Tag: Blockchain

Is the blockchain the new home for messaging apps?

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn BlockchainLeave a comment

Which messaging app do you use? It’s most likely that you use one, whether it is Whatsapp or Facebook messenger, which dominate in Europe, and there are many others geared up to suit other regions of the world. Most of them use the Internet to send messages via smartphones. However, a new breed of messaging app is emerging and these use the blockchain as the their platform.

For example, Origin Protocol is a newcomer in this space and it has launched a peer-to-peer messaging application built on top of ethereum. You can read all about the product here in the statement blog from Origin.

Its aim is to build a decentralised marketplace where participants can communicate with each other. As Origin says: “One of the core features of any marketplace is the ability for participants to communicate with one another. Whether a buyer has questions about a product before committing to a purchase, or a host is delivering sensitive instructions to a home sharing guest, messaging is critical component necessary to facilitate meaningful transactions.”

The Origin Protocol will use users’ ethereum addresses as a public ID for sending and receiving text messages, while the content itself is encrypted via users’ private keys. But, because the data is not being broadcast to the ethereum network, there won’t be any ‘gas’ fees for sending messages. It’s not like making an ethereum transaction.

Origin Protocol also has a dispute resolution mechanism in place to handle any problems between buyers and sellers. To do this it has adopted the ERC-725 standard, which “links identity to a specific ethereum address and also allows a third-party arbitrator to audit conversation histories once granted permission by one of the participants,” as described by Coindesk.

The key characteristics of Origin are that it is open-source, secure (everything is encrypted end-to-end), decentralised (it is built on top of OrbitDB which is a serverless, distributed, peer-to-peer database) and it is fast, auditable, and free. An Origin user will be responsible for keeping only one secret: his or her Ethereum private key.

Origin hopes its messaging protocol will be adopted by other projects and it is entirely possible that in the not too distant future we will see other messaging services use Origin’s standard or yet another new development. It certainly brings more choice to the ‘messaging’ marketplace.

Why you need a decentralised identity

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Bitcoin, BlockchainLeave a comment

We have all been warned about identity theft. Even the big banks like Barclays are running TV ad campaigns showing customers how a phone call that seems to legitimately come from your bank can be used to steal your online banking pin number. There is plenty of information out there about how to keep your details safe, but no matter what precautions we take, there are always bad actors out there (this is now a ‘polite’ way of referring to people who are nothing more than criminals) who are relentless in their search for new ways to access our private information.

Tomislav Markovski, writing on Medium tells a story about how he nearly became the victim of bank fraud when he rented a property. After providing every possible kind of document to the real estate agent, including bank statements and investment portfolio details, he received a call from his bank a few days after he had moved in saying that someone wanted to cash a large check drawn on his account. Markovski knew he didn’t have that much money in is account, but the bank then told him that “he” had made a transfer from his savings account by phone. Of course, he’d made no such call, and thanks to his bank calling when they did, the theft was stopped. But, as he says, it was a “masterfully crafted plan that involved just four key steps”

1. Call the bank pretending to be Markovski

2. Change his phone number (to confirm large withdrawal)

3. Transfer all his savings into his current account

4. Have a fake cheque made and present it to the bank for withdrawal

They were able to do this because they had access to all the necessary information on him, including his social security number. They couldn’t catch the scammer, but it made Markovski think about why so much information was required to rent an apartment and why are we still relying on physical documents.

Blockchain has a solution — decentralised identity

Blockchain technology is opening up a range of possibilities to prevent this kind of crime and decentralised identity could be the way forward. As Markovski says, decentralised identity is “publicly discoverable identity information.” It uses blockchain technology to provide tamper-evident information about an entity or a subject and “allows a model of truth to be established between parties that rely on communication and exchange of data.”

There are already a few platforms working on this, including Civic, uPort and Sovrin. As Markovski says: “Decentralized identity platforms will change the current broken identity system that relies on numerous online services requiring us to remember passwords for each of them. They can help us protect our personal information and allow us to control how this data is shared.”

Until these platforms gain mass adoption — be careful out there!

Is U.S. Congress clueless about crypto?

