Hi @Fixx, @Emerger, and @craslovell,

Thanks for your responses!

Best regards!

Hi Fixx or any forum member,

What makes a 51% attack impossible due to the peculiarities of PoS & Pow? How does PoS & PoW hybridity protect the network from a 51% attack. Could you explain in detail the peculiarities of PoS & PoW that makes a 51% attack impossible?

Best regards!

Hi craslovell or any forum member,

Do you think that increasing PoW difficulty through merged mining will result in increasing the value of EMC?

If so, could you explain why would increasing PoW difficulty would result in increasing EMC's value?

Thanks!

Kolionovo Farm Reports on the First Effects of Blockchainization

Just about a month ago a Russia-based farm Kolionovo has partially integrated blockchain technology in its operations. The farm’s head and founder Mikhail Shlyapnikov told ForkLog about the first results of their work.

According to Shlyapnikov, all involved parties are currently satisfied with the integration of the technology. Below is what the farm has achieved over the last month’s time.

    A new form of real cooperation between consumers and producers is shaping out, which, though lacking any regulatory framework, looks very promising and already works.
    Nearly all shares for open subscription and sale have been reserved with most of them paid for.
    The incoming assets are being purposefully spent on expanding production capacities, replacing equipment and technologies, increasing product quality and production rate, and mitigation of risks.
    A base for long-term implementation of a long-forgotten scheme of direct supplies without intermediaries is being gradually prepared.
    New options of applying Emercoin services and related processes are being considered.
    Kolions (the farms own tokens) now have new functions and an option of free convertibility.
    The farm has tested the system for operation under emergency and warfare situations to prove that theoretically it is capable of withstanding all external threats.
    The farm regularly receives private offers, including those from abroad, regarding a franchise for both farms and other economy sectors.

Mikhail  Shlyapnikov says he is not quite ready to unveil the exact numbers, however, he stresses they are “radically different from those crisis-struck ones, to say the least.”

He also said that consumers, customers and shareholders are gradually installing and acquiring Emercoin wallets learning more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in the process.

    “People come to Kolionovo in person to see the results of their investment, some of the participate in related events. Later this month the investors will start receiving the first product baskets at special prices. We’re going to go ahead of time here, so we won’t be waiting for the results of the shareholders’ investments, as they are pretty long-term in agriculture. We want to accelerate things with our own resources. This will bring mutual benefits to all parties and can be seen as a gesture of trust for everyone”, Shlyapnikov added.

Speaking about the drawbacks, Shlyapnikov recalled troubles in communicating with other producers and temporary suspension of fundraising.

    “There are different reasons for this. It’s either insignificant volumes that require long time to extend and pay off, or self-sustainability that can implement a scheme like that on its own; or remoteness from Moscow, which results in higher pricing due to delivery cost, or too high expectations from our project. But we’re working and making arrangements.”

Temporary suspension of fundraising, according to Shlyapnikov, is related to such issues as choosing priorities, quality, reliability, availability and enhancement of processes instead of prospective expansion of this area.

    “Initially, our humble model was planned as a pilot project to study the options of applying blockchain technologies in survival and development of modern-day farming. We also wanted to provide each participant with high-quality and inexpensive goods, commercial issues were not on top of our list.”

Summarizing it all, Shlyapnikov notes that the idea of Kolionovo blockchainization has been put to practice in real time, as it was “simple, profitable, open, easily replicable and inexpensive”.

Article source: http://forklog.net/kolionovo-reports-on-the-first-effects-of-the-farms-blockchainization/

Kolionovo Farm Reports on the First Effects of Blockchainization

Just about a month ago a Russia-based farm Kolionovo has partially integrated blockchain technology in its operations. The farm’s head and founder Mikhail Shlyapnikov told ForkLog about the first results of their work.

According to Shlyapnikov, all involved parties are currently satisfied with the integration of the technology. Below is what the farm has achieved over the last month’s time.

    A new form of real cooperation between consumers and producers is shaping out, which, though lacking any regulatory framework, looks very promising and already works.
    Nearly all shares for open subscription and sale have been reserved with most of them paid for.
    The incoming assets are being purposefully spent on expanding production capacities, replacing equipment and technologies, increasing product quality and production rate, and mitigation of risks.
    A base for long-term implementation of a long-forgotten scheme of direct supplies without intermediaries is being gradually prepared.
    New options of applying Emercoin services and related processes are being considered.
    Kolions (the farms own tokens) now have new functions and an option of free convertibility.
    The farm has tested the system for operation under emergency and warfare situations to prove that theoretically it is capable of withstanding all external threats.
    The farm regularly receives private offers, including those from abroad, regarding a franchise for both farms and other economy sectors.

Mikhail  Shlyapnikov says he is not quite ready to unveil the exact numbers, however, he stresses they are “radically different from those crisis-struck ones, to say the least.”

He also said that consumers, customers and shareholders are gradually installing and acquiring Emercoin wallets learning more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in the process.

    “People come to Kolionovo in person to see the results of their investment, some of the participate in related events. Later this month the investors will start receiving the first product baskets at special prices. We’re going to go ahead of time here, so we won’t be waiting for the results of the shareholders’ investments, as they are pretty long-term in agriculture. We want to accelerate things with our own resources. This will bring mutual benefits to all parties and can be seen as a gesture of trust for everyone”, Shlyapnikov added.

Speaking about the drawbacks, Shlyapnikov recalled troubles in communicating with other producers and temporary suspension of fundraising.

    “There are different reasons for this. It’s either insignificant volumes that require long time to extend and pay off, or self-sustainability that can implement a scheme like that on its own; or remoteness from Moscow, which results in higher pricing due to delivery cost, or too high expectations from our project. But we’re working and making arrangements.”

Temporary suspension of fundraising, according to Shlyapnikov, is related to such issues as choosing priorities, quality, reliability, availability and enhancement of processes instead of prospective expansion of this area.

    “Initially, our humble model was planned as a pilot project to study the options of applying blockchain technologies in survival and development of modern-day farming. We also wanted to provide each participant with high-quality and inexpensive goods, commercial issues were not on top of our list.”

Summarizing it all, Shlyapnikov notes that the idea of Kolionovo blockchainization has been put to practice in real time, as it was “simple, profitable, open, easily replicable and inexpensive”.

Article source: http://forklog.net/kolionovo-reports-on-the-first-effects-of-the-farms-blockchainization/

Kolionovo Farm Reports on the First Effects of Blockchainization

Just about a month ago a Russia-based farm Kolionovo has partially integrated blockchain technology in its operations. The farm’s head and founder Mikhail Shlyapnikov told ForkLog about the first results of their work.

According to Shlyapnikov, all involved parties are currently satisfied with the integration of the technology. Below is what the farm has achieved over the last month’s time.

    A new form of real cooperation between consumers and producers is shaping out, which, though lacking any regulatory framework, looks very promising and already works.
    Nearly all shares for open subscription and sale have been reserved with most of them paid for.
    The incoming assets are being purposefully spent on expanding production capacities, replacing equipment and technologies, increasing product quality and production rate, and mitigation of risks.
    A base for long-term implementation of a long-forgotten scheme of direct supplies without intermediaries is being gradually prepared.
    New options of applying Emercoin services and related processes are being considered.
    Kolions (the farms own tokens) now have new functions and an option of free convertibility.
    The farm has tested the system for operation under emergency and warfare situations to prove that theoretically it is capable of withstanding all external threats.
    The farm regularly receives private offers, including those from abroad, regarding a franchise for both farms and other economy sectors.

Mikhail  Shlyapnikov says he is not quite ready to unveil the exact numbers, however, he stresses they are “radically different from those crisis-struck ones, to say the least.”

He also said that consumers, customers and shareholders are gradually installing and acquiring Emercoin wallets learning more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in the process.

    “People come to Kolionovo in person to see the results of their investment, some of the participate in related events. Later this month the investors will start receiving the first product baskets at special prices. We’re going to go ahead of time here, so we won’t be waiting for the results of the shareholders’ investments, as they are pretty long-term in agriculture. We want to accelerate things with our own resources. This will bring mutual benefits to all parties and can be seen as a gesture of trust for everyone”, Shlyapnikov added.

Speaking about the drawbacks, Shlyapnikov recalled troubles in communicating with other producers and temporary suspension of fundraising.

    “There are different reasons for this. It’s either insignificant volumes that require long time to extend and pay off, or self-sustainability that can implement a scheme like that on its own; or remoteness from Moscow, which results in higher pricing due to delivery cost, or too high expectations from our project. But we’re working and making arrangements.”

Temporary suspension of fundraising, according to Shlyapnikov, is related to such issues as choosing priorities, quality, reliability, availability and enhancement of processes instead of prospective expansion of this area.

