Beam : Absolute Privacy For Blockchain Transactions

davonicera (47)in #crypto • 6 years ago (edited)

PREAMBLE

The Blockchain at its inception was designed to provide a platform free of an overlying central figure or an administrative head. It was made to remove the pressure of having to depend on a particular central authority to run operations as well as storage abilities for digital assets. The idea behind the blockchain was perfected in 2009 with the initiation of the Bitcoin blockchain and all of its protocols. It's befitting to say that since the Bitcoin blockchain was inaugurated, the digital revolution have been nothing short of a tremendous success as so many other cryptocurrencies produced have imitated the Bitcoin blockchain model.

The Blockchain in itself as we know is a whole string of records termed blocks which acts as a savant for transactions and are linked in a cryptographic union.

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Now the blockchain was designed to be decentralized to accommodate the fact that there is no central boss running operations. This implies that it is set up in a peer to peer manner that works on such a way that what one user knows, another user will know it to make sure that no one is being cheated. These users are known as nodes and it is their duties to mine cryptocurrency in a manner that involves verifying transactions. The nodes verify transactions by inserting them into blocks in a manner that the strorage follows a distributed Ledger system full of records of these transactions and their time stamps.

Privacy Issues

Now decentralization comes at a price if the relationship between blockchain nodes are to be mutual. This involves the manner in which individual transaction records are stored and linked on the blockchain. The different nodes engage themselves in a trustless manner that each node have to calculate to know for sure that a transaction is valid. The implication is that the transaction contents are made public and easily accessible to everyone. This is a very pertinent issue that is most sensitive to digital assets investors.
Initially when I heard about Bitcoin blockchain and its ability to create multiple addresses for transactions, I also made the wrong impression of assuming that it meant that every user's transaction is hence anonymous and cannot be traced. This was found to be quite untrue when discoveries were made by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation on how to connect every transaction eventually to the original source, through the public Ledger system. This ultimately breaches the solemn privacy that online users cherish so much.
Imagine a transaction between two giant corporations using digital currency that requires utmost discretion being traced back to them by a rival company. The losses accrued could be in millions of dollars and can lead to devaluing of assets. That being said, privacy is a very important comfort that can limit widespread adoption of cryptocurrency.
The Beam platform is a revolutionary platform designed to improve scalability while making privacy a priority.

Let's take a detailed view into the Beam network and its components.

THE BEAM SOLUTION

Beam is a secure storage of value that is entirely confidential and can be displayed at the discretion of the original owner. This is a cryptocurrency with the ability of offering the much needed anonymous identity to blockchain users. The average blockchain user expects discretion when handling his digital portfolios and that's exactly what Beam offers.

The Beam platform also solves scalability issues. This is driven by the fact that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are yet to compete with fiat payment digital platforms like VISA despite having a great investor base. The Beam platfrom slashes the complex method of block validation by nodes on a blockchain.
The operations of this wonderful platform is undertaken by an innovative MimbleWimble protocol. This protocol is what drives the Beam network. Now we are going to take a view into what the MimbleWimble protocol has to offer.

The MimbleWimble Protocol

The MimbleWimble protocol is based on the mute spell that was used in the fictional story, Harry Porter. The spell in question binds whoever that is under it from being able to speak. Just like its fictional etymology, the MimbleWimble protocol is focused mostly on one feature, "Confidentiality" and it suggested ways in which scalability of the blockchain can be improved as well.
It was generated by an anonymous user from a Bitcoin developers Chat room, with the user name Tom Elvis Jedusor which is also the French name of the fictional character, Lord Voldermort in Harry Porter.

But before we dive in fully into what the MimbleWimble protocol is all about, let us take a look at its origin. Several propositions have been initially to increase blockchain transaction privacy. The most mutable was from Greg Maxwell, a Bitcoin developer. He proposed the encryption of targeted Bitcoin transactions from public eyes but still be credible enough to be validated using the usual consensus mechanism. This masking mechanism was known as the blinding factor and it makes the transaction blurry to every public blockchain user apart from the two parties involved in the transaction but in addition, the users can be able to validate the transaction by calculating the input and output of the transactions for uniformity. Maxwell also created Coinjoin, a mechanism that allows users to make transactions to have interwoven results in such a way that will confuse the cryptographic graph, making it impossible for individuals to trace the transactions from any particular address.
The MimbleWimble protocol mirrors the Maxwell solution to blockchain anonymity but added some modifications to bring better results :

