Quote from: tom12392 on January 02, 2018, 02:16:14 AM

Quote from: willstarkro on January 01, 2018, 10:38:00 PM

http://i66.tinypic.com/fwpu88.png

The Idea

The world of digital cryptocurrency is simply that, digital. While everyone would agree that this is how we will eventually transact, there will always be physical, real-life assets that people/businesses/governments possess. Paper will be the first ledger that allows a user to electronically register ownership of a physical asset, and also allow for the exchange of physical assets through the same ledger. This will be accomplished using a modified DAG (direct acrylic graph) data structure built on two layers. The first will be the Paper currency, the second being the asset ledger, which will track the movement and data of each asset. This will most likely be built upon IOTA, but I have begun exploring RaiBlocks as an ulterior structure (I have outlined my take on both below). As it currently stands, it is just me working on the project, but I have outlined my timeline below, and believe that I can achieve my goals.

This is not an ask for donations, or an announcement for an ICO. This is purely to state my intentions to complete this project.

Why IOTA or RaiBlocks

The value of these next generation ledgers is incredibly noticeable, and necessary for this project to succeed. Both IOTA and RaiBlocks implementation allow for highly scalable, instant, and fee-less transactions, all on a decentralized network.

IOTA: IOTA is far more developed and mature DAG ledger at this point. And technically, it has some advantages over RaiBlocks. Each transaction on IOTA allows for 1 kilobyte of arbitrary data attached, while RaiBlocks allows for only 128 bits total on its first layer. This gives IOTA a distinct advantage when dealing with IoT devices. However, as noted by the article, there could be a second layer introduced which could allow for the transfer of data. Another advantage of IOTA is it allows for off-chain transactions to be attached to the Tangle at a later date. This lets the IoT devices not have to transact online for it to function properly.

RaiBlocks: RaiBlocks is the up and coming ledger that has captured a lot of peoples attention, and for good reason. Their implementation gives every user their own mini blockchain. The system makes sense, even more so for the storage of records of physical assets for a user. One of the current issues with RaiBlocks is its lack of privacy. Someone has spoken on fixing this using zkSNARKS (here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2581762.0), and I plan on reaching out and discussing the implementation and whether there is a way to cocreate a solution.

Use Cases

   The largest use case for me is the global e-commerce industry, as this will allow for an immutable ledger of who owns what, at what time.
   Core assets such as houses, cars, etc. This technology could theoretically replace deeds and registrations.

Timeline

   End of Q1 2018
   o Finish mathematical structure and facilitation for storing ledger of physical assets
   o Begin work on creating hardware/software solution to create distinct key for each physical asset
      End of Q2 2018
   o   Depending on which ledger I implement, this phase will involve reforming ledger to meet demands of this project (This may stretch into Q3 2018)
   o   Release Beta version at the end of this phase
      End of Q3 mid Q4 2018
   o   Continue development of ledger
   o   Build out APIs and toolkits

This is obviously not a definitive plan, just my thoughts on how quickly I believe I can accomplish different steps. As of now, I have no plans to create an ICO, and dont have an official white paper. I will be focusing on the code to ensure that this project is feasible. I will answer any questions you guys may have on the project, and look forward to building this.

Sources/Credits:
IOTA whitepaper: https://iota.org/IOTA_Whitepaper.pdf
RaiBlocks whitepaper: https://raiblocks.net/media/RaiBlocks_Whitepaper.pdf
zkSNARKs: https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/12/05/zksnarks-in-a-nutshell/
Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
IOTA vs RaiBlocks Technical Discussion: https://hackernoon.com/iota-vs-raiblocks-413679bb4c3e

Interesting concept... Kind of confusing though how real world assets would be linked to an electronic ledger.

What would stop me from listing something that really isn't mine

Good question.

This really stems from how you received the item. If the item (such as a computer) already exists on the ledger with a preexisting uniquely identifying key, and you purchase it off of someone else, then it'd simply be a transfer of assets from one person to another with the completion of your payment.

The issue is when a new item is created, or you want to add an item that previously did not exist on the ledger.

If it's a tech product, such as a company creates a new car and they need to list it onto the database, then the machine's software itself would use an API provided by Paper, which generates a unique key linking it to the company/person creating it. If it's a non-tech product, this is a much harder problem to solve. One route I am thinking is implementing a sensor onto the asset, such as a house, could be purchased from us. You would need to specifically tell us what the product is and so forth, and if we would detect that something like it already exists, we would reject the creation of the asset on the ledger. This sensor could also allow us to track the position of the product, such as a package you order. Any time the package stops moving, we would create a new data entry recording that position.

Because of this implementation, we would never allow a new key be created for an already existing asset. This ensures that the asset wasn't taken illegally.