    “Initially, our humble model was planned as a pilot project to study the options of applying blockchain technologies in survival and development of modern-day farming. We also wanted to provide each participant with high-quality and inexpensive goods, commercial issues were not on top of our list.”

Summarizing it all, Shlyapnikov notes that the idea of Kolionovo blockchainization has been put to practice in real time, as it was “simple, profitable, open, easily replicable and inexpensive”.

Article source: http://forklog.net/kolionovo-reports-on-the-first-effects-of-the-farms-blockchainization/

Kolionovo Farm Reports on the First Effects of Blockchainization

Just about a month ago a Russia-based farm Kolionovo has partially integrated blockchain technology in its operations. The farm’s head and founder Mikhail Shlyapnikov told ForkLog about the first results of their work.

According to Shlyapnikov, all involved parties are currently satisfied with the integration of the technology. Below is what the farm has achieved over the last month’s time.

    A new form of real cooperation between consumers and producers is shaping out, which, though lacking any regulatory framework, looks very promising and already works.
    Nearly all shares for open subscription and sale have been reserved with most of them paid for.
    The incoming assets are being purposefully spent on expanding production capacities, replacing equipment and technologies, increasing product quality and production rate, and mitigation of risks.
    A base for long-term implementation of a long-forgotten scheme of direct supplies without intermediaries is being gradually prepared.
    New options of applying Emercoin services and related processes are being considered.
    Kolions (the farms own tokens) now have new functions and an option of free convertibility.
    The farm has tested the system for operation under emergency and warfare situations to prove that theoretically it is capable of withstanding all external threats.
    The farm regularly receives private offers, including those from abroad, regarding a franchise for both farms and other economy sectors.

Mikhail  Shlyapnikov says he is not quite ready to unveil the exact numbers, however, he stresses they are “radically different from those crisis-struck ones, to say the least.”

He also said that consumers, customers and shareholders are gradually installing and acquiring Emercoin wallets learning more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in the process.

    “People come to Kolionovo in person to see the results of their investment, some of the participate in related events. Later this month the investors will start receiving the first product baskets at special prices. We’re going to go ahead of time here, so we won’t be waiting for the results of the shareholders’ investments, as they are pretty long-term in agriculture. We want to accelerate things with our own resources. This will bring mutual benefits to all parties and can be seen as a gesture of trust for everyone”, Shlyapnikov added.

Speaking about the drawbacks, Shlyapnikov recalled troubles in communicating with other producers and temporary suspension of fundraising.

    “There are different reasons for this. It’s either insignificant volumes that require long time to extend and pay off, or self-sustainability that can implement a scheme like that on its own; or remoteness from Moscow, which results in higher pricing due to delivery cost, or too high expectations from our project. But we’re working and making arrangements.”

Temporary suspension of fundraising, according to Shlyapnikov, is related to such issues as choosing priorities, quality, reliability, availability and enhancement of processes instead of prospective expansion of this area.

    “Initially, our humble model was planned as a pilot project to study the options of applying blockchain technologies in survival and development of modern-day farming. We also wanted to provide each participant with high-quality and inexpensive goods, commercial issues were not on top of our list.”

Summarizing it all, Shlyapnikov notes that the idea of Kolionovo blockchainization has been put to practice in real time, as it was “simple, profitable, open, easily replicable and inexpensive”.

Article source: http://forklog.net/kolionovo-reports-on-the-first-effects-of-the-farms-blockchainization/

A good investiment would be to buy Emercoin. Please, read the article below to understand some innovations it is bringing to market:

Article source: http://forklog.net/blockchainization-of-kolionovo-farm-halves-the-prices-for-its-products/

Blockchainization of Kolionovo Farm Halves the Prices for Its Products

According to the head and founder of Kolionovo farm Mikhail Shlyapnikov, blockchanization and real-life operation of the farm in ‘friends only’ mode, the organization managed to halve its retail prices for loyal customers.

Shlyapnikov noted that, aside from price cutting, the farm expanded the selection of goods and services due to cooperation with neighboring farms.

    “For instance, we added fresh goat milk, soft and hard cheese made out of it, fresh mutton, rabbit, and ready-made and semi-fabricated products of fowl, fish and honey,” Shlyapnikov wrote.

He also noted that the idea of blockchainizing farming business kindled interest in other farmers.

    “A few days ago, people interested in our farm’s blockchainization came to visit. There were three groups and three conventional pools of questions, namely from farmers, from organizers of advanced cooperation schemes, and from a private customer and partner,” Shlyapnikov said.

Kolionovo’s blockchain structure has two-level architecture, with the village’s own cryptocurrency of Kolion used on the first level. The second level employs Emercoin platform.

As Forklog wrote before in more detail, recently a farming business located in a small village Kolionovo outside of Moscow has integrated its activities onto blockchain with the help of Emercoin Group.

Article source: http://forklog.net/emercoin-cto-blockchain-is-more-important-than-exchange-gambling/

Emercoin team isn?t dying to persuade exchanges to add EMC, preferring to focus on developing the technological side of the project and implementing Emer-based services in everyday life instead.

It was Emercoin that facilitated blockchain integration in Kolionovo village in Russia, whereas watch manufacturer Raketa used Emercoin blockchain to record authenticity certificates. Can this possibly be only a beginning of a long journey for Emercoin?

ForkLog reached to Oleg Khovayko, Emercoin CTO, to discuss the project?s specific way of running away from the crypto-trading fuss. Oleg Khovayko also shared his thoughts on the Ethereum hardfork, and told us about Emercoin?s plans for the future.

FL: When did you first hear about the crypto-technologies?

Oleg Khovayko: I?ve been involved in cryptography since I was a student. I used to be a professional cryptographer for a while, I mean I was paid to do that. So, basically I was familiar with cryptographic technologies long before cryptocurrencies. Besides that, I work in finance and IT technologies, and cryptocurrencies are the focal point of all that, so it was something I just couldn?t pass by.

FL: How did you come to the Emercoin team?

Oleg Khovayko: Once I puzzled out cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, the blockchain, I realized it wasn?t only a tool for settlements, but for many other things. Specifically, when, back in 2012, there was that idea of creating blockchain-based services, including those for security. I also thought about creating my own cryptocurrency and developing an own blockchain, but I abandoned this idea fast since it all looked like buying a horse for the sake of a horseshoe. I negotiated with representatives of different cryptocurrencies after that, and finally there was a mutual understanding with the Emercoin guys. I?ve joined the team and now I?m working on the project? development.

FL: From what we know, you were involved in the Kolionovo farm project in Russia.

Oleg Khovayko: Mikhail Shlyapnikov, the guy in charge of the Kolionovo farm project, is a rather smart person, so it took me just two hours to consult him, the rest he did on his own. He had to:

    create an efficient means of payment for interaction with customers and other farms;
    get investment;
    get a predictable and stable demand for their products; and
    to close the seasonal cash shortage.

As for the first task, any cryptocurrency would have actually worked, even Bitcoin. But other tasks required something else that no existing currency could offer. That?s why Mikhail got interested in our DPO (Digital Proof of Ownership) technology ultimately issuing the farm?s shares on Emercoin blockchain. As far as I understand it was our ?all services in the same blockchain? approach that has played the crucial role in choosing Emercoin. Using our distributed notariate Mikhail has issued his shares and now he gets investments. Thanks to Emercoin he will be using the same system to distribute dividends and sell products for the full price to regular customers while offering discounts to the shareholders.

FL: In one of his earlier interviews Mikhail Shlyapnikov said that the Emercoin team had paid for creating and storing wallets for the next 10 years. Apart from that, Emercoin is supposed to be explaining the shareholders what buttons they have to press in order to interact with the Emer-wallet. Was that an expensive thing to do?

Oleg Khovayko: Actually, it was less than 20 EMC, or less than $10 at the current market price. You could compare it to the price of issuing securities and supporting a trusted ledger in a traditional jurisdiction.

FL: So was this for the sake of an experiment that you?ve decided to help the Kolionovo project? Or maybe you thought it could evolve into something bigger?

Oleg Khovayko: We see no reason why gentlemen can?t cooperate. Surely, we are mostly interested in practical applications of our products, especially when it comes to farming which is a terra incognita for cryptocurrency projects. Besides that, having a successful reference project is always a good thing.

FL: Those buttons? Are you planning to make your services friendlier to average users?

Oleg Khovayko: They?re not too tricky even now. However, we?re making software to automatize token issuance for an average Windows user. Currently we have only command line PHP scripts. Actually, we used them to create blockchain-based shares for the Kolionovo farm project.

FL: Recently Eugene Shumilov, Emercoin CEO, said your team was close to completing a system aimed at fighting counterfeit goods and copyright infringement. Some agreements with global industrial giants were said to be in place. What are these agreements about?

Oleg Khovayko: Sorry, I can?t say this for now. That?s not just my secret. We have NDA?s explicitly stating that any public activity has to be agreed by all parties. Major players prefer playing it safe: make something first, then show it. Generally, that?s our policy as well.

