NuCypher price prediction: cryptography for cryptos
Here’s one thing you can definitely say about the crypto space: there are plenty of projects to choose from. All kinds of tokens aim to solve different problems – or, arguably, are looking for problems to solve.
NuCypher (NU) seeks to take advantage of this diversity. Rather than trying to best the other tokens and emerge victorious, it works alongside them. NuCypher provides an end-to-end encrypted privacy layer for existing blockchains, adding an important and significant security feature.
This is another post in our series looking at lesser-known coins. They currently sit between Top 100 and Top 200 cryptos by market cap, but there’s something about them warrants a closer look.
So what makes NuCypher special? Does it have a future, can it change the crypto landscape and what is the NuCypher price prediction?
Let’s take a closer look!
Table of contents
What is NuCypher
NuCypher refers to both the crypto project and its native token. As the name suggests, it is heavily focused on encryption. Of course, in and by itself, new uses of cryptography are hardly a distinguishing feature in the crypto world. What makes NuCypher special is that it provides three important services to other crypto projects: secrets management, dynamic access control and secure computation.
The secrets management part means securely storing sensitive information, such as databases, credentials and access keys. The access control allows users to grant and revoke access to this information dynamically. Secure computation enables processing sensitive data without revealing its inputs and results.
This means that NuCypher could become another building block in a crypto developer’s toolbox. Say you want to launch your own decentralized app (dApp for short). You could write your own secrets management and access control layers, or you could just take NuCypher and use it as an off-the-shelf solution. Since this is blockchain-based, you can add other building blocks. For one, you could grant access based on smart contracts: if certain conditions are met, access would be granted to a certain group of users automatically. Put this together, and you could build a blockchain-based subscription service.
Or maybe you want to start a blockchain-based cloud computing service. Again, NuCypher provides one important piece of the puzzle: with secure computation, you could distribute chunks of data across a large network of processors. They would be able to process it, but they would not be able to see what they’re processing.
Of course, it’s perfectly possible to code all these things yourself – and, given that you’re dealing with crucial security features here, most developers probably would opt to keep this in-house. Still, a readily available, secure and functional solution makes it easier to develop new dApps, lowering the barriers to entry. This, in turn, could encourage wider use of the blockchain technology, which would mean more users for NuCypher.
NuCypher does not need to compete with other blockchains – on the contrary, to succeed, it needs other cryptos to succeed. Its success, in turn, would make it easier for other crypto projects to succeed. Or, to borrow a popular crypto rallying cry, “We’re all gonna make it”.
That’s clearly a lofty ambition, so how has NuCypher been doing so far? Let’s move on to NuCypher price history.
NuCypher price history: peaks and valleys
The project traces its origins back to 2017 when its whitepaper was published. Its co-founder and CTO Michael Egorov already had some crypto experience. Previously, he founded Curve, another up-and-coming token that’s more popular than NuCypher but has a different focus.
During its early years, the project was financed by private investors and token pre-sales. The NuCypher token was launched in October 2020 when the NuCypher mainnet went live.
It saw limited interest at first, with Nucypher price fluctuating between USD 0.07-0.20. The first spike came in February 2021 when it soared all the way to USD 0.96. This proved to be short-lived: within three months, NU was back below USD 0.30.
Nucypher has spiked before – can it spike again? Chart: Paybis
It seems, however, that NU decided to celebrate its first anniversary in style: on October 15, 2021, it soared by no less than 1134% in a single day, hitting an all time high of USD 1.56 the next day. This, too, turned out to be more of a spike, rather than a sustainable increase.
The spike actually seems a bit puzzling, but one possible explanation is listing on the Bitrue exchange. As a new and relatively small token, NuCypher can be hard to get, and additional listings can mean sudden increases in demand from the users of this particular exchange.
Still, by that time, the overall crypto market had already started to cool, and NuCypher went with it. By mid-2022, NU was back below USD 0.20, around the level of its launch price.
At the time of the writing it stood near this level, and you can always check the latest figures with our NuCypher calculator.
Remember that, by design, NuCypher is closely connected to other crypto projects – it aims to cooperate with them, rather than compete.
This brings us to NuCypher price prediction 2024.
NuCypher price prediction 2024: the Threshold merge
NuCypher applies the same idea – cooperate, rather than compete – to other privacy-focused crypto projects. On January 1, 2022, it completed a merge with another privacy token – Keep. The new project is called Threshold and comes with its own token, also called Threshold (T).
