Tag: Ethereum

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History of Cryptocurrencies

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Even though cryptocurrencies are just now gaining media attention, the concepts have been around for decades. These concepts have evolved during this time period and have given rise to many cryptocurrencies, each hoping to achieve the most scalable and decentralized system. 1. DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) DLT’s have existed for a long time and are already in use by most of the world’s largest companies. Any cloud- based system is a distributed ledger. Over time, technology has evolved from being able to store data on the cloud, to being able to have logic on the cloud. This provided countless benefits to applications such as more uptime and faster communications. 2. Consensus Algorithms While the blockchain scene was just starting out, consensus algorithms focused on PoW. But as users grew, this became more and more unscalable. The algorithms that are being used today are much more complex and incorporate other factors to find consensus. 3. BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) BFT has been practice for decades and applies to any distributed system. Even space crafts such as SpaceX Dragon needed to have BFT in the design. 4. Smart Contracts Smart contracts are the future of the blockchain/cryptocurrency space. Since they were first […]

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Introduction to Blockchain: Consensus Algorithms – Part 2

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Delegated Proof-of-stake (DPOS) DPOS is the best consensus model that is currently available. It offers the fastest transaction speeds and is the most flexible and decentralized. It allows for all specifications of the network to be adjusted by “elected delegates”. There are a specified number of these “elected delegates” (also referred to as witnesses). Witnesses verify transactions by adding them to the block. Stakeholders vote on witnesses through a process that incorporates multiple rounds. If a witness were to stop doing its job properly, the stakeholders could withdraw votes and the witness would be kicked out. Stakeholders with more stake, have a larger vote. As the number of stakeholders grow, there will be more competition to be a witness. This results in a scenario where the number of witnesses are low and fixed, which increases transaction speeds. Delegated Proof-of-stake Projects 1. Ethereum (Casper): Even though Ethereum is currently POW, an extremely anticipated update is coming that will transition it to POS. BFT style proof of stake Random validators can propose blocks. Agreeing on which block to use is done through a voting process. Every validator votes on a specific block for multiple rounds. Validators agree on whether a block is […]

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Self-Sovereign Identity

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We live in a world where data is everything. While advances in technology have made the management of data easier, they have also created a need for people to have digitized identities. Like a key to a person’s life, control of an identity may grant the user unfiltered access to private information. Identity fraud and theft are some of the most frequent crimes today, and it is due to the fact that we are still not entirely in control of our own identities. We are at the mercy of the centralized powers that control our information. HISTORY To understand why self-sovereign identity is necessary, we must understand how Identity has developed in recent history. We can separate it into 3 sections: Centralized Identity: In the 1900’s, certain organizations assigned identities. Even governments needed a way to assign identities to individuals for various reasons. Ex. Social security numbers were created as a way for the government to track lifetime earnings. The validation of IP Addresses and the distribution of domain names was also forms of centralized identities. Federated Identity: A single identity allows access to multiple sites. This type of identity faces the same problem of being controlled by an organization. […]