FL: There were news claiming Emercoin was going to release a cross-platform wallet for both mobile and desktop devices.

Oleg Khovayko: Yes, we have a special team working on that.

FL: What technical or other unique features will this wallet have?

Oleg Khovayko: There will be some. We have abandoned the Electrum concept where you have a public service and a wallet storing the keys on your mobile device. We?re going to have a different infrastructure, mostly relying on distributed cloud solutions. Certainly, our partnership with Microsoft has played its part here. We cannot disclose the new architecture?s details for now.

FL: What about your ?joint mining with Bitcoin?? According to Shumilov, miners will be getting EMC as a bonus reward. How does it all work?

Oleg Khovayko: There?s a specification describing how it works. To make a long story short, a Bitcoin block is mined and its proof-of-work is then used to solve Emercoin?s PoW puzzle. Similar mechanism is employed in Namecoin, but Namecoin is a purely PoW cryptocurrency. Since Emercoin is a PoW+PoS hybrid, pure copy-and-paste-the-code thing will not work here. It requires a more serious approach. Besides, such a transition would cause a controllable fork meaning all clients would have to update the software in advance in order to accept the merged blocks. This process requires some delicate approach. So, yes, we?re going to do this, but it won?t happen fast. At the moment we?re switching to the recently released core wallet 0.5.0.

FL: It?s not a big secret that Poloniex has been deaf to the calls for adding Emercoin for a long time. Why do you think this happens?

Oleg Khovayko: They don?t tell us their reasons, so one may only guess. Why this happens? It looks like they don?t need money (the percentage of the turnover), and the $100,000 turnover a day must be too little for them to bother with. Apparently they have other more serious sources of revenue and adding Emercoin would be too insignificant to them. I may also suggest that the company?s decision-makers aren?t acting in the best interest of the shareholders (i.e., trying to maximize revenues). Instead they pursue their own goals, or act on behalf of a third party. And, of course, I can?t rule out pure conceit or foolishness.

FL: What exchanges is EMC going to be listed on in the future?

Oleg Khovayko: It all depends on the exchange owners? decisions. We?ll be trading at those that accept us, it?s that simple. We?re not seeking to pump up the number of exchanges, neither we are after the turnover increase, which you may see from the project?s forum history. For instance, the very first page reads: ?There?ll be no swag. We?re not planning to enter exchanges as long as we can. Ideally, EMC has to be aside from dollar, bitcoin and other currencies, and be traded only for a person?s work time.?

So, if someone accepts Emercoin, we definitely won?t mind, and will provide all necessary advice and be as helpful as we can. Still we don?t see EMC being listed on exchanges as our top priority. We believe that pushing a useless currency to exchanges is similar to putting the cart ahead of the horse. If a useless currency is everywhere, it?ll just be discarded and the turnover will be close to zero. And, similarly, if a cryptocurrency has distinctive features and demand, exchanges will seek to add it without any efforts on our part.

FL: What do you think about Ethereum Classic?

Oleg Khovayko: Classic is a righteous project, and my sympathy in this schism is on its side. But, as far as I know, Vitalik Buterin supports the forked Ethereum. It means that all innovations will be there, in the forked one, and it will be the one that gets the most attention. Classic will always be behind, at least until there?s a Buterin-like personality there that may attract relevant trust and investment.

FL: We had some coverage (here and here) for the Ethereum split?

Oleg Khovayko: Yes, I?ve read both of these articles. Notwithstanding the difference of approaches, they both reflect the same thing, and that is speculators? expectations. Some just want to ?mine and discard?, others believe they are Great Traders and play against each other at those exchanges, blaming others for their fails in the process. What both of these articles don?t tell about is development of functionality or business processes. Generally, I?m not too interested in all that fluff. I?d like to stress that in the long run, like 5+ years, it?s the fundamental factors, not speculative pushes, that really matter. Please note that this exactly what we at Emercoin emphasize. These are the directions we?re developing.

FL: Not-the-fluff is what we actually wish to hear about. Do you have a justified opinion about the events following the Ethereum hardfork?

Oleg Khovayko: If they implement a hardfork any time they discover a bug, we?ll find ourselves dealing with a host of Ethereums. Do you seriously believe it was the Ultimate Error? I personally have always believed that Ethereum is a rather unreliable system that can?t work for anything serious. But it?s perfect for experimenting.

FL: So, what?s the difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic?

Oleg Khovayko: The difference is that Classic didn?t roll the blockchain back, as opposed to ETH, to retrospectively cancel the withdrawal caused by The DAO?s error.

FL: Well, this quite obvious. Anything else?

Oleg Khovayko: Both Ethereums are technologically identical. Both are suitable for experiments, and both are equally unreliable as both are based on a revolving-door architecture. I stand for a completely different approach. Ethereum and Emercoin emerged nearly simultaneously, but it?s Ethereum that everyone is talking about now. In the short run, it?s profitable to mine Ethereum, however, its underlying technologies are secondary and hardly applicable.

FL: What projects, aside from Emercoin, do you deem promising?

Oleg Khovayko: Of course, it?s Bitcoin as it has the prevailing cap and is accepted by numerous businesses as a means of payment. Then, there are Bitshares, which are a good basis for divisible tokens pegged to external resources. Their technological approach is also pretty interesting. Even though Bitshares? consensus mechanism is rather oligarchic than democratic, their technological achievements are quite impressive. In particular, two seconds per a block is a record, I believe. And, certainly, there?s Ethereum. It?s a great platform for experimenting and testing concepts. I?d also mention Dash and Monero, even though I haven?t really dug too deep there.

FL: What are your future plans as to Emercoin?s development?

Oleg Khovayko: We?re planning to extend Emercoin?s functionality, to implement it in real businesses as much as possible, and to increase the demand for it. The main thing here is not to rest on the oars and to keep on evolving.

Our priority is to implement Emercoin in real business. We are discussing things with different organizations, and we are running some pilot projects. We are also working on a new wallet core, and everyone can already see the new release. It should be also mentioned that Emercoin was the first PoS currency to switch to new Bitcoin?s core, 0.10+. Others, as far as I know, still use 0.6.

We also were the first to release a Microsoft Azure app (even though we weren?t the first to join the project), so one may see that we?re capable of doing things and the work is going on.

As for our plans, we intend to add merged mining and other core mechanisms like ATOM. We?re constantly working on new functionalities, protocols and applications as well as on deepening our interaction with real businesses.

Article source: http://forklog.net/emercoin-cto-blockchain-is-more-important-than-exchange-gambling/

Emercoin team isn’t dying to persuade exchanges to add EMC, preferring to focus on developing the technological side of the project and implementing Emer-based services in everyday life instead.

It was Emercoin that facilitated blockchain integration in Kolionovo village in Russia, whereas watch manufacturer Raketa used Emercoin blockchain to record authenticity certificates. Can this possibly be only a beginning of a long journey for Emercoin?

ForkLog reached to Oleg Khovayko, Emercoin CTO, to discuss the project’s specific way of running away from the crypto-trading fuss. Oleg Khovayko also shared his thoughts on the Ethereum hardfork, and told us about Emercoin’s plans for the future.

FL: When did you first hear about the crypto-technologies?

Oleg Khovayko: I’ve been involved in cryptography since I was a student. I used to be a professional cryptographer for a while, I mean I was paid to do that. So, basically I was familiar with cryptographic technologies long before cryptocurrencies. Besides that, I work in finance and IT technologies, and cryptocurrencies are the focal point of all that, so it was something I just couldn’t pass by.

FL: How did you come to the Emercoin team?

Oleg Khovayko: Once I puzzled out cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology, the blockchain, I realized it wasn’t only a tool for settlements, but for many other things. Specifically, when, back in 2012, there was that idea of creating blockchain-based services, including those for security. I also thought about creating my own cryptocurrency and developing an own blockchain, but I abandoned this idea fast since it all looked like buying a horse for the sake of a horseshoe. I negotiated with representatives of different cryptocurrencies after that, and finally there was a mutual understanding with the Emercoin guys. I’ve joined the team and now I’m working on the project’ development.

FL: From what we know, you were involved in the Kolionovo farm project in Russia.

Oleg Khovayko: Mikhail Shlyapnikov, the guy in charge of the Kolionovo farm project, is a rather smart person, so it took me just two hours to consult him, the rest he did on his own. He had to:

    create an efficient means of payment for interaction with customers and other farms;
    get investment;
    get a predictable and stable demand for their products; and
    to close the seasonal cash shortage.