Both NuCypher and Keep are encouraging their users to convert their tokens to Threshold, although this isn’t mandatory. The conversion ratio has been established at about 1 NU = 3.26 T. However, since we started talking about the NuCypher project specifically, we’ll still consider NuCypher price prediction 2024, rather than Threshold price estimates – especially because, as of July 2022, NU has a larger market cap than T.
Tying the knot: NuCypher has joined forces with Keep. Screenshot: Threshold
NuCypher claims that the Threshold merge is the first major consolidation in the crypto world. It may even pave the way for other merges – after all, there are plenty of crypto projects out there that aim to do the same thing, so it would make sense for them to join forces.
For now, however, the crypto world seems to have paid little attention. The merge did not result in any price spikes – on the contrary, the NU rate continued to decline.
This may have less to do with the token itself and more to do with the overall trend in crypto. Even some of the biggest names in crypto are now openly discussing a crypto winter. In June 2022, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance crypto exchange, noted that the market might not return to its previous heights for a couple of years.
As we noted in another blog post, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If a crypto project has a clear path forward and enough funding to weather the winter, a crypto winter can be a great time to work on its development.
A sudden increase in popularity has its drawbacks for an up-and-coming crypto project – just ask the creator of Terra (LUNA). For one, the increased popularity also inevitably attracts the interest of would-be attackers who aim to exploit any bugs the project may have. A crypto winter, on the other hand, allows the creators to fly under the radar, getting the technology as solid as possible before hitting the big time.
Can NuCypher do just that? A couple of years of crypto winter would mean that the market could be ready for a comeback in 2025. What does this mean for NuCypher price prediction 2025?
NuCypher price prediction 2025: Web3
Of course, there is absolutely no guarantee that we will see a crypto market recovery in 2025. Still, crypto is cyclical – periods of relatively low market activity are followed by massive bull runs, and vice versa. We believe that the basic principle still holds true, and the 2024 crypto slowdown will be followed by a recovery.
The question, then, is – will NuCypher be ready?
As we already explained, NuCypher is a privacy and access control layer for blockchain based applications. This could be a potentially huge application, because the crypto world is moving in this very direction.
Right now, some of the hottest names in crypto are projects that aim to revolutionize the entire Internet as we know it. The new web, called Web3, would be decentralized, built using the blockchain technology and put users in charge of their own data. Web2 brought us things like user-generated content and interactive sites. Web3 takes it to the next level and proposes user-owned content, along with tools that allow users to build their own web projects with ease.
This is a perfect fit for NuCypher. It provides a vital building block for Web3 projects – after all, the whole idea of Web3 is to put users in charge of their own data, and privacy controls are absolutely necessary to do it.
As the NuCypher/Keep merge suggests, NuCypher is actively working on development; the technology already is there and it’s being improved. What seems to be lacking is active promotion encouraging wider adoption.
This may be a deliberate strategy: getting the technology rock solid now, then promoting it when it’s ready and the crypto market is growing. It may also be an oversight that needs to be fixed later on.
NuCypher price prediction 2030: long-term plans
Ultimately, the crypto world has ambitions that go beyond the Web, and this could have implications for NuCypher price prediction 2030 and beyond.
Consider NFTs. They may be known as “monkey jpegs”, but their possible uses go much further than that. A NFT basically works like a digital ownership certificate – for example, it’s imaginable that your house deed could be an NFT.
Another increasingly popular topic is DAO, short for Decentralized Autonomous Organization. It is a leaderless and decentralized group of people united by a common goal. It is an increasingly popular way to develop crypto projects – including NuCypher, but it can become a legitimate form of corporate governance in its own right. There may come a day when major businesses are DAOs – even though they aren’t crypto projects themselves.
What does it have to do with NuCypher? A strong privacy layer is absolutely crucial for these applications. If NuCypher becomes an established crypto building block and the crypto world reaches some of its loftier goals, such as reorganizing property ownership and corporate governance – the payoff could be significant.
Finally, if we look at NuCypher long term predictions, we must consider Threshold. It is possible that Threshold comes up with some features that weren’t present in NuCypher, and this proves to be its golden ticket. NuCypher could succeed as part of Threshold, but not for the reasons outlined above.
