World Computer?
New Protocol Could Supercharge Ethereum Blockchain

With scaling the center of attention in the public blockchain sector,

an older but lesser known attempt to overcome the restrictions inherent in ethereum is getting a refresh. Revealed in an exclusive interview with CoinDesk, a new TrueBit protocol is being released this December, one that removes the ethereum "gas limit," which today puts an upper-bound on the number of computations the network can achieve, bringing the second largest blockchain by market capitalization closer to its oft-touted goal of becoming a "world computer."

While TrueBit is one of many in-progress scaling solutions being engineered for the ethereum platform – working alongside mechanisms such as sharding, state channels and Raiden – it distinguishes itself by focusing on the computational power of the network at large, instead of just transaction speed. Geared specifically towards heavy computations, such as those video broadcasting and machine learning would require, TrueBit could resolve the fact that ethereum is still about as fast as a "smartphone from 1999," as ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin joked last year.

"In short, the new scheme would be a vast simplification of the current TrueBit protocol," said Zack Lawrence, the co-founder of 1protocol, who developed the technology. And these gains all came about after speculation that someone could exploit the protocol, after an amendment to its white paper was released last month. Jason Teutsch, a mathematician and co-founder of TrueBit, framed the speculation, and the process for patching the vulnerability,

with a silver lining:

"When so many people have eyes on the papers, over time, you get more and more confident that it's correct, but it's always an ongoing process for these things that are living systems… Now, we go another layer down the protocol rabbit hole, it's this iterative process of getting deeper and deeper into this."

Hit the jackpot?

And going deeper led the devs to the incentive mechanism used in the protocol. TrueBit aims to remove the gas limit on ethereum by moving computations off-chain – outsourcing them to an external marketplace that rewards participants for solving and verifying the computations. Within the marketplace "task givers" pay "verifiers" to solve computations in exchange for rewards, while "validators" check that the computations are correct.

To make sure everyone runs effectively, Truebit relies on an incentive scheme dubbed the "forced errors jackpot," which ensures validators are actively checking for correctness by requiring verifiers to occasionally submit incorrect information. If a validator finds these forced errors, they're rewarded with a substantial payout: the "jackpot." But according to Lawrence, that process can be a lot less complicated.

Within the new protocol, instead of limiting the participants' tasks, everyone can participate openly. Those that verify correct computations still get paid, but if another participant finds an error, they can submit what they believe the computation should be and enter that into the verification game. All the potential answers are then pooled together until a consensus is reached.

Because that verification pool is costly to participants, the protocol incentivizes them to work together honestly so disputes do not occur, since the reaching consensus within that verification pool would be costly for everyone. Not only does this iteration eliminate the security flaws pointed out when the amendment was released, but it's also easier to implement and could increase the number of computations participants are willing to perform since it eliminates the once-every-so-often jackpot, Lawrence told CoinDesk.

Security challenge

Still, the new protocol may not be the last step in evolving TrueBit to achieve optimum efficiency. Teutsch explained that both versions of the protocol will still hit against eventual limits when it comes to massive computations. If, for example, verification takes too long or gets too expensive, those who notice errors might be inclined to keep quiet, and just let them go. "Remember that the verification game is really slow compared to native computation, so my concern expressed here is more than just theoretical," he said.

Plus, because TrueBit is a protocol built on game theory (rather than relying on more familiar security auditing processes), Teutsch said, its "security is an observational science," in which devs try to put themselves in every position an attacker might be in. Because of this, Teutsch said the developers may decide to run both the original protocol (now internally nicknamed TrueBit Classic) and the new protocol in parallel for better security.

But nodding to the fact that digital security is an immensely challenging prospect that takes continual work,

 Teutsch told CoinDesk:

"Full confidence happens once you have all the money in the world behind it, and it's sat there for a few years."

