Author: Samuel

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MaidSafeCoin

What is MaidSafeCoin?

MaidSafeCoin is an overarching network, the brainchild of David Irvine. Irvine had struggled with a lot of challenges in the implementation and administration of small business servers. As a result, he set out to find a solution that would make such servers easy to use, hence MaidSafe was born. MaidSafe actually stands for Massive Array of Internet Disks with Secure Access For Everyone.

Irvine had a vision of a fully distributed data service that can efficiently manage communication and data. This is a step further from what we run on the internet at the moment, where whole files are not just kept on centralized servers, but they are also readable by anyone who comes across them. The server networks that we use at the moment are so intrusive, and this has been a problem with security in so many instances.

The concept behind MaidSafe is to build a secure, safe and private network where third parties are unable to steal, intercept, copy, sell or interfere in any way with the data that is exchanged on the network. The MaidSafe network is vast, spanning the whole world. It is built on code that exists in different time zones, stored securely and safely on network computers all over the globe.

SafeCoin is the digital cryptocurrency that runs the MaidSafe network. The distribution of SafeCoins is done through automated algorithms, so there is no human interference.

These coins are provided to users in exchange for the unused computing potential that they add to the network. Some of the resources that users bring to the network include processing power, storage space and internet access, and this is what is referred to as Farming, which is simply mining.

The difference with this type of mining is that instead of relying only on the GPU and CPU to sustain the network, you can share some of your computing resources to be used on the MaidSafe network. Therefore, this network uses Proof of Resource mining.

What is the problem that MaidSafeCoin Solves?

The Bitcoin revolution has seen a lot of blockchain platforms come up, cryptocurrencies that promise decentralized apps, freedom of speech, enhanced personal privacy, among other things. All these are solutions that are built around trustless applications, which are free from corruption or the weakest link in any secure network – human interference.

While these decentralized applications, including Bitcoin, strive to offer the deliverables promised, they are all essentially built on a centralized, and insecure system – the internet.

MaidSafe, however, takes a different approach to security. It goes against the grain and brings forth a secure, truly decentralized internet infrastructure. All the applications that are built on the SAFE network are truly secure and decentralized.

How does MaidSafeCoin Solve the problem?

Data security is not improved by blockchain storage solutions that use data identifiers like hashes to store the data somewhere else. The final location where the data is stored should be secured. In the event that such data can be deleted or access to these solutions denied for one reason or the other, these would not be suitable for the purpose that they are supposed to serve.

To mitigate against these challenges, the MaidSafe network got rid of people from the information management, thereby protecting data.

This is an autonomous and decentralized system. There are no federated servers or storage locations that are owned by specified individuals. The nodes are not identifiable, and they also do not have a blockchain.

People are always out to make some savings, and MaidSafe offers just that. Through perfect market analysis, the cost of using this network is affordable. Human interference has also been eliminated from price setting, so the network will continually adjust the prices depending on the user demand and the resources that are available.

Data in this network is the currency. As a result, it is protected just like any other types of data that might be in use. The network, therefore, acts as an integrated private ledger, and not an add-on as most blockchain platforms do.

What makes MaidSafeCoin better than the competitors?

There are several features of the MaidSafe network that make it better than the competition. In fact, the focus on security and building a network that is free from third party interference is something that even the likes of Bitcoin have been unable to do.

Privacy

MaidSafe is one of the most private networks you will ever come across. By default, all communication and data on the MaidSafe network are encrypted from end to end. This makes the work of developers easy because they no longer have to worry about spending on encryption when building applications. When using the MaidSafe network, you also get the benefit of IP address identification resistance.

Reliability

A lot of people are excited about blockchain technology, and for good reasons. However, most of the networks have in the past proven to be unreliable when needed most. On MaidSafe, there is a very low chance that your data might be compromised or erased. This is because of a redundancy that is designed in the network. This sets MaidSafe apart from other blockchain platforms that are centralized. In such platforms, it is very easy for data to get corrupted or deleted as a result of innocent human error or as an act of malice.

Authentication

When using MaidSafe, you do not have to sign up on every website that you want to use. In this ecosystem, once you sign up and are authenticated on the SAFE network, these credentials will work for most of the services that are rendered on this platform.

Freedom from Hosting

One of the biggest challenges that developers have is hosting. There are a lot of inconveniences and expenses that are associated with hosting. However, with MaidSafe, you no longer need to spend on this. Your apps are hosted on a safe network, so you no longer need to spend on system administrators.

Data Ownership

The information that you use or access on the SAFE network cannot be used to track you. This means that you will not have to worry about getting ads from networks that track you online and try to sell you stuff. You own your data.

