that amount for the first time in its history.
Long-term Price Predictions for Siacoin (SC) 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025
As for the long-term price, SC can grow steadily. Digitalcoinprice predicts that the average price of SC can range from $0.04 to $0.06 in 2022. In 2023, the price range of SC might be from $0.05 to $0.07. At similar rates, in 2024 the price can range from $0.06 to 0.08. Lastly, the price can reach $0.1 for the first time ever at the beginning of 2025 and average around $0.09.
According to Walletinvestor, the price range of SC in 2022 can be from $0.03 to $0.06. 2023 can see this range be from $0.04 to $0.08. In 2024, this price range might be from $0.05 to almost $0.1, reaching its previous record set in 2018. Last but not least, the price range in 2025 might be from $0.06 to $0.11
Will Siacoin Ever Reach $1?
Most predictions tend to have a pessimistic approach when it comes to price predictions of cryptocurrencies. YouTuber Crypto Guru, however, predicts that the price of SC can even reach and exceed $1 by 2025. The premise behind this prediction is the BTC halving of 2024, which is likely to be followed by a bullish trend in the cryptomarket.
Will Siacoin Reach $100?
It is difficult to say if the price of SC can ever reach $100, mainly because most predictions are for this decade. Since most experts do not anticipate the price of SC to even get close to $100 in this decade, it might take a very long time for SC to reach that mark. However, the possibility that the USD can lose its dollar while cryptocurrencies become more important can be the future reason why the price of SC might increase at larger rates. Perhaps, it may even reach $100 in the following decades.
Where to Buy Siacoin?
If you decide to purchase Siacoins, whether for selling them at a higher price later or simply using them for renting data storage, you must choose a good cryptocurrency exchange. The best choices might be Binance, Poloniex, Upbit, Bittrex, etc.
Where to Store Siacoin?
Siacoins can be stored in both hot or cold wallets. The best wallets for storing SC tokens are Ledger Nano S, Sia.UI, Sia Cold Storage, Sia Wallet Android, etc.
What Potential Factors Can Affect the Price of Siacoin (SC)?
Supply
One of the biggest price determinants of a cryptocurrency is the supply. Since Siacoin has an unlimited supply, it has inflationary features. Because of this, the price of SC is unlikely to experience unusual price increases in the future.
Competitors
The price of competitive cryptocurrencies can affect the price of Siacoin. To illustrate, Filecoin (FIL) is considered as one of the biggest rival currencies of Siacoin; a price change of Filecoin can cause a change in the price of Siacoin.
Network & Community
As more projects are developed in the Sia network and as its community increases each day, the price of Siacoin can likely increase as well.
What’s Next for Siacoin (SC)? What to Expect in 2021?
The Sia network is constantly increasing, as more projects are being developed in it. In 2021, we might not expect everyone to move from centralized data cloud storage to decentralized ones. But as more people are becoming aware of the benefits of networks such as Sia, Siacoin can definitely climb higher on the ranks of market cap in cryptocurrencies.
Is Siacoin Worth Investing In?
In general, Siacoin has proved itself as a solid investment, as many people have benefited from its high volatility. Since most predictors anticipate that the price of Siacoin can increase in the future, it might be a very good long-term investment (HODL).
Takeaways
- Siacoin is a cryptocurrency that offers data storage.
- It works through file contracts and Proof of Storage that make it possible for the host and the user to interact effectively.
- The price of SC has been increasing in 2021.
- The future price of SC is predicted to increase in the future.
- Potential price factors of SC are its unlimited supply, competitors, network, community, etc.
- Investing in Siacoin can be profitable.