Contrary to what is obtainable in the Maxwell solution, the MimbleWimble protocol gives the work of blinding the transaction records to the receiver of the Bitcoin assets and hence, it becomes the Proof of his acquisition of the assets.
From the Cojoin model, the MimbleWimble protocol, the transactions stored in the blocks can be trimmed down to leave a list of all the outputs, a list of all the inputs and the hashing signature data of the operation. When this is done, the input can be cross matched with the output in an elimination method ensuring that they balance each other out. When this happens, the transaction is proven to be valid without carrying unnecessary baggage in the name of performing verifications. This is known as the Transaction Cut of a blockchain. This increases scalability significantly and prevents too much clogging of the blockchain. When the cumbersome components of a blockchain transaction is trimmed to size, retaining the important parts, much more transactions can be fit into a block and more verifications can be done in real time while achieving anonymity with the obfuscation of the input and output results. This is what the MimbleWimble protocol is all about.

Beam Implementation of The MimbleWimble Protocol

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Like I mentioned before, Beam is trying is focused on creating anonymity of transaction with the blockchain and as well as improving scalability and the MimbleWimble protocol is a unique innovative technology which the Beam network is arming itself for the tedious task ahead. This ensures development of a more efficient, faster and much more dependable blockchain operation.

Why Beam?

The Beam platform comes with a lot of unique features that makes it a must for all blockchain users.

It's Confidential

The Beam platform's vision centers on giving blockchain users that much needed privacy to run their transactions without prying eyes of the public. Their MimbleWimble protocol ensures the success of this task through the tangling of the input and output results. This makes it a very good platform for research companies who trade privacy as a value of their investments.

It's Scalable

Several blockchain developers have been working round the clock for solutions to the scalability limitations of the blockchain. The Beam platform beats the clock with the MimbleWimble protocol. The Transaction Cut mechanism allows more transactions to fit in a block and consequentially, removes the loads on the nodes to produce more blocks.

It's Versatile

Armed with a unique "Scriptless Script" technology, the Beam network can undertake so many other operations that differs from value based transactions like storage operations, escrow services, exchange trading and others.

It's Usable

The Beam platform is also armed with integrated software DApps that will help create a user friendly environment for its users to have a better user experience. The applications are compatible for both mobile and Desktop devices.

It's Compatible

It also has an equihash mechanism that allows it to be compatible with operational miners that aid in its processes with a wide range of tools to ensure mining efficiency and smoothness.

It's Sustainable

Making sure that it never runs out of steem, the Beam is developing a system where 20% of its mine resources goes back to the platform to foster growth and development.

At a the User's Discretion

When it comes to the Beam platform, the user makes decisions on what to show the general public and what to hide from them. They provide the service in a way that what you see is what you get from the user. Beam users do not suffer from insecurity as they have the MimbleWimble protocol to mask their trails.

Who Benefits From Beam's Confidential Store of Value

Research Facilities
Financial Institutions
Government of Countries
Medical Research Institutes
Corporations

Use Cases of Beam

Case 1

Mark is a suspect who is being investigated by his old firm where he worked for embezzlement under a contract that involved installation of high grade computer hardware using Bitcoin purchase. Mark completed his project but because he is resigning and moving to a bigger firm, his old firm decided to audit his last project transaction. Now Mark do not want investigators probing around on his personal transactions as all they only have a warrant to look into the particular address he sent the Bitcoin to, while making purchase for the hardware. Mike was in a dilemma on what to do until a friend introduced him to Beam. With Beam's MimbleWimble protocol, Mark is able to conceal his other transactions from the auditors while handing his last transaction record for audition.

Case 2

Truz is a Pharmaceutical company that is well renowned for their innovative production of disease curing vaccines. In order to produce a particular vaccine for an airborne disease, Truz employs the help of 3 foreign research facilities who famed their work on total discretion and anonymity. Truz wants to make transfer to the research facilities to begin research for the production of those vaccines through digital currency but they were in a tight corner on how to fund the research facilities discreetly and on time for vaccination. One of their shareholders them suggests Beam and they were able to transfer those funds in privacy and in fast manner to beat the time stipulated for an effective vaccination.

The Leadership Team

The Engineering Team

The Advisors

The Investors

Roadmap

CONCLUSION

The digital currency revolution is a great success and is a measure of just how much the crypto world has changed. Millions of transactions are being conducted yearly on the blockchain but with little or no privacy which exposes users to untold dangers from hackers who look to take advantage of its transparency and decentralized nature. The OTA leaks are a proof that privacy is a must for digital transactions. With the package that Beam have in store for cryptocurrency investors, I have no doubt that much more people will buy into the blockchain sooner than later. Who doesn't like a good old fashioned privacy? Thanks for reading.