Thingchain, Bitcoin & the blockchain
Thingchain is a bitcoin inspired cryptosystem for non-fintech uses. Some example use cases are proof of provenance and possession of physical goods, authentication of the history of real world objects in the field, provisioning usage rights etc.
How we use Bitcoin’s Cryptosystem
The Bitcoin technology comprises a number of functions such as consensus, mining, transaction protocol, elliptic-curve cryptography, blockchain storage etc. Thingchain adapts software from the Bitcoin ecosystem and repurposes it for the flow of goods.
Thingchain identifiers are also valid Bitcoin addresses. This opens up uses cases where our users are simultaneously tracking custody or provenance while using the payment and escrow services of the Bitcoin blockchain. Thingchain’s ledger is however, a separate blockchain from the Bitcoin blockchain.
Thingchain’s transaction structure is nearly identical to Bitcoin, but the consensus model [1] has been modified to better encode the authenticated history of goods and access rights.
How we secure the Thingchain
Thingchain’s security model requires producing a verifiable log and global consensus of the current state of the system. Delegated proof of work, delegated to a closed set of signatories is an adequate consensus model for users of the system to decide if they want to trust this log. Thingchain is not intended to support a cryptocurrency and this is reflected in the security model.
One vulnerability that a delegated proof of work system has, is the possibility of a short term fork. It isn’t yet clear, whether the solution to this is a) pinning the state of the system to the Bitcoin blockchain or b) using an alternative consensus system that is stable with a small group of validators like Tendermint & Stellar or c) embedding consensus into another system like Ethereum.
That notwithstanding, we think that there is enough information for machine mediated trust decisions in our current system and more importantly we closely follow the developments in the ecosystem and have built a permissioned consensus ledger that can accomodate new consensus rules as they evolve.
[1] For more on consensus & permissioned ledgers read: Consensus as a service: a brief report on the emergence of permissioned distributed ledger systems – by Tim Swanson ofnumbers.com
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