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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For security agencies, blockchain goes from suspect to potential solution

• Australia blockchain grant for intel sharing
• Investigators so far seen blockchain, bitcoin as criminal havens
• US, UK eye blockchain's military, security, intel potential

Police and security agencies have so far only taken

an interest in blockchain – the distributed ledger technology behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin – for tracking criminals hiding illegal money from banks. But that's changing as some civilian, police and military agencies see blockchain as a potential solution to problems they have wrestled with for years: how to secure data, but also be able to share it in a way that lets the owner keep control.

Australia, for example, has recently hired HoustonKemp, a Singapore-based consultancy, to build a blockchain-based system to record intelligence created by investigators and others, and improve the way important information is shared. "They've been trying for years to come up with a centralised platform, but people are reluctant to share information," said Adrian Kemp, who runs the consultancy, which was awarded a A$1 million ($757,500) grant by AUSTRAC, Australia's financial intelligence agency, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Blockchain's appeal for data sharing is threefold.

Its ledger, or database, is not controlled by any single party and is spread across multiple computers, making it hard to break. Once entered, any information cannot be altered or tampered with. And, by using so-called smart contracts, the owner of information can easily tweak who has access to what. It's a sign of how far blockchain technology has come within a decade since the publication of a pseudonymous paper describing bitcoin and the blockchain ledger that would record transactions in it. Bitcoin has since become the preferred currency not only of libertarians and speculators, but also of criminal hackers. The bitcoin price is volatile, and hit record peaks late last month.

What is blockchain?

Governments are already exploring ways to store some data, such as land records, contracts and assets, in blockchains, and the financial industry, too, has experimented with blockchain technologies to streamline transactions and back-office systems, though with limited success.

Securing shared data

The closest most law enforcement agencies have come to the blockchain has been working with start-up firms to analyse it for evidence of criminal deals. But in the past year or so that attitude has begun to change. The United States Air Force (USAF) has funded research into how blockchain could ensure its data isn't changed. In May, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded a grant to the company behind an encrypted chat program to make a secure messaging service based on the blockchain.

Amendments to a recent U.S. Senate defense bill require the government to report back on "the potential offensive and defensive cyber applications of blockchain technology and other distributed database technologies" and how foreign governments, extremists and criminals might be using them. Britain, too, is exploring several uses of the blockchain, say consultants and companies working for several departments.

Cambridge Consultants, a U.K.-based consultancy, said it had worked with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, a U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) agency, on using a blockchain to improve the trustworthiness of a network of sensors on, for example, security cameras. The UK's justice ministry is looking at proving that evidence – video, emails, documents – hasn't been tampered with by registering it all on a blockchain, according to a blog post on its website.

Marcus Ralphs, a former soldier and now CEO of ByzGen Ltd, which makes blockchains for the security sector, said he was working on projects with the MoD using blockchain to track the status and level of individuals' security clearance. Other work included helping the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) improve the way work permits are issued and records stored.

'Passing the buck'

These are early days. Kemp says there's no guarantee his project will be deployed more widely. And some who have worked with AUSTRAC are skeptical, saying such projects have more to do with agencies turning to the private sector because they're running low on resources and ideas. "The government is just looking to pass the buck on to private industry," said Simon Smith, a cyber private investigator who has worked on cases involving AUSTRAC. Many police forces and armies aren't ready for the technological and mental leap necessary.

The Police Foundation, a UK think-tank focusing on policing and crime, is pushing British police to explore the blockchain, but its director, Rick Muir, said "we are still at the stage of 'what is blockchain?'." Neil Barnas, a USAF major who last year wrote a thesis on the potential of blockchain in defense, said U.S. military and security agencies were slowly waking up. The problem, he says, is that military minds are more inclined towards centralized systems than the decentralised ones that blockchain's distributed ledger embraces. That said, blockchain's association with the criminal underworld has not dented its appeal to those who see its potential, said ByzGen's Ralphs. "The negative narrative around it has not at all watered down or diluted interest of the people we've been engaging with," he said.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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Following bitcoin’s historic march to $10,000

and subsequent volatility, covered by CCN, various prominent Wall Street executives have been weighing in on bitcoin and the cryptocurrency ecosystem in general, showing they aren’t too fond of it. Nobel Prize-Winning economist Joseph Stiglitz recently stated that bitcoin should be “outlawed,” while Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein apparently soured on bitcoin as he stated that it’s a “vehicle to perpetrate fraud.”