As for the first task, any cryptocurrency would have actually worked, even Bitcoin. But other tasks required something else that no existing currency could offer. That’s why Mikhail got interested in our DPO (Digital Proof of Ownership) technology ultimately issuing the farm’s shares on Emercoin blockchain. As far as I understand it was our “all services in the same blockchain” approach that has played the crucial role in choosing Emercoin. Using our distributed notariate Mikhail has issued his shares and now he gets investments. Thanks to Emercoin he will be using the same system to distribute dividends and sell products for the full price to regular customers while offering discounts to the shareholders.

FL: In one of his earlier interviews Mikhail Shlyapnikov said that the Emercoin team had paid for creating and storing wallets for the next 10 years. Apart from that, Emercoin is supposed to be explaining the shareholders what buttons they have to press in order to interact with the Emer-wallet. Was that an expensive thing to do?

Oleg Khovayko: Actually, it was less than 20 EMC, or less than $10 at the current market price. You could compare it to the price of issuing securities and supporting a trusted ledger in a traditional jurisdiction.

FL: So was this for the sake of an experiment that you’ve decided to help the Kolionovo project? Or maybe you thought it could evolve into something bigger?

Oleg Khovayko: We see no reason why gentlemen can’t cooperate. Surely, we are mostly interested in practical applications of our products, especially when it comes to farming which is a terra incognita for cryptocurrency projects. Besides that, having a successful reference project is always a good thing.

FL: Those buttons… Are you planning to make your services friendlier to average users?

Oleg Khovayko: They’re not too tricky even now. However, we’re making software to automatize token issuance for an average Windows user. Currently we have only command line PHP scripts. Actually, we used them to create blockchain-based shares for the Kolionovo farm project.

FL: Recently Eugene Shumilov, Emercoin CEO, said your team was close to completing a system aimed at fighting counterfeit goods and copyright infringement. Some agreements with global industrial giants were said to be in place. What are these agreements about?

Oleg Khovayko: Sorry, I can’t say this for now. That’s not just my secret. We have NDA’s explicitly stating that any public activity has to be agreed by all parties. Major players prefer playing it safe: make something first, then show it. Generally, that’s our policy as well.

FL: There were news claiming Emercoin was going to release a cross-platform wallet for both mobile and desktop devices.

Oleg Khovayko: Yes, we have a special team working on that.

FL: What technical or other unique features will this wallet have?

Oleg Khovayko: There will be some. We have abandoned the Electrum concept where you have a public service and a wallet storing the keys on your mobile device. We’re going to have a different infrastructure, mostly relying on distributed cloud solutions. Certainly, our partnership with Microsoft has played its part here. We cannot disclose the new architecture’s details for now.

FL: What about your “joint mining with Bitcoin”? According to Shumilov, miners will be getting EMC as a bonus reward. How does it all work?

Oleg Khovayko: There’s a specification describing how it works. To make a long story short, a Bitcoin block is mined and its proof-of-work is then used to solve Emercoin’s PoW puzzle. Similar mechanism is employed in Namecoin, but Namecoin is a purely PoW cryptocurrency. Since Emercoin is a PoW+PoS hybrid, pure copy-and-paste-the-code thing will not work here. It requires a more serious approach. Besides, such a transition would cause a controllable fork meaning all clients would have to update the software in advance in order to accept the merged blocks. This process requires some delicate approach. So, yes, we’re going to do this, but it won’t happen fast. At the moment we’re switching to the recently released core wallet 0.5.0.

FL: It’s not a big secret that Poloniex has been deaf to the calls for adding Emercoin for a long time. Why do you think this happens?

Oleg Khovayko: They don’t tell us their reasons, so one may only guess. Why this happens? It looks like they don’t need money (the percentage of the turnover), and the $100,000 turnover a day must be too little for them to bother with. Apparently they have other more serious sources of revenue and adding Emercoin would be too insignificant to them. I may also suggest that the company’s decision-makers aren’t acting in the best interest of the shareholders (i.e., trying to maximize revenues). Instead they pursue their own goals, or act on behalf of a third party. And, of course, I can’t rule out pure conceit or foolishness.

FL: What exchanges is EMC going to be listed on in the future?

Oleg Khovayko: It all depends on the exchange owners’ decisions. We’ll be trading at those that accept us, it’s that simple. We’re not seeking to pump up the number of exchanges, neither we are after the turnover increase, which you may see from the project’s forum history. For instance, the very first page reads: “There’ll be no swag. We’re not planning to enter exchanges as long as we can. Ideally, EMC has to be aside from dollar, bitcoin and other currencies, and be traded only for a person’s work time.”

So, if someone accepts Emercoin, we definitely won’t mind, and will provide all necessary advice and be as helpful as we can. Still we don’t see EMC being listed on exchanges as our top priority. We believe that pushing a useless currency to exchanges is similar to putting the cart ahead of the horse. If a useless currency is everywhere, it’ll just be discarded and the turnover will be close to zero. And, similarly, if a cryptocurrency has distinctive features and demand, exchanges will seek to add it without any efforts on our part.

FL: What do you think about Ethereum Classic?

Oleg Khovayko: Classic is a righteous project, and my sympathy in this schism is on its side. But, as far as I know, Vitalik Buterin supports the forked Ethereum. It means that all innovations will be there, in the forked one, and it will be the one that gets the most attention. Classic will always be behind, at least until there’s a Buterin-like personality there that may attract relevant trust and investment.

FL: We had some coverage (here and here) for the Ethereum split…

Oleg Khovayko: Yes, I’ve read both of these articles. Notwithstanding the difference of approaches, they both reflect the same thing, and that is speculators’ expectations. Some just want to “mine and discard”, others believe they are Great Traders and play against each other at those exchanges, blaming others for their fails in the process. What both of these articles don’t tell about is development of functionality or business processes. Generally, I’m not too interested in all that fluff. I’d like to stress that in the long run, like 5+ years, it’s the fundamental factors, not speculative pushes, that really matter. Please note that this exactly what we at Emercoin emphasize. These are the directions we’re developing.

FL: Not-the-fluff is what we actually wish to hear about. Do you have a justified opinion about the events following the Ethereum hardfork?

Oleg Khovayko: If they implement a hardfork any time they discover a bug, we’ll find ourselves dealing with a host of Ethereums. Do you seriously believe it was the Ultimate Error? I personally have always believed that Ethereum is a rather unreliable system that can’t work for anything serious. But it’s perfect for experimenting.

FL: So, what’s the difference between Ethereum and Ethereum Classic?

Oleg Khovayko: The difference is that Classic didn’t roll the blockchain back, as opposed to ETH, to retrospectively cancel the withdrawal caused by The DAO’s error.

FL: Well, this quite obvious. Anything else?

Oleg Khovayko: Both Ethereums are technologically identical. Both are suitable for experiments, and both are equally unreliable as both are based on a revolving-door architecture. I stand for a completely different approach. Ethereum and Emercoin emerged nearly simultaneously, but it’s Ethereum that everyone is talking about now. In the short run, it’s profitable to mine Ethereum, however, its underlying technologies are secondary and hardly applicable.

FL: What projects, aside from Emercoin, do you deem promising?

Oleg Khovayko: Of course, it’s Bitcoin as it has the prevailing cap and is accepted by numerous businesses as a means of payment. Then, there are Bitshares, which are a good basis for divisible tokens pegged to external resources. Their technological approach is also pretty interesting. Even though Bitshares’ consensus mechanism is rather oligarchic than democratic, their technological achievements are quite impressive. In particular, two seconds per a block is a record, I believe. And, certainly, there’s Ethereum. It’s a great platform for experimenting and testing concepts. I’d also mention Dash and Monero, even though I haven’t really dug too deep there.

FL: What are your future plans as to Emercoin’s development?

Oleg Khovayko: We’re planning to extend Emercoin’s functionality, to implement it in real businesses as much as possible, and to increase the demand for it. The main thing here is not to rest on the oars and to keep on evolving.

Our priority is to implement Emercoin in real business. We are discussing things with different organizations, and we are running some pilot projects. We are also working on a new wallet core, and everyone can already see the new release. It should be also mentioned that Emercoin was the first PoS currency to switch to new Bitcoin’s core, 0.10+. Others, as far as I know, still use 0.6.

We also were the first to release a Microsoft Azure app (even though we weren’t the first to join the project), so one may see that we’re capable of doing things and the work is going on.

As for our plans, we intend to add merged mining and other core mechanisms like ATOM. We’re constantly working on new functionalities, protocols and applications as well as on deepening our interaction with real businesses.

According to coinprism (see link below), in bitcoin only 80 bytes of data can be recorded, in a variable called OP_RETURN.

Is there something like an OP_RETURN variable where data is recorded on Steemit blockchain? If so, what is the size of it in bytes?