Downtime

We all know how bothersome downtimes usually are. With MaidSafe, downtime will be the last thing you have to worry about. The MaidSafe servers are decentralized, so there is no possibility of server overloads. You can access your files and websites without any interference.

Freedom from Censorship

This is a truly decentralized network. There is no interference with your data from any third party. Because of this reason, the apps that are built in the MaidSafe ecosystem are free from censorship. Any information that is shared on this platform is censored automatically.

Those who live in jurisdictions where governments are oppressive can appreciate the fact that none of the information shared can be accessed by the governments or their agencies. It is also impossible to identify the location of any of the data that is shared on the network. This feature puts MaidSafe on the forefront in the fight for freedom of speech and information, something that has been lacking not just in media and journalism, but has been a scourge all over the world.

How can MaidSafeCoin be categorized?

MaidSafe is an autonomous communication and data network where all the data is securely encrypted by default. Data stored on this network is stored in vaults, which are nodes that belong to a self-managing network that resembles a distributed hash table.

What’s MaidSafeCoin’s vision on Security?

While the likes of Bitcoin are limited to around 7 transactions per second, MaidSafe is only limited by the number of nodes that are present in the network. These nodes are designed to be fully scalable, which means that as time goes by, they can support thousands, even hundreds of thousands of transactions each second. To support this performance, security is an important issue that must be addressed. Speed and security go hand in hand in blockchain technology.

Cached Network

Intermediate nodes make work easier by caching popular chunks of information. This makes it easy to retrieve and brings the information closer to the requesting nodes.

Attack Prevention

There is a system in place to fight spam and DDoS attacks. Nodes that seem to be sending a lot of information that might overwhelm other nodes are automatically disconnected by the nodes that are closer to them.

Apart from that, the nodes are designed in such a way that when one of them becomes unreachable for some reason or is overwhelmed, it is replaced by a new one automatically. This means the MaidSafe network is essentially a self-healing network, and it is also a good way to fight DDoS attacks.

Churn System

MaidSafe uses a churn system to keep everything anonymous. In this system, all the nodes that are used in the ecosystem will periodically go offline and online. Each time the nodes go offline, they come online with a new ID. This is a security measure that makes it very difficult, or impossible to identify the nodes involved in any transaction or data sharing.

Enforcement

Irrespective of the persona of the nodes, there are rules that they have to follow. In the event that any one of the nodes contravenes these rules and attempts something that they are not supposed to do, they are disconnected or de-ranked.

Examples of MaidSafeCoin use cases/applications

The promise of secure encryption and data exchange without interference from third parties is something that has a lot of companies and brands interested, especially at an age where there is a lot of data manipulation from authorities and competitors. There are a number of companies that have already come on board, companies that share the same vision for data security. The following are some brands that are already witnessing the full impact of MaidSafe in their business operations:

Yuanbao

Yuanbao is one of the largest exchanges in China, with more than 300,000 active users. Yuanbao trades more than $100 million in a day, and this is one of the reasons why getting on the MaidSafe platform suits their profile. More than 25 currencies are traded on the Yuanbao platform, and to protect the interests of the stakeholders and customers, Yuanbao has leveraged their services on the MaidSafe blockchain.

Identillect Technologies Corp

MaidSafe offers cutting-edge technology that is open and can be used by anyone anywhere in the world. This is a front to provide feasible solutions to world problems. Identillect is one of the companies that understand the MaidSafe vision and are keen to bring the benefits to their partners and customers.

In their line of operation, Identillect brought MaidSafe on board because of the constant workaround where a large community of testers is available to help improving the MaidSafe ecosystem. A system that is heavily poised as a secure network will always need testers to put it to the task, identify flaws in real-time and respond to them accordingly. This is an advantage that MaidSafe has over most of the other blockchain platforms.

Other than that, Identillect also acknowledges the potential that exists in the SAFE browser. The SAFE browser is one of the most secure browsers you can come across. Besides, MaidSafe also offers support for mobile platforms, which is great for Identillect’s business model, given that a lot of brands are currently keen on advancing their business to customers on mobile devices.

How does MaidSafe fit into Identillect’s business plan? Identillect is one of the leaders in email encryption service delivery. Their core business, therefore, is to protect critical information about customers and their businesses.

The agreement between these two parties allows Identillect to distribute an enterprise version of the decentralized MaidSafe network to their clients, thereby bolstering their already secure businesses with an advanced security layer.

The SAFE network self-configures, and automatically splits the data into fragments for enhanced security. The data is then encrypted and stored in different locations all over the world, as selected by the network.

Resources

https://coincheckup.com/coins/MaidSafeCoin

http://maidsafe.net

https://blog.maidsafe.net/

https://maidsafe.net/faq.html

https://github.com/maidsafe/Whitepapers/tree/gh-pages/pdf

 

 

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Factom

What is Factom?