However, Union Square Ventures (USV) partner Albert Wenger recently shared his views on the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and made it clear that he feels its current $300 billion market cap is just the beginning of the journey. While speaking to CNBC, Wenger stated that “a bubble is only something you can ever figure out in hindsight,” and added that he finds it instructive to look at Amazon’s stock chart. The e-commerce giant’s chart, Wenger continued, looks like a “massive upward-sloping curve,” but when we zoom in on it, we can see that in the beginning there was a run-up and big drop-off. To him, the cryptocurrency’s chart will, in the future, be a “very massive run-up.”

As such, it’s possible that the current run-up turns out to be “a blip on that chart.” To him, since the cryptocurrency ecosystem has grown to where it is today, there’s definitely a way for it to do down as well, but there’s also a path for it to reach trillions of dollars.

He notably stated:

“And there’s definitely also a path to the future where cryptocurrency as a whole will be worth trillions of dollars. So I believe that there’s a good change cryptocurrencies taken together as a bucket will be worth trillions of dollars.”

Wenger added that he believes we’re still far from that, and that there will be set backs along the way. When asked if he believed cryptocurrencies were going through an “Amazon moment,” he clarified that they’re going through an “exuberant moment.” Regarding whether or not there’s a bubble, he stated that “at some point there’s a reset,” adding that using the word bubble implies it’s about to pop, something Wenger believes may or may not happen.

To Wenger, all this irrational exuberance is a good thing for cryptocurrencies in the long run, as it brings investors and entrepreneurs to the space. Since cryptocurrencies are still a novelty, he added, we still need to try new things to see what works. Earlier this year, USV’s co-founder Fred Wilson dismissed potential bitcoin crash predictions, and explained the optimal cryptocurrency holdings for investors, according to their comfort levels.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-461

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

National Cryptocurrencies? All Currencies Will Be Digitized, Cryptocurrency Expert Says

Bitcoin has burst through the $10,000 barrier

and Ethereum is bumping up against $500. But today's important cryptocurrencies might just be the loud and noisy open act to the really big deal of the next decade. That is, the end of cash as we know it. "All currencies will be digitized," Bitt founder and director Gabriel Abed said today at TechBeach retreat in Jamaica. "Cash has seen its days."

National Cryptocurrencies? All Currencies Will Be Digitized, Cryptocurrency Expert Says. Bitcoin has burst through the $10,000 barrier and Ethereum is bumping up against $500. But today's important cryptocurrencies might just be the loud and noisy open act to the really big deal of the next decade. That is, the end of cash as we know it. "All currencies will be digitized," Bitt founder and director Gabriel Abed said today at TechBeach retreat in Jamaica. "Cash has seen its days."

"There’s a future coming that complete disrupts what we know today," Abed said. "I see a different future where central banks are issuing digital dollars … a new economic age of digital dollars." Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and hundreds of others, typically are issued by private individuals, groups, or organizations, or mined via cryptographic protocols. Russia, however, among just a few other nations on the planet, has publicly announced plans for a national cryptocurrency: the CryptoRuble. China is working on a similar currency, as is Kyrgyzstan. At this moment, the U.S. Federal Reserve has no such plans — although, you'd have to think it would make quantitative easing much more simple.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
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The Blockchain Is Bigger Than
Any Bubble

Bitcoin is a poor currency and a crazy investment
but the technology behind it is a real breakthrough.

Coin of the virtual realm.

