What Is IOTA (MIOTA)?                 

IOTA (MIOTA) is a distributed ledger used on the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem to record and perform transactions between humans and machines. IOTA's key innovation is Tangle, an open-source, feeless, and scalable distributed ledger where data and value move smoothly. IOTA maintains that Tangle is faster and more efficient than traditional blockchains. 

Interestingly, the platform describes itself as the backbone of IoT to serve as a network with tamper-proof data, micropayments without transaction fees, and low resource needs. IOTA aims to create a "machine economy" by facilitating simple machine-to-machine transactions and linking the human and machine economies.

According to research published by the platform, developers widely use traditional blockchain as a generic platform for cryptocurrencies. The transaction fees on these blockchains sometimes exceed the transaction's value. Given the importance of micropayments in the burgeoning IoT market, a transaction cost of this magnitude seems irrational. Also, eliminating transaction fees isn't a viable option because they serve as a motivator to build new blocks in the blockchain. Further, the entire method makes the blockchain heterogeneous, with two people issuing and approving transactions. The design creates discrimination among participants, leading to conflict and wasteful resource allocation for resolution. These issues underscore the need for a new technology distinct from traditional blockchain technology.

To address the challenges, the team developed Tangle, which serves as IOTA's network. Tangle is a decentralized acyclic graph (DAG), a non-sequential network of nodes. Nodes are entities that issue and validate transactions. Multiple nodes are linked to each other in a parallel system that allows for simultaneous rather than sequential processing of transactions via Tangle. As a result, the technology becomes more efficient at processing transactions as more systems join the Tangle.

Further, IOTA uses a unique approach to validate transactions. Nodes verify each new transaction by comparing it to two previous transactions (called tips). The process cuts down on the time and memory required to validate a transaction. As a final stage, a simple and easy-to-solve proof-of-work (PoW) challenge is added to the transaction to avoid spamming. IOTA's system utilizes a tip selection process with "confidence" as a parameter to approve the transaction. Let us suppose nodes have approved a transaction 97 times previously. In that case, there's a 97 percent chance that a node will support it in the future.

Furthermore, the project is administered by IOTA Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing next-generation protocols for machine-to-machine or machine-to-human communication. The foundation's objective is to guarantee that the protocol is standardized and widely used. The foundation also aims to educate people about the project's technology and encourage them to use it. The organization essentially serves as a governing board, which oversees establishing the goal, implementing it, and managing operations.

Notably, the IOTA token listed under the ticker MIOTA is the native crypto token of the platform. The IOTA Foundation created MIOTA to allow humans and technology to exchange data and services. There were no early investors, no tokens were locked, and founders did not receive any tokens at the time of genesis. Notably, IOTA tokens cannot be mined or staked to ensure no transaction fees for value and data. 

History of IOTA (MIOTA)

Sergey Ivancheglo, Serguei Popov, David Snsteb, and Dominik Schiener cofounded IOTA. In October 2015, the idea was announced in an online Bitcoin forum by promoting a token sale. In 2015, crowdfunding raised approximately $500,000. The community donated 5% of tokens to support the foundation to secure the project's long-term viability.

The research paper co-authored by the members of the IOTA Foundation on Coordicide, a decentralized consensus mechanism used by IOTA, was released in January 2020. Serguei Popov published a Tangle research paper on April 30, 2018.