Factom is an open source blockchain project that was designed to offer data and system security, by improving on the shortcomings that Bitcoin has, and superimposing the benefits of blockchain technology.

More often, Factom has been described as an audit and publishing engine. Users can write data on the Factom ledger, but for a small fee. Any information that is entered into the Factom database cannot be removed, and this is why it is a useful resource for editing purposes.

Factom was designed with layers of redundant security that you might not find in any other blockchain. While Factom is anchored on Bitcoin, it solves a lot of problems that are associated with Bitcoin. By anchoring on Bitcoin, Factom is able to benefit from Bitcoin’s secure hash rate.

What is the problem that Factom Solves?

Factom, like most of the cryptocurrencies that have come after Bitcoin, was designed to address some of the flaws or challenges that exist in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Satoshi Nakamoto indeed is a revolutionary in this dimension. Bitcoin has changed the way people view currency, and might even usher the world into a new future of decentralized trustless ledgers. However, this also created opportunities for improvements and this is where Factom comes in.

There are three problems that are intrinsic to Bitcoin that Factom improves on, speed, cost, and bloat.

Speed

Bitcoin uses a decentralized, proof of work (PoW) consensus. For this reason, it takes at least 10 minutes to make adjustments and confirm transactions. In the case of applications that would require heightened security, you would need several confirmations for the transaction to be completed. In fact, on average, you need around 6 confirmations, which can take more than an hour, just to complete a single transaction.

Cost

By default, the exchange price for Bitcoin is one of the most volatile in the market, all through the history of the cryptocurrency. When the price goes up, the same applies to the cost of transactions. For applications that handle a lot of large transactions, this eventually proves to be a stumbling block. Besides, the exchange price for Bitcoins is not easy to predict, since it is not attached to anything. Other than that, there are other factors that might also conspire to increase the cost of transactions, including reward halving and constraints on the block size.

Bloat

In the Bitcoin ecosystem, there is a limit to the number of transactions that can be carried out per second. This throughput is limited to the size of a block. If you have an application that needs to store or add information using this blockchain, you will be adding traffic to an already congested street. As a result, there have been calls to raise the block size limits so as to reduce the bloat and make the system more efficient.

How does Factom Solve the problem?

Factom, as a design protocol, addresses the three problems above by creating a protocol for applications whose features and functions go beyond handling transactions involving currency exchanges. Factom built a secure, efficient and standard foundation where users can run their applications faster, in an affordable manner and without bloat.

Instead of tracking coins, Factom provides a distributed ledger where you can write complex data to support your business. Entry credits are the only way you can write data into the blockchain. This is important in that it helps overcome the problem of slow speed, and other bottlenecks that are evident in traditional blockchain systems.

By using entry credits, Factom separates the process of implementing business functionality from coins. Since each coin can only be spent once, this solves the problem of performance because you do not need the entire blockchain to process the coins.

At the same time, you no longer have to scan the entire blockchain to prevent double spend. The credits are only available in one address. As a result, you can write to the blockchain at incredible speed, which also helps parallel processing across the network.

Factom applications do not need wallets of tradeable tokens for execution. In fact, wallets are usually one of the targets of hackers. Eliminating wallets, and using entry credits that cannot be transferred is another step towards enhancing security in the Factom blockchain.

What makes Factom better than the competitors?

Factom is all about using blockchain technology to solve real-world issues, especially by pushing business applications. It is a system that is built on transparency in order to carve a niche in the future through software. The mission behind Factom is to become an industry leader in providing blockchain data solutions at all levels.

Given that there are already other players in the market, Factom has positioned itself above the rest by design. It is built ready for enterprises. The Factom blockchain was designed to solve problems that other blockchains struggle with. Hence it is a proactive and efficient blockchain, and not a copy or clone of Ethereum or Bitcoin as most systems currently are.

Scalability

When using Factom, you are not limited to conduct a specific number of transactions per second. In fact, this ecosystem is built to accommodate high volume transfers comfortably.

Cost

Factom uses a two-token system, which means the cost of writing entries to the blockchain is predetermined. This predictability of costs helps in planning. Factoids are not used to buy entries into the Factom blockchain as would be the case in other cryptocurrency models. Instead, Factoids are used to create entry credits. You use entry credits to buy data in Factom. The cost of entry credits is fixed, so it does not rely on the unpredictable price of a coin.

In Factom, you cannot transfer entry credits. In fact, you can use them as a product over currency use. This is ideal especially for entities that do not use cryptocurrency.

Complexity and speed

By design, Factom was built to support complex data. By using Chain IDs, users can create organized private, public or hybrid blockchains. There is no specific data format that you have to meet for your data to be accommodated in the Factom blockchain.