An influential new recruit has joined the chorus of bitcoin skeptics. The chief investment officer of UBS, the world’s biggest wealth manager, says it’s too risky to be added to the firm’s portfolios — and his assessment is relatively mild. Others have called it “the very definition of a bubble” and even “a fraud.” Those stronger terms are justified, especially after the latest spell of wild price volatility. But the idea underlying bitcoin — blockchain, or distributed-ledger technology — could be transformative.

The problem with bitcoin and other so-called digital currencies is that they’re a misuse of this technology. As either a new form of money or an investment, bitcoin has fatal disadvantages. Tokens that are privately created — "mined,” if you insist — can succeed in a limited way as a means of exchange and be used to execute certain kinds of transactions. (Cigarettes in prison are a kind of currency.) But as a reliable store of value, bitcoin is much less useful, because its volatility is so extreme. The value of ordinary currencies is underwritten by governments and stabilized by central banks acting as trusted monopoly producers. Bitcoin and its rivals leave those vital roles vacant.

Moreover, bitcoin has no fundamental value as an asset — no stream of future income, no ultimate assurance of liquidity or security, and (unlike gold, say) no alternative use. Its scarcity (hence some floor on its value) is purportedly guaranteed by the underlying technology, but most of its buyers simply take that on trust. Should they come to doubt that guarantee, its price will collapse. In the meantime, bitcoin’s utility as a means of exchange depends on official tolerance — a point rightly emphasized by UBS’s Mark Haefele. That tolerance cannot be taken for granted, especially as bitcoin’s appeal rests so much on the anonymity of its users. At the moment, its comparative advantage is its usefulness for illicit purposes.

All this said, the distributed-ledger technology that underlies bitcoin is potentially very powerful. By reducing the need for central intermediaries, it holds out the promise of processing transactions of various kinds more efficiently than today. Many banks and exchanges are exploring these applications. Blockchain technology might also be used one day to produce new kinds of central-bank money. Central-bank digital currency could start to replace the electronic payment systems that financial institutions use with each other. A more radical idea is to use digital currency, issued and supervised by the central bank, at the retail level to replace physical cash. All these ideas are worth study now. And they’ll still be worth pursuing after the bitcoin bubble bursts.

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
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This week, the value of a single bitcoin officially cleared $10,000,

a new high point that’s over an order of magnitude greater than its price at the start of this year. Bitcoin has defied market expectations before, but in 2017, it didn’t just become more valuable. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have become an acknowledged part of the financial system — albeit a nebulous one.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Cryptocurrency Market Cap Breaches $300 Bln, BTC Dominates

The cryptocurrency market cap has breached $300 bln,

according to marketcap.com, with gains in many of the major currencies, particularly as  Bitcoin price has jumped over $9,500. The market cap has been driven by a number of factors, but Bitcoin continues to maintain a 53 percent dominance in the total cap. The market cap surge has been spurred on by a huge jump in the value of Bitcoin, but other coins have also had excellent weeks. Ethereum and Litecoin had particularly strong weeks, with Ethereum posting an all-time high and other altcoins like Monero, IOTA, and Dash all had a strong showing as well.

What’s driving the market?

The market cap increase is reflective of a general feeling among market movers that the cryptocurrency market will continue to grow. Investors are beginning to join in the market and are producing substantial gains. The increase in hedge funds, as well as the general awareness in the market, are both strongly bullish signals for the market. The last Bitcoin climb was coupled with declines in altcoins, but this run up has carried altcoins with it. This may well be a strongly bullish sign for the market as a whole. According to many insiders, the market has just begun it’s bull run, with increasing investment coming. According to Mihail Lala – founder and

creator of WAWLLET:

"Gravity is the key element. The investment rivers fed a 300 bln lake due to a natural flow. The market is attracted by need and opportunity. We are just at the beginning of early majority. The lake is just 15 percent loaded."

Chuck Reynolds

Marketing Dept
Contributor
Please click either Link to Learn more about -Bitcoin.
Interested or have Questions. Call me 559-474-461

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Small Players Turn To
Other Profit Sources As
Mining Becomes More Competitive

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

It Takes a Village:
Parenting on the Blockchain

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden