What is Reddit's opinion of Blockstack?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Your assumption is predicated on the belief that the government will support freedom of speech in the terms you want it to. They already have carve outs for hate speech. The globalists / deep state won't protect you.

Building immunity to attack is much better than seeking mercy and favor from those we cannot trust. Decentralized platforms that can't be censored (https://blockstack.org/) are the only future we have. Us discussing this on a liberal-controlled website is a vulnerability itself. Twitter and Reddit will come for us eventually....

Gabs app can still be installed on Android if you sideload it (the fact that Android is open source is a good thing here..)

Stuff like this is why I'm keeping a very close eye on Blockstack. The stuff they want to do would go a long way in neutering the likes of Google and better still what they're developing is open source.

https://blockstack.org/

There's also blockstack by computer scientists from Princeton that I've come across on futurology.

It'll be interesting to see if social sharing sites built on BlockStack or similar "decentralized web" systems catch on. Users may have to pay a tiny amount of digital currency for each post they make, to pay for it's storage and dissemination to other users.

We're still a ways away from that happening, but it's an intriguing alternative funding strategy. As long as your users can scrounge up some bitcoin (or whatever digital currency is preferred), they can contribute to the discussion.

(I haven't looked into it more than that to see if it's viable, but I'm sure there are a hundred different start ups working on the concept right now.)

> but for that data to be useful to me, I'd still need to (a) actually fetch the data, (b) hash it and verify that the hashes match

Not necessarily. I'd say all that matters is that I have the guarantee that, for every chunk of data in the state, (i) I can theoretically fetch the data at anytime I want to, and (ii) the data is valid, ie. it follows protocol rules. The idea of "hashing the data and verifying that the hashes match" is to me meaningless because "the data" is defined as "the thing that has the hash that we already came to consensus on".

I would say that this is my definition of "on-chain" versus "off-chain" - on-chain data is data that the entire global consensus tries to guarantee data availability of (data availability = the guarantee that any node can connect to the network and fetch any specific part of the data if it wants to), whereas off-chain data is data that is up to the beneficiaries of the data to ensure availability.

> a node in shard A can only use apps running in shard A (and not the global set of apps)

This isn't quite true. Applications can interact across shard boundaries, but only do so asynchronously.

> https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf

The issue with virtualchains as described in your paper is that the (i) data availability, and (ii) validity of the data in each virtualchain is not secured by the underlying blockchain protocol. This means that your assurances about validity and data availability (both measured in terms of cryptoeconomics and in terms of fault tolerance) is only as strong as the mechanism that agrees on the consensus hashes for that one particular application.

I do agree that chatting with a whiteboard will be great :)

They show in their own diagram on the front page of their website https://blockstack.org/ that this all sits on top of TCP/IP and existing internet hardware. While on the very same page they say "The New Internet is Here". Astonishing. They either do not know what the Internet is or they are deliberately trying to make what they have done seem like a bigger deal than it is. Ignorance or deception, take your pick.

I read the whitepaper for the storage layer, called blockstack https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf

I think nobody is talking about them yet because it isn't really a traditional service for consumers. The key sentence seems to be

> Developers only need to supply minimal infrastructure for hosting the application code, since each user brings the storage and computing resources they need to use the app.

So this is a "cloud service" that doesn't run on other people's computers like every other cloud service. They talk about pushing the complexities to the edge (ie, the client) to keep the service decentralized.

So right now, there is probably a good amount of developer interest because there is little up-front investment in resources to develop something here.

But from a consumer perspective there doesn't seem to be any killer apps to bring the users (and all of their computing resources) to make it work, and the decentralized nature of it means existing companies will find it easier to build on the major cloud providers which have mature platforms than take a risk on this new fangled thing.

To bounce off of this more: I remembered a project back in 2015 I heard about that seemed like it would help solve the problem of content. Just found them again and seems they are heading in the right direction. Be able to own your identity and information used on or by other enities, while basically rebuilding the internet with new content and apps.

https://blockstack.org

Quickly scrolling through the whitepaper, this looks like a less impressive version of what Blockstack (https://blockstack.org/) is already doing, particularly when you consider you can already build decentralized applications on Blockstack, like, right this very second, with just a few lines of Java.

Blockstack's whitepaper: https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf

I also had this happen, where I had control of a Blockstack name on Namecoin, and then when Blockstack did their migration, I was not able to retrieve control of the name. I tried to debug it with the devs but was unsuccessful. This was frustrating. If you make any progress on recovering your name, please share info! For my part, I read that it should be possible to use the same private key as the Namecoin address that controlled the name, as a Bitcoin private key to control the name, but this did not work for me. Possibly this had to do with that I originally registered the name on onename.io and then had Onename transfer it to my own Namecoin wallet?