To make things easier for users, Factom only publishes the hash of the data set, including the metadata. This is supposed to serve as proof of the existence of the data at a given time in the blockchain. In a technical capacity, this is supposed to avoid unnecessary clog of data in the blockchain, thereby making the network run faster and efficiently.

Public blockchain

To write data on the public Factom blockchain, users do not require any special permission. For private data, you can use Factom Harmony. Factom Harmony provides a private blockchain where you can write private data, then anchor it to the public Factom.

All the information that is contained in the public view is written with a hash. This is to make sure that only those people who have the keys are able to read that data. As a result, Factom offers solutions to real-world problems by offering support in dynamic business environments.

How can Factom be categorized?

Factom is an autonomous, distributed layer right at the top of the Bitcoin blockchain. It is built from layered data structures, which is simply a hierarchy of blocks.

The highest blocks in this hierarchy are the Directory Blocks. Directory blocks are made up of compact references, and they form a micro-chain. These blocks are very small in size. To maintain their size, every reference in the block is a hash of the Entry Block and its Chain ID.

Entry blocks contain references that are linked to all entries made by a specific Chain ID that have arrived. For each Chain ID, the entry block becomes part of the micro-chain. Most of the data held in Factom (the entries) is held at the leaves. The hash power in Bitcoin makes this data structure hierarchy unchangeable. The layers in this concept can, therefore, be addressed as follows:

  • Directory Layer – Organize entry block roots
  • Entry Block Layer – Organize entry references
  • Entries – Holds a hash of an app’s private data or its raw data
  • Chains – Organizes all entries that are unique to an application.

What’s Factom’s vision on Security?

Unlike Bitcoin, Factom records events including those that are not of a monetary nature. There is a minimal rule set for creating permanent entries in Factom. Most of the data validation requirements are handled on the client’s end. This means that the only validation that is enforced by Factom are the ones that involve Factoids. These are validations that:

  • Convert Factoids into Entry Credits
  • Are needed to trade Factoids
  • Make sure Entries have been paid
  • Make sure Entries have been recorded

There are rules in place that guide incentives on tokens, guide internal consistency and help in running the Factom network. However, even with these rules in place, Factom is unable to verify the statements that are recorded in the user chains.

In Bitcoin, transactions are limited to transfer of value from inputs to outputs. For validity, a transfer has to meet the script requirements of the input only, which is often a number of signatures. This validation process once automated, simplifies the auditing process. In the case of Factom, however, Factom only records the process that has taken place, instead of validating transfers.

Factom does not validate Entries. Instead, this is done by users and applications. The user or application must understand the rules the chain should follow. If this happens, an invalid entry would not cause unnecessary distortion in the ecosystem. In fact, any entry in a chain that does not meet the rules of the specific chain will be disregarded.

Factom also offers identity management. This is hard-wired into the blockchain code to enable users to define cryptographic identities for resources, documents, people and any other item that they might engage in the blockchain. Identity management essentially creates verifiable histories, which help in auditing.

Any change that is made to a specific identity is written permanently on the blockchain. Through hierarchical identity keys, it is easy to manage identities especially when low-level keys have been compromised externally. Such keys are then revoked and replaced with high-level keys. Through identity management, so many of the Factom cases are facilitated, especially smart contracts.

Examples of Factom use cases/applications

Factom is technology specifically designed for use by applications. It is about publishing data by new or existing applications through Factom API calls to the Factom blockchain. With this in mind, Factom is a protocol where applications can serve features and functions over and above traditional currency transactions.

There are lots of users who can appreciate the Factom ecosystem, in the process scaling their businesses and operations.

App developers

Developers who design business applications or any other application for that matter will find Factom coming in handy for their normal tasks. Through Factom, you can create a robust audit trail. This makes it easier for you to identify problems with the applications you build.

Other than that, developers can also use Factom as a means of communicating changes in the system. For apps that require a central server for the internal processes to work in unison, a developer can replace the central server with Factom. This way, you save a lot in terms of the cost of acquiring, running and maintaining a central server, and instead, use the secure Factom ecosystem.

Banking system

Banks also find Factom useful for their normal operations. Ideally, banks are simply an amalgamation of databases of different kinds. To maintain the credibility of their databases, banks cannot trust their peers to be honest with the data they store. However, Factom erases the need for this. Through Factom, banks can synchronize their databases safely. In fact, it is impossible for anyone to tamper with any information in the bank database without leaving a trail of evidence behind. This helps in auditing.

Other than banks and app developers, Factom is built to support a wide range of services and applications in security, coordinating record systems and databases, asset management, asset trading, proof of publishing and so much more.

Resources

https://www.factom.com/devs/docs/guide/factom-white-paper-1-0

https://www.factom.com/about/faqs

https://www.factom.com/

https://www.factom.com/blog