Of course, none of this constitutes investment advice or attempts to predict future events. It is merely a starting point for your own research and a quick glimpse at some of the possibilities. The crypto world may or may not reach its grand ambitions, but at least it has them.
Price points from the best NuCypher price prediction tools
Now that we have some understanding of what NuCypher is and what could drive its price, let’s turn to the best NuCypher price prediction tools to try putting some numbers on these estimates.
A quick note: these estimates still mention NuCypher, although by then Threshold will probably be the more popular crypto. And it goes without saying that these are just estimates that aim to provide some points of reference, rather than a promise that NU will cost this much at any given time.
- Wallet Investor is extremely bearish on NU, noting that it could reach USD 0.015 by the end of 2025; basically, this suggests that NuCypher remains a relatively unknown and obscure token;
- Price Prediction believes the token will be more successful: its average price estimate for 2025 stands at USD 0.56, rising to 3.62 by 2030;
- CryptoNewsZ provides the most optimistic estimate: USD 1.09 by 2025. This, however, remains below its all-time high.
As you can see, the estimates vary wildly. This reflects the wide variety of possible outcomes for NuCypher. As always, your own research is key.
NuCypher price prediction today
Let’s conclude by putting this all together.
For NuCypher to succeed, other cryptos need to succeed. The more successful they are, the more successful NU can be.
Still, it is also possible that other cryptos do succeed but NuCypher gets left behind. Maybe other crypto projects will decide that secrets management is way too important to outsource to NuCypher.
It could be a valid concern. Security is the most important part of any crypto project; a successful large-scale attack could spell the end of the project. Crypto exchanges employ dedicated security teams to keep their customers safe. Outsourcing it to a relatively unknown crypto project may be too much of a leap of faith even for the most optimistic crypto enthusiasts.
Granted, NuCypher hasn’t seen a successful large-scale attack at the time of writing. It may, however, have to do more with its relative obscurity, rather than its bug-free code. Can NuCypher still retain its track record if it becomes more popular?
These are just some of the issues that NuCypher will have to deal with if it is to become a major player in the crypto world.
On the other hand, if NuCypher succeeds, it has the potential to become an essential part of a whole new blockchain economy. As noted, crypto ambitions go beyond finance and even beyond the Web – it could shake up the very foundations of the society itself.
We’ve looked at some relatively unknown tokens before, and a common pattern emerges. They do have growth potential and, if stars align just right, they could conceivably make it big. There are, however, many pitfalls along the way, and success is far from certain.
The old investment adage holds true: the greater the potential profit, the greater the risk. “We’re all gonna make it” does make for an appealing slogan, but it’s not exactly a solid investment strategy. Ultimately, any investment decisions are up to you, and your own research is as important as ever.
So that concludes our third blog post in a series of lesser-known cryptos. We’ve covered three distinct tokens: a meme coin, a crypto aimed at masses, and a crypto aimed at other crypto projects.
As promised, we won’t try to pick a winner here. Rather, it’s just a brief introduction to the wide variety of crypto projects out there.
Or, in other words: the crypto world has much to offer. Let’s go exploring!
FAQ
What’s the difference between NuCypher and Threshold?
Threshold is the result of a merge between NuCypher and another crypto project, Keep. Users are encouraged to convert their NU tokens to Threshold, but NuCypher hasn’t been discontinued.
Will NuCypher disappear at one point?
It is possible that, at one point, all NU tokens will be converted to Threshold. It would, however, be a continuation of NuCypher, rather than disappearance: NU tokens can always be converted to T.
Will Threshold itself merge with another crypto project?
There haven’t been any suggestions that Threshold is looking to merge with other projects. If the merge is successful, it is possible that it will encourage other projects to join – or even serve as a catalyst for more crypto mergers.
Can NuCypher reach USD 1?
It has done so in the past, and there is no particular reason to believe that it couldn’t do so again. Being a relatively small coin, a single news event can send it higher. On the other hand, the NuCypher/Keep merge was a rather significant event, and it failed to move the needle.
Is NuCypher a good investment?
We cannot provide any investment advice here. We have explained the basics of the token, along with some of the ways how it can succeed or fail. It is up to you to decide which one of these scenarios is more likely.
Disclaimer: Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high‑risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more at: https://go.payb.is/FCA-Info