Steemit called my attention after I read the article on cointelegraph (see link below) about Steemit being a blockchain social platform. It's one of the most creative usage of blockchain technology and Steemit may be the first to explore blockchain as a social platform.

http://blog.coinprism.com/2015/02/11/80-bytes-op-return/

http://cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-social-platform-steemit-takes-advantage-of-reddits-heavy-censorship

Blockchain Engine and Petrodvorets Watch Factory have introduced blockchain technology into the manufacturing process of Raketa watches, making Raketa one of the first companies in the world to record the production of physical goods in the blockchain.
Established by Peter the Great in 1721, Petrodvorets Watch Factory is one of Russia’s oldest businesses. After the Second World War, the factory produced watches under the brand name Pobeda until 1961, when production of the Raketa [Rocket] watches started, named in honor of the first flight into space by Yuri Gagarin.
In a bid to restructure the historical watch brand, the company entered a rebranding stage in 2009 under the direction of Russian, Swiss and French experts, with director Jacques von Polier heading the creative and design department.
With an international team of Blockchain Engine developers working together with the Raketa, it wasn’t long before they were embarking on a large-scale production to implement blockchain technology in the construction of the luxury line of watches in an area that is often imitated in Russia.
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, Blockchain Engine spokesman Ivan Kuznetsov said that his team understands the enormous potential of blockchain technology and started looking at how it would bring real benefits to companies in the spring of 2016.
“Among the applicants were car manufacturers, jewelry manufacturers, unique luxury objects, and smartphones,” he said. “We have carefully examined the information about products most often counterfeited, and it turned out there is a whole market of watch imitation, with the most falsified brand in Russia [being] the Rocket.”
The use of blockchain will allow confirmation of the authenticity of each watch, which will drastically reduce the possibility of forgery. As each luxury watch will have a serial number associated with it at the production stage, they make the perfect items for a digital registry.
Inputting the relevant information on the blockchain removes the need for paper certificates. Unsurprisingly, this method of recording information has long been fraught with problems, as they can easily be forged or lost.
Kuznetsov said that after coming into contact with von Polier, the team at Blockchain Engine found that he was a very progressive man continually thinking about how to make the products for his customers better, in addition to how to get new markets and to make the factory prosperous.
“We met with Jacques [and when we] told what we were doing, he took the idea of the fight against counterfeiting through the use of blockchain services with great enthusiasm,” said Kuznetsov. “[He] immediately invited us to visit the factory where an interesting excursion for us was organized, after which we realized how to implement our technology into business processes.”
Digital Proof of Ownership
As the luxury watch industry is already well-established, there will be many companies turning their attention to the use of the blockchain technology in a bid to replace the archaic paper certificates as a way of authenticating watches.
Kuznetsov told Bitcoin Magazine that with the creation of unique keys for each product they are guaranteed to belong to the manufacturer and, afterward, to the buyer, with counterfeit serial numbers becoming immediately visible.
“We keep counterfeit goods manufacturers well under control between law and mathematics,” he said. “Vehicles or works of art theft for the purpose of resale will have become meaningless [as] counterfeits will be very easy to distinguish from the original, even without involving the experts.”
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/raketa-watches-trials-blockchain-technology-to-fight-counterfeiting-1467905237

Oleg and Jason worked on a thesis showing the inherent vulnerabilities of a Turing-complete system several months ago now. It is a shame it was not released to the public as it may have persuaded some investors to perform due diligence as to what exactly they were investing in with Ethereum.

Since the Emercoin Team publishes technical articles into Russian, there is no person translating these into English, so the DAO Hacker Scandal made many people lost their money, after this event people have remembered this article, but it was too late!

For those of you who are looking to invest into a currency that has proven functionality that addresses real-World problems, here is your opportunity. Since 2013 Emercoin has been making real, tangible strides in the industry while the majority of investment capital has gone into outright scams or failed ventures. What this says about the collective mindset of current investors, I will leave up to you to decide.

The cryptocurrencies Emercoin and Ethereum appeared almost simultaneously, but it is Ethereum that is on the public's lips. In the short term view, mining Ethereum is profitable, but the technology on which it is based is secondary and has little application for real world solutions. Emercoin not only has innovative ideas and great potential, but is already widely used in various fields of application.

Oleg Khovayko, expert in the field of cryptography and computer security and one of the cofounders of Emercoin, explains more about the approach to blockchain development:

"Emercoin and Ethereum appeared around the same time. What is the difference in approach to the blockchain taken by Emercoin and Ethereum?"

To summarize Ethereum – maximum innovation, but a lot of critical pieces left untested. Emercoin takes a more conservative approach – maximum security. Our long term goal is a proven, tested operation without the shadow of failures or errors. With Ethereum, it is possible to incorporate many flexible/complex functions however with the Bitcoin and Emercoin blockchains, minimal functionality is incorporated to ensure the chains work for specific purposes.

The blockchains of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Emercoin all have a similar structure. The differences arises when it is observed what is being added on top of, or to, the blockchain itself. For example, the blockchains of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies are designed with one primary function in mind, the transfer of currency. With Ethereum, extra functions and services each of which may have their own purpose are integrated as a part of the blockchain itself.

So what is the difference? Ethereum could be considered a Turing compatible system or "Turing Complete" – The approach of Emercoin is different. From a development standpoint, we are not advocates of Turing compatible programs. When a system is considered Turing compatible, meaning it can be universally simulated/run, it brings with it common security flaws, errors and other negative factors detrimental to the program itself.

As an example, Satoshi used very primitive script in the creation of Bitcoin. It is Turing incompatible: There are no branches or loops, the program is executed in a linear fashion. It is similar to the HTML language, which is also Turning-incompatible: A page or code is presented but it has no loops, so with HTML it is impossible to write a program that will run indefinitely. In Java or C++ it is possible to write loops in to the program, making Java and C++ Turing compatible languages. Ethereum script is similar to these languages in the sense that those who are familiar with them can create scripts for Ethereum.

Why do we think our approach is better? It is imperative to clarify the objectives of our project. Security and safety of the network is the number one priority, not the ability to do everything all at once. When working with such cutting edge technology trust is the most important factor in driving adoption. Once trust is established, new innovation and design can be added on top of a secure platform. Adding too much without ensuring security is a reckless move and can lead to platform failure and lack of adoption.

This approach of course does not lend to being in the spotlight with constant coverage on development. Instead, we continue to focus on practical applications for the blockchain with a wide horizon of development possibilities. Different approaches to the blockchain dictate different solutions. I believe Ethereum is a good platform for experimentation and verification of new ideas. The contracts can be used for testing, but to use them in critical systems is very risky. The applications are simply not mature enough at this time.

“What are the pros and cons of these approaches?”

One of the benefits of the approach taken by the Ethereum developers is great flexibility. There is very much conversation regarding the platform because there are so many opportunities for potential application. From the same attribute that could be considered positive, comes the negatives. There is not a proven level of security that is acceptable for critical applications, especially those that deal with large sums of money or human life.

I don’t believe there is any piece of perfect software. What we have however is security, stability, and the fact that the Emercoin platform simply works. Everything is based on the original code Satoshi has written and has repeatedly proven it can withstand a wide range of attacks. It has withstood the test of time during its brief existence and at the same time has improved and become more resilient against malicious actions.

The Emercoin platform is built as an industrial and business level application and is compatible with many existing components and systems. There is also a laboratory option with Emercoin where it is possible to test with many different new ideas and experiments. Despite this, it seems many people have a different opinion.

“If Ethereum isn't safe, then why use it?”

My comments are not to indicate it is absolutely unsecure, just that it truly has not had the development or time to have passed the test. It has not yet earned its “rite of passage” and may be a long way away from doing so. Long term development of the code is important because it has proven that stress on the network is one of the best forms of security development and preventing crypto-attacks. Therefore, I suppose it would be possible to use in non-mission-critical applications.

There are already people using the platform, but it is almost purely for experimentation. My past experience in the security department of the banking sector has left an indelible imprint on me and has a large impact on the technical solutions applied in Emercoin. This drives extra care in the development and incorporation of any external code.

“What do you think is the reason few people have heard about Emercoin, and so many of them talk about Ethereum?”

There’s very much excitement when a new project is in the early stages of development and promises great solutions. As an example, when speaking about our EMC DNS system, the proponents of Ethereum said that with their contracts 40 lines of code could create the same system. There are examples on technical forums where users of Ethereum claim that this could be done “in two lines of code.” These statements have been made but after nearly a year and a half of time to develop the solution using Ethereum, no progress has been made.

In general, a significant problem is that technology has become too sophisticated for the average person, or even a small ambitious investor with some knowledge. This brings forth those involved in technology that can represent themselves well, but deliberately mislead those who do not understand their message. These people know that when they make the right presentation about themselves or their technology, it isn’t necessary for them to make a serious technical analysis of what they are trying to promote. It is up and functioning – there are sales presentations and numerous prospects. Everyone is trying to sell the future by painting it in bright colors. It is mostly talk without true substance.

We prefer to keep our approach simple and take the high road - we simply get things done. An industrial and engineering approach. We make real world solutions.