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn Bitcoin, Blockchain, EthereumLeave a comment

Last week the folks on Capitol Hill made a few headlines and stirred up a Twitter storm. Well, at least Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California did that with his statement that all crypto and mining should be banned, thus provoking the crypto community into meeting his remark with total outrage online. This was a unique event in itself as the crypto sphere is known for its sniping and clashes. However, Sherman brought them all together.

Whilst Brad Sherman’s message tended to dominate the press reports, for obvious reasons as it makes a good story, other headlines didn’t do much to instil any sense that Congress has finally understood what cryptocurrency and the blockchain world is all about. In fact, to some onlookers it appears as to be the case that Congress is more hostile to crypto now than it was five years ago. For

example, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said cryptocurrencies are “great if you’re trying to hide or launder money,” at a separate hearing on the same day Sherman made his astonishing statement. Perhaps he didn’t notice that the FBI had indicted 12 Russians for trying to tamper with the U.S. elections and that the FBI achieved this by tracing the conspirators bitcoin transactions. So much for that argument Mr Powell!

Were things better in 2013?

Let’s remember that when Congress discussed crypto towards the end of 2013, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, then-director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), told bitcoin exchanges and wallets to register with FinCEN and people took this a positive sign. In fact, as Coindesk points out, Calvery’s invitation boosted bitcoin’s price in December 2013 to just over $1,100.

Beyond the big headlines

Of course there is danger in focusing too much on big headlines from the Congress hearings and not looking into the progress that has been made. For instance, regulatory understanding has moved forward even if it hasn’t arrived at an end point that everyone is happy with. Law firms are heavily engaged with it and some staff at the SEC, the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission and other agencies are much more comfortable with the crypto industry than five years ago. In a massive bureaucracy things were never going to move at lightning speed.

And things will keep moving forward. Why? Because there are too many people and too much money engaged and invested in this industry for anyone in politics and policymaking to ignore it completely. In the end those who understand crypto and its potential will outnumber people like Sherman and Powell and we’ll have a Congress that isn’t so clueless.

Cities on the blockchain

On By mehranmuslimiblogIn BlockchainLeave a comment

Blockchain-Cities.jpg

Is it possible to run an entire city using blockchain technology?

Dubai seems to think so. The business and airline hub of the Middle East has set itself the challenging task of being the “first blockchain-powered government in the world by 2020.”

It might sound outrageous right now, but the concept of ‘smart cities’ running on the blockchain is actually not as outlandish, nor as difficult to achieve as you may think. The question really is; where do we start? There are so many millions of possible uses for blockchain in a city, but there are undoubtedly some bigger areas where it will have the most dramatic effect.

IoT devices

Already a number of cities are using IoT devices to do a number of jobs, like monitoring traffic and air quality. Thos IoT devices can be connected to the blockchain. That also applies to any city system that collects data — it can all go on the blockchain. In fact, by putting it all on the blockchain, it will provide an upgrade to the system, and make the information easier to manage and access. Basically it will get rid of all kinds of inefficiencies where officials, such as the police, have to go through X number of other organisations to get a vital piece of information.

Better public safety

Data sharing can have a positive impact on public safety. The blockchain can provide a secure system for sharing sensitive data. One example is working on preventative measures, such as analyzing crime statistics and planning police patrols around that information. Yes, there are issues to be ironed out regarding citizen’s rights to privacy and how much information a government can track, but people are at least having a conversation about it.

Efficient transport

Public transport is vital in most major cities and they don’t work without it. The blockchain offers a lot of potential here, especially for the way passengers pay for their transport. If commuters have a blockchain wallet on their smartphone, they could pay for any transport pass, loyalty programme, or purchase tickets without a card.

Citizen incentives

If you put the public transport payment system on the blockchain, you can also offer customers some incentives. For example, if a city wants its residents to use transport rather than drive, there is a way to incentivise that. When the smartphone wallet shows a citizen has been using public transport for a specific period of time, it is possible to offer them a ‘free ride’ or a discount on an electricity bill. In a smart city, an incentive should push people toward more ethical and sustainable living choices.

And that is what a smart city should be — sustainable and more habitable with fewer issues and inefficiencies. If Dubai achieves its goal, it will have created a blueprint for others to follow.