Category: General

Introducing IOTA

The Machine Economy


From the connected mobile devices, wearable devices to Smart homes, the Internet of Things is beginning to permeate every aspect of our lives.  The adoption of IoT technologies is fostering a new economy nurtured by these technologies. As this kind of economy is powered by the machine to machine (M2M) communication, it is also known as the machine economy.

According to IOTA foundation, the number of connected devices is estimated to reach 75 billion by 2025. Internet of Things (IoT) includes tiny sensors on roads, bridges, railway tracks, mobile phones, smart washing machines , smart drones, wearable electronics like smartwatches and more. The amount of data being produced and consumed by all these devices is becoming astronomical.

Over the next five years, it is predicted that the global IP traffic on the IoT network will increase five-fold by 2021, monthly IP traffic is expected to reach  31 Gigabytes per capita. However, for the same period, broadband speeds are expected only to double and the global data pipelines will experience congestion. By then, it will not be possible for all these devices to stay connected 24/7 to the centralized cloud silos for all the data they will generate.

Recently,  the emergence  ‘Fog’ and ‘Mist’ computing emerged might provide a solution to the aforementioned issue. However, how to distribute resources efficiently across the IoT ecosystem remains a huge challenge in this new Machine Economy. Therefore, IOTA was conceptualized with the mission to tackle the congestion issue. By implementing zero fee transactions, these devices can share the technological resources in real-time locally in a distributed network. In this way, it can avoid the centralized points of failure, eliminating the resource infrastructure bottleneck.

The Vision of IOTA

The vision of IOTA is to enable all connected devices through verification of truth and transactional settlements, which incentivize devices to make available its properties and data in real time. In addition, the IOTA cryptocurrency was developed to enable Machine-2-Machine (M2M) transaction, thus creates the machine economy powered by IoT.

The main objective of IOTA is to serve the machine economy by enabling zero fee M2M payments. IOTA has established itself as the leader in  IoT fintech landscape by providing efficient, secure, lightweight, real-time microtransactions without fees. It is open-source and engineered specifically for the Internet of Things. Its real-time microtransactions using the IOTA cryptocurrency has created an ecosystem that is ready and flexible for scale.

The Tangle

IOTA technology is similar to the blockchain technology but it is not blockchain-based. In fact, it utilizes a kind of distributed ledger technology minus the blocks. IOTA is a permissionless distributed ledger that utilizes a cutting-edge technology, known as Tangle. The Tangle is a new data structure based on a Directed Acyclic Graph(DAG). As opposed to the blockchain, it has no blocks, no chain and also no Miners. This unique new architecture enables IOTA works differently compared to Blockchains and other Distributed Ledger Technologies.

The Core Principles

IOTA uses a DAG instead of a blockchain to store its ledger. The main objective is to solve the scalability issue. As we all know, a blockchain has an inherent transaction rate limit, due to the conflict between block sizes and block issuances rates. If blocks are issued too frequently, or are too large, forks will occur often. When a fork happens, several new blocks are added to the chain simultaneously, and the network needs to decide between them, thus slow down the validation process.

In a DAG, forks can still occur but unlike in a blockchain, a fork is not final. In the DAG system, diverging branches can still be merged back together, as long as they are consistent with each other. The transaction rate is therefore bounded only by the latency between the nodes. A DAG favors availability over consistency.

The Tangle Structure

The Tangle is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). In computer science, a directed graph is a collection of vertices (squares), which are connected to each other by edges (arrows).  In the IOTA Tangle data structure, the vertices represent transactions, and the edges represent approvals. It retains the blockchain features that include distributed ledger,  immutability, and secure transactions, but it does not utilize the blocks.

The Tangle structure is shown in the following figure.

With reference to the figure below,  If there is an edge(arrow)
directed node (vertex) 100  to node 99, it means that node 100 approves the transaction at node 99. When a node issues a new transaction, it must choose 2 previous ones to approve, thereby adding 2 new edges(arrows) to the graph. Notice that each node must be connected to two previous nodes.