It is easy for me to see that OpenBazaar would want to keep using Blockstack, because it is built on Bitcoin, so theoretically name registration could be integrated into the OpenBazaar client, since there is already an integrated BTC wallet. The Blockstack project also has strong momentum: they just today announced a fund for application development. A ENS solution might make sense in a more Ethereum-based system.

Great post. Setting up the bureaucracy inside the UN would take some time, and they would target smaller sites that don't have the resources to fight. This would become a giant pay-to-play game where the bureaucrats in the Dictator's Club (UN) would take payoffs from larger companies to retain their domain names. Then the OIC would get MB agents into the committee to enforce Shariah blasphemy laws against the small sites such as Jihad Watch. We would also see "Country Withheld Content" get more widespread as companies try to retain their domain names in compliance with local censorship laws.

It would be temporarily disruptive. However, I would expect to see companies such as BlockStack get huge traction: https://blockstack.org/articles/blockstack-vs-dns They have a decentralized DNS system that's a derivative of the blockchain (Bitcoin). So, in the end, technologists move faster than bureaucrats and this would be good for the internet. It is also something that the Bernie/Occupy liberals and the Trumpsters/Libertarians can actually agree on.

For those who are interested in this kind of thing, a couple of weeks ago BlockStack has received SEC approval to launch their token, which is the first of its kind, basically.

The platform looks like a dapp platform based on their website, where people can easily create dapps.

Just thought it was a neat bit of info.

Might be some in your wallet (if you did token sale). Have not checked mine. Lemme know.

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https://blockstack.org/roadmap/

2018 Q4

• Launched the Stacks Blockchain v1, distributed tokens, and sent first Stacks transaction.
• Achieved Milestone 1 and unlocked $25M in capital.
• Released the Stacks blockchain v2 design proposals and start of Rust implementation.
• Released new Stacks Explorer and Wallet.
• Published smart contracting language spec as a Stacks Improvement Proposal (SIP-002).
• Released support for custom Gaia hub configuration during user onboarding.
• Launched App Mining pilot in December with 38 registered apps.

So, how's this for a thought...gay wedding cake ruling.

Baker can refuse to bake the cake for an event that contradicts owners religious beliefs. However, baker cannot deny regular service.

If that is the case, then logic heretofore says that baker must uphold constitution. If that is the case, then all companies MAY NOT infringe upon the Constitution. Therefore, they may not infringe on our civil liberties (right to privacy - meaning they have to provide us the tools to shut down the sharing of info) AND they may not censor (right to free speech).

if this is the case -there are major ramifications for the Gun Grabbers.

https://blockstack.org/what-is-blockstack

Various components of the Blockstack network are live and have been running in production for years.

We've been iterating over our system architecture and improving the core infrastructure for scalability etc. See Blockstack Core for details: https://github.com/blockstack/blockstack-core

In addition to the network, the Blockstack browser is also live and is a working product. You can download it here: https://blockstack.org/install

I think you're confusing the launch of the Blockstack tokens with the launch of Blockstack itself. Blockstack tokens will be introduced as a hardfork of the network between Aug 2018 and Jan 2019 and that's the upcoming work we're focusing on.

RE the funds raised. The Blockstack token is NOT a ERC20 token. It's a separate blockchain and we did not use Ethereum for our token sale. We structured the sale as a Delaware Fund. You can read more about our legal structure here: https://medium.com/@muneeb/governance-models-for-crypto-tokens-dca4dab6c390

I am curious why they even bothered to mention blockstack so early on back then? A project that is still yet to launch all of these months later and curiously claims that they have "13,363 community devs" on blockstack.org whatever that means?

What are namecoiner's opinions of Blockstack technology?

To be honest, I have never even heard of them until just now... and they're hosting and ethereum based token ICO as we speak... surprise surprise!

Blockstack is working on something like what you’re describing. It uses existing cloud storage but encrypts all the data it stores there (on Dropbox, google drive, etc). They only have a couple dapps built for it but they have some good stuff in the pipeline. Blockstack

I highly recommend reading the full white paper (virtual blockchain covered in section 4):

https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf

I still can't quite wrap my head around the concrete process, but abstractly, BlockStack uses a virtual block chain which at the moment is virtualized upon the bitcoin block chain. They had it on NameCoin's blockchain, but due to (iirc) some issues with majority control they had to migrate to Bitcoin. Nothing is written the bitcoin blockchain, rather the virtual chain uses bitcoin blockchain as a stable source of truth for its checksums.