“How do you see the future situations of Ethereum and Emercoin? What do you expect to unfold?”

Most likely everything will disperse. After all, everyone has more or less located their own niche at this point. As I’ve said: Ethereum is perfect for experimentation and testing new ideas. Emercoin is a system for industrial application. It will be used by those who appreciate long-term reliability and platforms that get the important jobs done. Not those who are looking for a multitude of extra and unnecessary features.

There are some points of doubt I have on the feasibility of Ethereum. Their claims of nearing the performance and transaction processing of Visa when it comes to transaction per second is one I strongly object to. However my objections go beyond the scope of this article. There are many questions I have when it comes to the claims made by proponents of Ethereum, because I have a great understanding of the dangers and vulnerability of their approach.

“Why do you think banks are cooperating with Ethereum?”

I certainly don’t know the criteria used when the banks are selecting a blockchain to work with. I would suppose that it’s because Ethereum is in the media spotlight, and useful for testing new ideas. After all, as far as one can assume, banks don’t need a cryptocurrency for immediate use. It is a technological basis on which they can attempt to test what they want. So in essence, they are experimenting, collecting some data for themselves.

We are taking our own path. Our DNS zones are already being implemented in real sites. EMCSS/EMCSSL systems are already used to control real computer farms. The EMCLNX advertising system already has real traffic and payments.

Regarding advanced development - we are currently working with the Microsoft Azure platform. We are creating a series applications for the Azure market. The first application will be an online wallet without a miner, and with some other modifications. In addition to existing ideas and plans we are looking how we can push development even further, thus creating interaction between Microsoft and the OpenLedger exchange. After a bulk of this development has been completed, we will let the market appreciate and decide what is required. I believe all we have to offer will be found useful for users around the world.

Let a hundred flowers bloom!

Article source: http://emercoin.info/en/news/20160628/etherium-vs-emercoin.html#sthash.RoTfhIRx.dpuf

Emercoin and Microsoft Azure have announced that Emercoin Blockchain Engine is added to Azure Marketplace. The app will enable developers to use Emer blockchain system within Microsoft Azure environment.

ForkLog asked Stanislav Polozov, director for implementation at Emerlabs, as to how the platform currently works, its capabilities and general state of affairs in the industry.

FL: Tell us more about Emerlabs. What’s the connection between Blockchain Engine and Emercoin? Is it the same team working on all those projects?

Stanislav Polozov: Actually, yes, for now it’s the same team. We plan to make Emerlabs our scientific center for advanced research in new cryptocurrency math and experimental blockchain technologies. Emercoin will mostly be about cryptocurrency development, as it is the backbone for all our projects. Blockchain Engine is an out-of-the-box product for integration in businesses and projects willing to use blockchain technology without spending too much on adapting their IT infrastructure thereto.

FL: Following the announcement of your partnership with Microsoft, Emercoin’s price experienced significant upsurge. However, since then it has nearly halved. Do you expect it to upsurge again, and why?

SP: Frankly, cryptocurrency market now, and I mean all kinds of coins, is now controlled by speculators who force significant fluctuations of price. There are lots of events impacting the spirits. No one can say for sure where the market would head to tomorrow.

There’s also some artificial pumping of some, or even most, cryptocurrencies. I personally doubt about cryptocurrencies whose daily turnover across exchanges exceeds 5 to 10% of the entire monetary mass. It’s a definitive sign of speculative manipulations.

We’re working on enhancing fundamental features of our system and user-friendliness. So I reasonably believe that all those activities will cause the price to grow in the long run. If we consider time spans of year or two, that’s exactly what’s happening.

FL: Late May, there were interesting news suggesting that Russian watches manufacturer Raketa will record their certificates of authenticity on Emercoin blockchain seeking to minimize counterfeiting risks. What about that project?

SP: Currently we’re working together on producing specifications and production charts for the project using emcDPO technology.

FL: Raketa even conceded inputting user info in the ledger using Blockchain Engine. Are there any results so far?

SP: Once the implementation is complete, the customers will have that option. They may remain anonymous, however, even in that case they will be able to prove their ownership of the unique item.

FL: Apart from Raketa, is there someone else interested in your network security services?

SP: Raketa is interested in our other services. There are emcSSL and emcSSH for network security, with occasional addition of emcDNS. There are some other companies, both domestic and foreign, interested therein. For instance, Galactic Global, a VoIP provider from India, partnered with our project. HashCoins.com of Estonia has been using our SSH and SSL solutions to administer its distribution networks for a year now.

FL: This February, Emercoin Group partnered with OpenLedger. How is your joint work going?

SP: OpenLedger has already added Emercoin to their list of traded instruments. There are some negotiations concerning implementation of our security technologies in their infrastructure.

FL: What do you think about the recent The DAO incident? Is security an issue for other blockchain systems?

SP: What happened to The DAO was very predictable and obvious. The same goes to its backbone currency, ETH. The problem lies in the very concept. The system is built in a way that any connected computer is forced to execute arbitrary code added with each new block. First, it makes Ethereum’s ‘distrubuted global computer’ a single processor unit (there are many machines, but they actually do just one thing). Second, it facilitates writing programs capable of causing undesired consequences, both anticipated by the author and not.

If I owned a multimillion business, I wouldn’t be happy to face the entire system’s failure, loss of all crucial data or transfer of all available assets to the attacker’s account.

FL: What’s the use of the services found in Blockchain Engine? What are they, actually?

SP: First of all, it’s EmcSSH, an expansion of standard SSH network administering protocol. Thanks to storing public keys and access control lists on the blockchain, the service becomes more secure and convenient. It completely excludes distributed attack known as ‘man in the middle’, and solves the issue of single administrator.

It’s a very useful solution in practical terms. It allows scaling IT infrastructure without any administration expenses. Sounds fantastic, but it’s true. Server equipment manufacturer and data processor HashCoins has been successfully using it for two years. Their comments are all positive. The technology could unburden lots of internet access providers and companies owning lots of servers and various appliances.

Then, there is EmcSSL, an expansion of standard user protocol SSL. It stores digital prints of user certificates in the blockchain, authorizes users and makes remote website access completely secure.

The solution outruns traditional password systems in terms of security. Usually, you have to memorize all of them, and still some on can intercept them. The service is also very easy: a certificate, once created and submitted through your browser, instantly creates a secure connection,and instantaneous authorization and signing in.

Another service of ours is Emc InfoCard. These are electronic visiting cards stored on the blockchain that can be linked to EmcSSL certificates. They allow for structured storage of any user data, which makes web surfing more convenient.

Just remember filling in sign-up forms at different web sites. It’s all the same all over again. If a service supports emcSSL and InfoCard, you’ll have your personal account immediately upon signing up. It would save much time. As InfoCard is linked to a particular certificate, you may choose what information to provide to the new site when you sign up.

EmcTTS is a digital timestamp. The service enables timestamping any documents on the blockchain. It’s an irreplaceable service for insurance contracts and similar agreements. It also covers copyright issues, patent problems, etc.

Inputting any data in the blockchain effectively makes a timestamp. Any document is linked to a block where it’s located, while the data blocks are connected by an indestructible chain of mathematical authenticity that can’t be compromised. Thus, you may be sure to determine the time of your record’s submission. Now we’re in the process of creating a small yet useful public service enabling anyone to have a TTS for their document, image or musical track. We’re not planning to charge any fees.

EmcDPO is a digital proof of ownership. The service is useful to confirm your title for any kind of property having unique ID’s: car VIN’s, cadastral numbers of land plots, real estate certificates, software license numbers, etc. If you sell or transfer an asset, the owner automatically loses the ownership right, which passes to the new owner.

This technology will seriously lower the attractiveness of stealing property and counterfeiting. Some scam schemes involving real estate will become downright impossible.

There also is Emc ATOM, a two-sided transaction with no third party involved. There’s EmcUDS, an indisputable digital signature.Those technologies require adjustment now, but their potential is comparable to the vaunted smart contracts, while the security level will be way higher.

EmcDNS is a service for creation of super-reliable networks, and for protection against switching DNS. This technology, dare I say it, is one of those opposing centralization and monopolization of internet infrastructure. Do you know that hundreds of domain names owned by entrepreneurs of Crimea have been cancelled for political reasons? Had they known about emcDNS, losing dot-com address wouldn’t impact their businesses that seriously. The service would also make domain zone spoofing impossible. Therefore, it’s suitable for creating super-reliable networks.

Finally, there’s EmcLNX, a system for instant payments for clicks in an ad network.

That’s a step towards advertisement decentralization. On the one hand, advertising is seriously regulated; on the other hand, monopolists have sliced and diced the market, and nearly rob advertisers while advertising platforms are under-profiting. Nobody prevents you from creating a distributed ad network and place ads relevant to the site’s subject while rejecting definitely inappropriate ads. You may have your money immediately, once your link is clicked on, and pay no intermediary.

