Syscoin 2.1 Introduces Foundation for Blockchain Based Identity Platform

We’re continuing to test Syscoin 2.1 internally and although we’re very close to releasing Syscoin 2.1 to mainnet, we’ve been able to implement some major feature improvements – the biggest of which is the foundation for a human-readable Blockchain based identity system.

 

ALIASES AS A FOUNDATION FOR BLOCKCHAIN BASED IDENTITY PLATFORM

Aliases are central to all Syscoin operations. We’ve upgraded Aliases to pave the way for a Blockchain Based Identity platform. Soon you’ll be able to store everything related to your identity tied to your Syscoin Alias – from delivery address and Twitter handles to PGP signatures and passwords. How much data to include is completely up to the user. This addition will allow additional functionality in the future, from signing messages with your Alias, automatically sharing your newly created listings to Twitter and Facebook, to a full range of interoperability with other online services such as YouTube or Imgur, providing further identity value. All of this information is encrypted in the same manner as your coins and stored securely on the blockchain.

 
In Syscoin 2.0 sending funds to “Dan” vs. “dan” result in funds going to two different addresses and different Aliases on the network. This has not only confused users but has led many to reserve Aliases unnecessarily to try to mitigate case-confusion. As of Syscoin 2.1 we’ll be applying domain-name like rules to Syscoin Aliases, allowing only unique case-insensitive names. We’ve changed the Alias renewal model to be more like internet domain names; Aliases can now be renewed up to five years at any time. You’ll now be able to send coins and encrypted messages to a user’s Alias using any case formatting you desire, the recipient will always be the same. For example “Dan” v “dan” will go to the same recipient – the one who owns lowercase version of the Alias “dan” (rather than two different recipients as in 2.0). All new aliases in 2.1 will be entirely lowercase, any existing non-lowercase Aliases will be blocked from updates and will eventually expire and have their data pruned from the blockchain using another one of Syscoin 2.1’s new features aimed at reducing blockchain bloat.

 

DETAILS ON LATEST SYSCOIN 2.1 ENHANCEMENTS

The community has been asking questions about certain new features coming in 2.1 which we wanted to explain in more depth, as well as share more new features:

• Currency Editing – Currently in Syscoin 2.0 you cannot modify the currency your item is priced in once it is listed. After 2.1 is released you will be able to modify the currency your item is priced in if you made a mistake in your initial listing or if you simply want to price it in a different currency.
• “Wanted” Section – If you have an item or service that you are looking to buy but can’t find it on the marketplace you can list it in the “wanted” section. The “wanted” section will have multiple subcategories such as “Wanted Services” or “Wanted Items” etc. If a seller matching your needs sees your “wanted” listing they can simply create an offer fitting your “wanted” request and get into contact with you via the Syscoin encrypted messaging service to proceed with the transaction.
• (NEW) Certificate Categories – Just like offers can now be categorized, certificates can be categorized as well. We’ve identified some valuable alternative use cases for Syscoin digital certificates and allowing them to have a category will allow us (and/or the larger development community) to explore these value-adding use cases. If you choose to sell a categorized certificate, the offer listing will automatically be added to the same category as a convenience but users can modify this before submitting the offer to the network if they feel the offer should for some reason be in a different category than the certificate.

We’re internally testing the final version of Syscoin 2.1, with all the above mentioned features fully completed. Testing is looking good, we’ll be opening the testing up to our larger internal advisory committee this weekend before determining if we’re ready to set a hardfork block and plan the release to main net.