Between the virtual blockchain feature and everything but the BNS being off-chain, this is why BlockStack to me seems to be the superior option for Web 3.0. idk if we will actually see it adopted as wide spread as would be needed to consider it the ubiquitous web 3.0 solution, but damn did they design this thing really nicely. Hopefully someone else can give you a better answer on the concrete virtualization process. I read the whitepaper a few times and still don't quite get it...

Everything they do is open source and use is voluntary. There are a number of companies, projects and people involved in the identity portion of the project that aren't working for or affiliated with Onename, such as myself and my Nametiles project (https://nametiles.co) which builds on top of the Blockchain ID (formerly Passcard) standard that they put forth. I share your concern about private companies trying to "own" identity which is why Onename's work was so attractive to me.

We all hang out over at Blockstack (https://blockstack.org) Would love for you to stop by and further explain your concerns so that we can make sure that no one has to fear one company trying to own a critical part of the crypto ecosystem.

Thanks for the share. That looks to be exactly what we're looking for. I have no clue where the files are stored though. On blockstack.org they mention that you can run your own storage but by default it's "Provided by Blockstack PBC". This doesn't give confidence as to how or where the files are stored.

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There's also the problem that they say they are giving unlimited as they want to boost interest in decentralized applications. That also doesn't give confidence that this is something that'll last very long....

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It is however exactly what we need, and I will try it out for sharing notsolegal items myself. Thanks for sharing!

I like the design and app. Few questions? does Twilio store any meta information on video calls being made? Is it safe?

I also see you have mentioned as 'Decentralized', what are the next steps? Are you looking at blockchain platforms like https://blockstack.org for login / identity?

There's a bitcoin-native domain name system called Blockstack.

You can see my Blockstack name and profile here: https://explorer.blockstack.org/name/light.id

Regarding the privacy question, I have my Blockstack name linked to my BIP47 payment code, which makes it difficult for the public to see transactions sent to my addresses.

I like your idea. LP is neat. However, rather than people trusting you with their data ( though it is readonly ). How about you can just facilitate without seeing their data. You can look at blockstack.org. I see you can go big with them.

Functionality that is currently live:

- Registering domain names like muneeb.id

- Registering usernames, like the ones you get when create ID here: https://blockstack.org/try-blockstack

- Starting new TLDs or namespaces e.g., if you want to start a .git namespace. An example of this would be the .podcast namespace for a podcasting app on Blockstack.

- Gaia storage data/pointers. In order to discover Gaia lockers/vaults, you need to point to them from the Stacks blockchain and the only way to write to the Stacks blockchain is by using Stacks as fuel.

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Functionality that goes live with Stacks v2:

- Publishing Clarity smart contracts (the code for smart contracts is written to the Stacks blockchain and needs Stacks for writing it)

- Executing Clarity contracts (any user who wants to execute any contract needs to send Stacks as fuel)

- Transaction fees paid to Stacks miners (all transactions on the blockchain require a TX fee for processing)

- Incentives for Stacks miners to process/secure the blockchain

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There are other things like App Mining and some features in the R&D phase. The Stacks blockchain and the broader software stack can't really work at all without Stacks.

My bad. I didn't dig too deep myself but it looked like their own port of code (most likely required because they were using Pascal) which uses this 3rd-party blockchain: https://blockstack.org/

I agree the documentation wasn't very helpful.

Do a lot of research before you come on a forum like this and ask a question like that. You're going to get eaten alive in here.

otherwise you might be looking for something like this: https://blockstack.org

Here's more info on Blockstack's Gaia Storage System: https://blockstack.org/faq/#what-kind-of-data-does-a-blockstack-dapp-keep-about-me

You skipped the part of understanding what Blockstack actually does and why it's used to have the app become decentralized. Your assumptions are just terrible https://blockstack.org/what-is-blockstack/

Thanks for pointing this out. We'll update the forum terms and privacy policy.

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In general, you can find the updated privacy policy for the main Blockstack website here: https://blockstack.org/legal/privacy-policy/

Looks interesting. I haven't used it. Their https://blockstack.org/legal/privacy-policy/ references California law and offices in New York City, so USA-based, which is a red flag to some privacy-oriented people.