FL: What of those solutions is most demanded on the market?

SP: The existing IT infrastructure is ready to accept (and currently implements) emcSSH and emcSSL. They don’t have to change anything, while the positive effect is evident. EmcDNS may make it easy to have your own domain name for a hundred years at a price ten times lower than that offered at ICANN-controlled market. The world is on the threshold of the internet of things, so emcDPO is a very timely solution. Advertising market involves billion profits that Google or Yahoo have. The community may save all those money and feel more independent using emcLNX. The new era will be the era of transparency, so there’ll be place for ATOM and emcUDS-based smart contracts.

Interview source: http://forklog.net/emerlabs-cryptocurrency-market-is-now-controlled-by-speculators/

Emercoin Provides Blockchain Platform to Russian Watch Factory to Fight Counterfeiting

Emercoin, through its Blockchain Engine platform, and Petrodvorets Watch Factory have introduced blockchain technology into the manufacturing process of Raketa watches, making the Russian factory one of the first to record the production of physical goods in the blockchain.

The use of blockchain will allow confirmation of the authenticity of each watch, virtually eliminating the possibility of forgery. Further, the project will capitalize on the blockchain behind the cryptocurrency Emercoin, a leader in innovation.

All luxury watches have a serial number, issued in the production stage and applied directly to the products themselves, making them the perfect candidate for a digital registry.

For each watch, information will be recorded in the blockchain in regard to the date of manufacturing, its assembler and about any repair history, as well as information about the owner, if the owner chooses.

Entering this information into the blockchain removes the need for traditional physical watch certificates, like product data sheets and warranty cards.

Such certificates have long been fraught with problems as they can be forged and used to enable the sale of counterfeit goods, or they can simply be lost.

According to Emercoin, the Blockchain Engine team expects the same digital proof of ownership technology used for Raketa watches to appeal to producers and sellers of other luxury goods like jewelry, art, luxury cars and other products that have traditionally relied on certificates in proving authenticity.

In addition, Blockchain Engine plans to create an app that will allow owners to make changes to the blockchain records themselves.

The digital proof of ownership technology, dubbed Emc DPO, is designed to confirm ownership rights of all types of property for which there are fixed unique numbers, for example VIN number of vehicles, public registry of land titles, software license numbers, serial number of luxury products like watches, and more.

Upon the sale or transfer of assets, the original owner performs an operation on the blockchain to automatically transfer their right to ownership to the new owner.

The Petrodvorets Watch Factory was apparently founded by Peter the Great in 1721. In 2009, the historical watch brand entered into a stage of restructuring and rebranding as Raketa, under the direction of Russian, Swiss and French experts, with Director Jacques von Polier heading the creative and design department.

Source: http://blockchain-finance.com/2016/06/08/emercoin-provides-blockchain-platform-to-russian-watch-factory-to-fight-counterfeiting/

Emercoin and Microsoft Azure have released Emercoin Blockchain Engine in the Microsoft Azure marketplace which will be the first blockchain solution designed for end users.

Blockchain Engine (BcE), a platform designed for developers, offers a suite of tools to create applications and services based off of the Emercoin blockchain. It can be deployed using CentOS or Ubuntu in the cloud.

With the release of Emercoin Blockchain Engine on the Azure platform, any user can install the fully ready to use Emercoin Blockchain Engine and EMCSSH as both service and web-wallet with the subscription of Microsoft Azure. This will give a complete ready-to-use “turn-key” solution, which does not require extra settings and installations.

“The Blockchain Engine platform by Emercoin provides the following services: Emercoin client, EMCSSH Authentication, and the EMC Web Wallet,” Microsoft Azure website stated. “To check the status of the blockchain, simply execute the command ‘emc getinfo’.”

Emercoin says that the solution can be used both as an independent online wallet with web access and as a blockchain subsystem for complex systems. Developers can create mobile or ‘lite’ application, accessing all functions of Emercoin blockchain.

Launched in December 2013, Emercoin is a digital currency and blockchain service platform. In January this year, Emercoin joined the Microsoft Azure program and became one of the first partners and blockchain implementing service providers. Earlier in April, the Emer Group announced the launch of its own blockchain development platform: Blockchain Engine designed for developers to create applications and services on the Emer blockchain.

Microsoft Azure which started in November 2015 and is a growing collection of integrated cloud services—analytics, computing, database, mobile, networking, storage, and web. It has seen new members joining its Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) program on a regular basis since its inception.

Source: http://www.econotimes.com/Microsoft-Azure-marketplace-includes-Emercoin-Blockchain-Engine-231075

The Emercoin development team has decided to combine the production of both Bitcoin and Emercoin with a vision to significantly increase the trust and reliability of the Emercoin network. Due to the algorithm used to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin being a common factor, this is a sound and achievable technical decision.

The members that comprise the Emercoin team believe merged mining will signal an increase in network difficulty by 500 times or more for the Emercoin blockchain. This increase in network mining power will help to increase the Emercoin network's credibility, which is a critical asset in today's cryptocurrency world. In short visibility + activity = legitimacy in the public eye. To this day, visibility has been the primary aspect holding back the adoption of Emercoin by the general public.

This change will also benefit miners in an economic sense. Currently with the SHA-256 algorithm, if a Bitcoin miner were to "mine" Emercoin or vice versa, the miner would need to divert power away from one blockchain or the other. The addition of merged mining will allow miners to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin in harmony, without losing the benfit of income from either blockchain.

The increase in network stability was a major factor in this decision. The most important piece, the growth of the Emercoin [Suspicious link removed]plexity, is also a sign of the growth of trust in Emercoin. As complexity on the blockchain increases, the likelihood and effectiveness of network attacks or deficiencies decreases tremendously.

The positive effects this change will have are clear. What are the negative effects? The team has confidence that there are virtually none. The fact that the block reward will decrease with a higher complexity/difficulty is a negligible effect, since an enormous increase in difficulty of 10,000 times would only bring about a reward drop of approximately a factor of 10. The Bitcoins a miner will receive will offset any decrease in Emercoin reward per block.

As stated before, this change is coming about to help bring trust and reliability to Emercoin. Where trust exists, further development, innovation, and success will follow.

Source: http://emercoin.com/2016-06-16Emercoin_Team_Announces_Merged_Mining

The Emercoin development team has decided to combine the production of both Bitcoin and Emercoin with a vision to significantly increase the trust and reliability of the Emercoin network. Due to the algorithm used to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin being a common factor, this is a sound and achievable technical decision.

The members that comprise the Emercoin team believe merged mining will signal an increase in network difficulty by 500 times or more for the Emercoin blockchain. This increase in network mining power will help to increase the Emercoin network's credibility, which is a critical asset in today's cryptocurrency world. In short visibility + activity = legitimacy in the public eye. To this day, visibility has been the primary aspect holding back the adoption of Emercoin by the general public.

This change will also benefit miners in an economic sense. Currently with the SHA-256 algorithm, if a Bitcoin miner were to "mine" Emercoin or vice versa, the miner would need to divert power away from one blockchain or the other. The addition of merged mining will allow miners to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin in harmony, without losing the benfit of income from either blockchain.

The increase in network stability was a major factor in this decision. The most important piece, the growth of the Emercoin [Suspicious link removed]plexity, is also a sign of the growth of trust in Emercoin. As complexity on the blockchain increases, the likelihood and effectiveness of network attacks or deficiencies decreases tremendously.

The positive effects this change will have are clear. What are the negative effects? The team has confidence that there are virtually none. The fact that the block reward will decrease with a higher complexity/difficulty is a negligible effect, since an enormous increase in difficulty of 10,000 times would only bring about a reward drop of approximately a factor of 10. The Bitcoins a miner will receive will offset any decrease in Emercoin reward per block.

As stated before, this change is coming about to help bring trust and reliability to Emercoin. Where trust exists, further development, innovation, and success will follow.

Source: http://emercoin.com/2016-06-16Emercoin_Team_Announces_Merged_Mining

Oleg and Jason worked on a thesis showing the inherent vulnerabilities of a Turing-complete system several months ago now. It is a shame it was not released to the public as it may have persuaded some investors to perform due diligence as to what exactly they were investing in with Ethereum.

Since the Emercoin Team publishes technical articles into Russian, there is no person translating these into English, so the DAO Hacker Scandal made many people lost their money, after this event people have remembered this article, but it was too late!

For those of you who are looking to invest into a currency that has proven functionality that addresses real-World problems, here is your opportunity. Since 2013 Emercoin has been making real, tangible strides in the industry while the majority of investment capital has gone into outright scams or failed ventures. What this says about the collective mindset of current investors, I will leave up to you to decide.

