Nimiq is designed with simplicity in mind as its blockchain. Nimiq aims to become the highest-performing and most user-friendly decentralized payment protocol and ecosystem. This project combines advanced blockchain research with web technologies. Being web-based, Nimiq requires no software installation, and its Nano client can sync in seconds.

Nimiq is built from scratch to address and break down the barriers to mainstream adoption of blockchain technology. Nimiq will always remain open-source and community-driven, established on the foundation of supporting good causes in the future. As for the name, "Nimiq is an Inuit word for the object or force that binds things together."

Project Highlights

Nimiq is designed with the principle of simplicity and mass adoption in mind.
Thanks to the mini blockchain scheme, blockchain data is kept under 1MB, enabling synchronization in mere seconds on any device.
Written in JavaScript, the native language of the web, it requires no additional software installation.
The Nimiq protocol implements off-chain transactions, allowing transactions to be completed instantly.

Ecosystem
The ecosystem enabled by this protocol helps realize our vision of making it simple and accessible to the masses.
A miner interface that anyone can use on any browser on any device;
A browser wallet that is more user-friendly than other web wallets;
A global, web-based P2P exchange that makes trading Nimiq coins for local currencies easy, fast, and inexpensive.

Infinite Possibilities
The Nimiq network enables the developer community to easily integrate open-source npm packages into various applications, allowing them to create groundbreaking applications.

Some examples include:
1. Web administrators can easily embed the Nimiq networks lightweight client into their websites, monetizing the time users spend on their sites, as users can mine Nimiq coins using their device’s unused processing power while browsing content.
2. Using Nimiqs blockchain protocol as the cornerstone for database integrity, decentralizing peer-to-peer network services like Facebook and Twitter.
3. Implementing document timestamping with significantly improved usability compared to other blockchains.

Use Cases

Nimiq offers three sets of clients: Full, Light, and Nano, each designed for different use cases, corresponding to servers, desktop browsers, and mobile browsers. However, these clients are not limited to these scenarios; browsers can run the Full client, and servers can run the Nano client. These clients can run on all major browsers today, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and even the built-in browser within WeChat.

The Full client requires syncing the entire blockchain data, similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum clients. Nodes running the Full client are referred to as backbone nodes and can perform functions such as querying, mining, and transfers.
The Light client needs to sync only part of the blockchain data, relying on the compression of block data by backbone nodes. The purpose of the Light client is to lower the barrier to entry for ordinary users who want to mine. They can start mining and transferring simply by opening their browser. The Nimiq website demo runs the Light client.

The Nano client is designed for payments in mobile browsers, requiring synchronization of less than 1MB of data to enable transfers.