I mean the protocol literally operates on top of a blockchain. It can use Bitcoin, etherium, dogecoin, whatever. It's decentralized DNS and file storage. Seriously, check out the whitepaper.

We’re currently more focused on getting apps on the platform. Apps published by developers doubled in Q4 2018. See Q4 updates here: https://blockstack.org/updates/

With real apps on the platform users can find utility in using these apps and fairly soon we’ll start focusing more on engaged users across all applications.

It’s a chicken and the egg problem with apps and users and starting with apps makes more sense.

— Muneeb

>How do you address the obvious privacy and censorship issues of such a system?

It's called Blockstack, and has been out for several years; it has many amazing techies around the world quietly working on it... and will likely be the next big thing everyone in here is talking about after lightning.

If you're interested in learning more, do check it out:

https://blockstack.org

Last adjustment was on October, 2017.

from https://blockstack.org/blog/blockstack-cores-successful-hard-fork-to-version-0-17

> The third efficiency improvement is the adjustment of the BTC/USD exchange rate. The BTC/USD exchange rate is not fixed, which can make the prices of names and namespace fluctuate wildly. If names get too cheap, they will get squatted. If they get too expensive, then no one will buy them. For this reason, the price for names in Blockstack has always been denominated in USD and the exchange rate variable was introduced as a way to continually readjust pricing with every annual hard fork. This preserves affordability while at the same time being a simple and predictable change.

So options are: 1) wait for another hard fork (next year) and purchase the id once hard fork completes 2) wait for BTC to crash and buy buy buy!

Blockstack

I didn't read the entire blog (call me out if necessary).

I wonder a few things about this:

1. If there are multiple blockchains around, will they created a way to interact among them? This concept will not hold up if they can't interact. Consider TOR and I2P. They can't interact. If people can't reach their daily tasks, it's not going to fly.

2. I don't think people can host their own websites and deal with all the traffic. That's why they rent servers to host their work.

3. We still need to rely on the lines owned by major companies and ISPs to get the data.

Those are two major flaws I haven't seen addressed in decentralized internet or public ISPs.

They have their interesting alpha browser out. https://blockstack.org/blog/browser-public-alpha

"The Blockstack Browser enables a world where data from your apps is stored in a location that you select and in a way that you control. Blockstack apps store data where you choose. You can chose to use a public Gaia Storage Hub or a hub that you run yourself in the cloud backed by commodity cloud storage like Amazon S3 or Azure or on hardware and storage devices you own yourself."

Where it says "73,000 users registered" they are referring to domains on the blockchain. There is also a graphic on the home page that references "Blockchain Name System", which is the decentralized DNS part of Blockstack built on the bitcoin blockchain. You can read the technical details in their whitepaper: https://blockstack.org/whitepaper.pdf

Is cyberfox still actively developed? I thought I read a while back that the lead developer stepped away from the project.... I can be wrong

On another note - I've been keeping my eye on this - BlockStack Web Browse

I can't wait for this thread to review it. Well.... at least when there is an official Linux version at least lol.

> example a smart contract could let users register IP addresses and site names as a decentralized DNS system.

This is already done with Bitcoin. One example amoung multiple- https://blockstack.org/

Why does one need such a large and inefficient attack surface with doing such a simple task?

Do you understand why hardware wallets aren't turing complete?

There are a load of interesting new technologies that could improve internet speeds. For example you can decentralised systems like what https://blockstack.org/ are proposing. Or you could look at the Li-Fi, where light is used to transmit data instead of Wi-Fi, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHWIZsIBj3Q.

Blockstack can do this. It lets you pair a human-readable name to an address. It runs on top of Bitcoin and is fully decentralized. It's been running in production for 2+ years.

Website: https://blockstack.org GitHub: https://github.com/blockstack/blockstack-core

(Disclaimer: am a Blockstack developer)

> Except there is already a chosen domain here, BitcoinCore.id, which the authors of the page registered and were offering up for use. I think your message showed how easy it is to switch for lookalikes in these systems. Feel free to not agree.

OK, I don't agree, because my point had nothing to do with whatever name they chose.

> Why are you talking about name squatting in response to a objection to the communications complexity of verification?

Because you were complaining about name squatting up in the thread. I can see how the convo got confused though, so to address your other concern, yes, they've also done thin client work too: https://blockstack.org/docs/light-clients

Probably best to use just one of the two for simplicity. What specific advantages do you see in using blockstack over namecoin?

For others, there is a comparison here: https://blockstack.org/docs/blockstack-vs-namecoin