The cryptocurrencies Emercoin and Ethereum appeared almost simultaneously, but it is Ethereum that is on the public's lips. In the short term view, mining Ethereum is profitable, but the technology on which it is based is secondary and has little application for real world solutions. Emercoin not only has innovative ideas and great potential, but is already widely used in various fields of application.

Oleg Khovayko, expert in the field of cryptography and computer security and one of the cofounders of Emercoin, explains more about the approach to blockchain development:

"Emercoin and Ethereum appeared around the same time. What is the difference in approach to the blockchain taken by Emercoin and Ethereum?"

To summarize Ethereum – maximum innovation, but a lot of critical pieces left untested. Emercoin takes a more conservative approach – maximum security. Our long term goal is a proven, tested operation without the shadow of failures or errors. With Ethereum, it is possible to incorporate many flexible/complex functions however with the Bitcoin and Emercoin blockchains, minimal functionality is incorporated to ensure the chains work for specific purposes.

The blockchains of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Emercoin all have a similar structure. The differences arises when it is observed what is being added on top of, or to, the blockchain itself. For example, the blockchains of Bitcoin and other top cryptocurrencies are designed with one primary function in mind, the transfer of currency. With Ethereum, extra functions and services each of which may have their own purpose are integrated as a part of the blockchain itself.

So what is the difference? Ethereum could be considered a Turing compatible system or "Turing Complete" – The approach of Emercoin is different. From a development standpoint, we are not advocates of Turing compatible programs. When a system is considered Turing compatible, meaning it can be universally simulated/run, it brings with it common security flaws, errors and other negative factors detrimental to the program itself.

As an example, Satoshi used very primitive script in the creation of Bitcoin. It is Turing incompatible: There are no branches or loops, the program is executed in a linear fashion. It is similar to the HTML language, which is also Turning-incompatible: A page or code is presented but it has no loops, so with HTML it is impossible to write a program that will run indefinitely. In Java or C++ it is possible to write loops in to the program, making Java and C++ Turing compatible languages. Ethereum script is similar to these languages in the sense that those who are familiar with them can create scripts for Ethereum.

Why do we think our approach is better? It is imperative to clarify the objectives of our project. Security and safety of the network is the number one priority, not the ability to do everything all at once. When working with such cutting edge technology trust is the most important factor in driving adoption. Once trust is established, new innovation and design can be added on top of a secure platform. Adding too much without ensuring security is a reckless move and can lead to platform failure and lack of adoption.

This approach of course does not lend to being in the spotlight with constant coverage on development. Instead, we continue to focus on practical applications for the blockchain with a wide horizon of development possibilities. Different approaches to the blockchain dictate different solutions. I believe Ethereum is a good platform for experimentation and verification of new ideas. The contracts can be used for testing, but to use them in critical systems is very risky. The applications are simply not mature enough at this time.

“What are the pros and cons of these approaches?”

One of the benefits of the approach taken by the Ethereum developers is great flexibility. There is very much conversation regarding the platform because there are so many opportunities for potential application. From the same attribute that could be considered positive, comes the negatives. There is not a proven level of security that is acceptable for critical applications, especially those that deal with large sums of money or human life.

I don’t believe there is any piece of perfect software. What we have however is security, stability, and the fact that the Emercoin platform simply works. Everything is based on the original code Satoshi has written and has repeatedly proven it can withstand a wide range of attacks. It has withstood the test of time during its brief existence and at the same time has improved and become more resilient against malicious actions.

The Emercoin platform is built as an industrial and business level application and is compatible with many existing components and systems. There is also a laboratory option with Emercoin where it is possible to test with many different new ideas and experiments. Despite this, it seems many people have a different opinion.

“If Ethereum isn't safe, then why use it?”

My comments are not to indicate it is absolutely unsecure, just that it truly has not had the development or time to have passed the test. It has not yet earned its “rite of passage” and may be a long way away from doing so. Long term development of the code is important because it has proven that stress on the network is one of the best forms of security development and preventing crypto-attacks. Therefore, I suppose it would be possible to use in non-mission-critical applications.

There are already people using the platform, but it is almost purely for experimentation. My past experience in the security department of the banking sector has left an indelible imprint on me and has a large impact on the technical solutions applied in Emercoin. This drives extra care in the development and incorporation of any external code.

“What do you think is the reason few people have heard about Emercoin, and so many of them talk about Ethereum?”

There’s very much excitement when a new project is in the early stages of development and promises great solutions. As an example, when speaking about our EMC DNS system, the proponents of Ethereum said that with their contracts 40 lines of code could create the same system. There are examples on technical forums where users of Ethereum claim that this could be done “in two lines of code.” These statements have been made but after nearly a year and a half of time to develop the solution using Ethereum, no progress has been made.

In general, a significant problem is that technology has become too sophisticated for the average person, or even a small ambitious investor with some knowledge. This brings forth those involved in technology that can represent themselves well, but deliberately mislead those who do not understand their message. These people know that when they make the right presentation about themselves or their technology, it isn’t necessary for them to make a serious technical analysis of what they are trying to promote. It is up and functioning – there are sales presentations and numerous prospects. Everyone is trying to sell the future by painting it in bright colors. It is mostly talk without true substance.

We prefer to keep our approach simple and take the high road - we simply get things done. An industrial and engineering approach. We make real world solutions.

“How do you see the future situations of Ethereum and Emercoin? What do you expect to unfold?”

Most likely everything will disperse. After all, everyone has more or less located their own niche at this point. As I’ve said: Ethereum is perfect for experimentation and testing new ideas. Emercoin is a system for industrial application. It will be used by those who appreciate long-term reliability and platforms that get the important jobs done. Not those who are looking for a multitude of extra and unnecessary features.

There are some points of doubt I have on the feasibility of Ethereum. Their claims of nearing the performance and transaction processing of Visa when it comes to transaction per second is one I strongly object to. However my objections go beyond the scope of this article. There are many questions I have when it comes to the claims made by proponents of Ethereum, because I have a great understanding of the dangers and vulnerability of their approach.

“Why do you think banks are cooperating with Ethereum?”

I certainly don’t know the criteria used when the banks are selecting a blockchain to work with. I would suppose that it’s because Ethereum is in the media spotlight, and useful for testing new ideas. After all, as far as one can assume, banks don’t need a cryptocurrency for immediate use. It is a technological basis on which they can attempt to test what they want. So in essence, they are experimenting, collecting some data for themselves.

We are taking our own path. Our DNS zones are already being implemented in real sites. EMCSS/EMCSSL systems are already used to control real computer farms. The EMCLNX advertising system already has real traffic and payments.

Regarding advanced development - we are currently working with the Microsoft Azure platform. We are creating a series applications for the Azure market. The first application will be an online wallet without a miner, and with some other modifications. In addition to existing ideas and plans we are looking how we can push development even further, thus creating interaction between Microsoft and the OpenLedger exchange. After a bulk of this development has been completed, we will let the market appreciate and decide what is required. I believe all we have to offer will be found useful for users around the world.

Let a hundred flowers bloom!

Article source: http://emercoin.info/en/news/20160628/etherium-vs-emercoin.html#sthash.RoTfhIRx.dpuf

The Emercoin development team has decided to combine the production of both Bitcoin and Emercoin with a vision to significantly increase the trust and reliability of the Emercoin network. Due to the algorithm used to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin being a common factor, this is a sound and achievable technical decision.

The members that comprise the Emercoin team believe merged mining will signal an increase in network difficulty by 500 times or more for the Emercoin blockchain. This increase in network mining power will help to increase the Emercoin network's credibility, which is a critical asset in today's cryptocurrency world. In short visibility + activity = legitimacy in the public eye. To this day, visibility has been the primary aspect holding back the adoption of Emercoin by the general public.

This change will also benefit miners in an economic sense. Currently with the SHA-256 algorithm, if a Bitcoin miner were to "mine" Emercoin or vice versa, the miner would need to divert power away from one blockchain or the other. The addition of merged mining will allow miners to produce both Bitcoin and Emercoin in harmony, without losing the benfit of income from either blockchain.

The increase in network stability was a major factor in this decision. The most important piece, the growth of the Emercoin [Suspicious link removed]plexity, is also a sign of the growth of trust in Emercoin. As complexity on the blockchain increases, the likelihood and effectiveness of network attacks or deficiencies decreases tremendously.

The positive effects this change will have are clear. What are the negative effects? The team has confidence that there are virtually none. The fact that the block reward will decrease with a higher complexity/difficulty is a negligible effect, since an enormous increase in difficulty of 10,000 times would only bring about a reward drop of approximately a factor of 10. The Bitcoins a miner will receive will offset any decrease in Emercoin reward per block.

As stated before, this change is coming about to help bring trust and reliability to Emercoin. Where trust exists, further development, innovation, and success will follow.

Source: http://emercoin.com/2016-06-16-Emercoin_Team_Announces_Merged_Mining