BEAM - ENSURING PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN A BLOCKCHAIN

resuscitate (59)in #blockchain • 6 years ago (edited)

INTRODUCTION

The invention of blockchain technology makes it possible for individuals and organizations to carry out transactions using what is known as a peer-to-peer network without passing through a third-party's centralized system. This technology has helped revolutionize several sectors and industry, but so many sectors are still sceptical about its adoption because they think that the technology doesn't grant the sort of privacy needed in their sector.

Transactions carried out using the blockchain technology are believed to be secured and anonymous. That is, the identities of those initiating the transactions cannot be revealed since the network is designed to shield the identities of the users by generating random public and private keys that are used to initiate and control the transactions. These keys are used to render those initiating the transactions anonymous by forming crytographic addresses that are used to receive and control the transactions. Thus, instead of registering the personal information of the users initiating the transactions on the blockchain, only the cryptographic addresses and amounts are recorded.

This has made many current blockchain users to believe that their identities can never be identified on the blockchain and their transaction history can never be traced since only the cryptographic addresses and amounts of their transactions are stored on the blockchain. But this has turned out to be false. Data leaks from the user, Exchanges, merchants, OTC deals or even collecting or clustering the blockchain data can be used to reveal the identity of a user and once this is done, every transaction linking to such user can be investigated easily since the blockchain stores the data of it's users in a public ledger.

This makes it easy for everyone to access a user's transaction details such as account balance, transaction amount, transaction date, transaction cryptographic addresses, etc. A user can be easily monitored and their transaction history revealed once their identity can be gotten. This limitation makes the blockchain technology far from ideal. The easy accessibility of user's transaction details by other users of the blockchain is preventing some industries and individuals that value their privacy from adopting this innovative technology. These are some of the problems that Beam has come to address.

WHAT IS BEAM?

Beam is a platform that keeps the account and transaction details of it's users private in the blockchain. Beam grants the account user the control to determine who can access their account details and also makes transaction confidential and secure. Beam uses what is known as the "mimblewimble" protocol to achieve this feat.

THE MIMBLEWIMBLE PROTOCOL

This protocol governs the operation of Beam. It makes it possible for confidentiality, privacy and scalability to be achieved on a blockchain. The name mimblewimble was gotten from the famous Harry Porter's book and the two core technology behind it are; confidential transactions and transaction cut-through.

CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTIONS

Mimblewimble keeps transaction confidential through cryptographic commitment. Two key features of this are transaction hiding and binding. When a transaction is initiated between two users, the receiving user will not have access to the transaction's details until the sender sends him/her a secret key or code that can be used to access such transaction. This is a summary description of how the hiding and binding confidential transaction feature works. The details of the transaction is hidden from the receiver until he/she receives the transaction access key. This will ensure that only the person the transaction is sent to gains access to the transaction's details and nothing gets stored for anyone to access.

TRANSACTION CUT-THROUGH

This feature of mimblewimble enable only the current state of a transaction to be referenced on the blockchain. It doesn't depend on the whole blockchain to initiate a transaction. The transaction will appear individual and unlinked, even though they are on the same block in the blockchain. The CUT-THROUGH makes it possible for Beam to perform transactions with smaller blocks and it records only the commitment on the blockchain; not the transaction amount or address.

ADVANTAGES OF BEAM

1. Offers transaction confidentiality:

Beam makes it possible for only the two users involved in the transaction to gain access to the transaction's details. Nothing like transaction's amount or address is stored on the blockchain for any other person to access. Only commitments that can't be traced to anyone are stored.

2. Grants user's control:

With Beam, the user can prevent unauthorized access to his account details. Only person's authorized by the holder of an account can be able to access an account's details.

3. Offers scalability of the blockchain:

The cut - through feature of mimblewimble makes it easy for the blockchain to be scaled. Since only current transaction state is referenced and large data are not stored on the blockchain, smaller blocks are required to initiate and record a transaction. This makes Beam very scalable.

4. Fast transaction speed:

Beam offers a faster transaction processing speed since less data are required to process and store a transaction on a block.

5. Usability:

Beam has a mobile and desktop wallet that are designed to support the daily needs of its users. It's very user friendly and easy to use.

6. Versatility:

A variety of transaction types can be initiated through Beam. E.g, escrow, atomic swapping, time-locked, etc.

7. Compatibility:

The equihash algorithm of Beam makes it adoption by existing GPU miners possible. It has an extensive number of tools that makes running and managing mining nodes easier. Etc.

Use case

Charles was an early adopter of Bitcoin. His portfolio has grown so large that his account has started getting the attention of some unknown individuals. Charles knew that he needed to do something to prevent unwarranted access to his account details. He made a little research and discovered Beam. With Beam he was able to keep his account information provided and safe from unauthorized access.