The first transaction in the Tangle is referred to as the genesis. All the IOTA tokens were created in the genesis, and no new ones will ever be created. All transactions in the tangle reference the genesis directly or indirectly.

Transactions with no approvers are called tips. In the figure above, node 100 is a tip because no one approves its transaction yet.  All the nodes must choose tips to approve, rather than older transactions, because this helps move the network consensus forwards. The method for choosing which two tips one should approve is one of the key innovations of IOTA.


Tokenization Explained

What is Tokenization?

Tokenization has become a buzzword today due to its adoption in the payment industry and blockchain. However, Its usage is not limited to the aforementioned industries. It can be applied to many other industries such as healthcare, stock trading, gaming and more.

The primary purpose of tokenization is to ensure data security. It is used for handling sensitive data such as payment, medical record, personal ID and more.

According to Wikipedia,

“Tokenization, when applied to data security, is the process of substituting a sensitive data element with a non-sensitive equivalent, referred to as a token, that has no extrinsic or exploitable meaning or value. The token is a reference (i.e. identifier) that maps back to the sensitive data through a tokenization system. The mapping from original data to a token uses methods which render tokens infeasible to reverse in the absence of the tokenization system, for example using tokens created from random numbers.

The tokenization system must be secured and validated using security best practices applicable to sensitive data protection, secure storage, audit, authentication and authorization. The tokenization system provides data processing applications with the authority and interfaces to request tokens, or detokenize back to sensitive data.”

In short, Tokenization is the process of substituting sensitive data with non-sensitive identification symbols known as tokens. Tokenization retains all the essential information of the data without compromising its security.

A Short History

According to Wikipedia, the concept of tokenization has existed since the invention of the currency system centuries ago. It was adopted as a means to reduce risk in handling financial instruments by replacing them with surrogate equivalents.

In addition, coin tokens have a long history of use replacing the financial instrument of minted coins and banknotes. In more recent history, tokens are used in mass rapid transit payment, casino chips and more.  The adoption of the above systems is to replace physical currency and cash for reducing risks such as theft.

In the digital world, tokenization techniques have been used since the 1970s. They were meant to isolate real data elements from exposure to other data systems(Wikipedia, 2018). In databases, surrogate key values have been used since 1976 to isolate data associated with the internal mechanisms of databases and their external equivalents for a variety of uses in data processing.

More recently, these concepts have been extended to consider this isolation tactic to provide a security mechanism for the purposes of data protection. For example, in the payment card industry, tokenization is one means of protecting sensitive cardholder data in order to comply with industry standards and government regulations.

Definition in Blockchain

In blockchain, tokenization is a method that converts rights to an asset into a digital token. Thus, we can take an asset, tokenize it and create its digital representation that lives on Blockchain. Blockchain guarantees that the ownership information is immutable.  The tokens created in this way is also known as crypto tokens.

For example, you can tokenize an asset such as a book that you authored. The book is kept somewhere while the book token is uploaded to the blockchain network. The book crypto token is a representation of the book ownership. You can specify how many tokens need to be transferred to your crypto wallet before you can transfer the book ownership to a buyer by means of a smart contract.

One of the actual use cases is https://stamp.io , a platform where you can store your tokenized documents on the block and certify it, as shown in the following figure:

Cryptokitties is a brilliant example of the crypto token that allows users to acquire an adorable collectible by transferring some cryptocurrencies to the owner. The owner will then transfer the digital collectible to the buyer. The transaction occurs automatically via the smart contract.

Another use case is we can create a crypto token that represents some customer loyalty points on a blockchain. This type of token is also known as utility token. It can be used to manage customers’ reward schemes for the retail chains. Other examples include the crypto token that gives entitlement to the token holder to view certain hours of video streaming on a video-sharing blockchain. A house owner can sell his house by transferring the tokenized house deed to the buyer. Last but not least, a crypto token may even represent another cryptocurrency.

Fungible Tokens vs Non-Fungible Tokens

We often come across the terms fungible Tokens and non-fungible tokens in the blockchain. What are they?  The following table explains what are they and how they differ.

Fungible TokensNon-fungible Tokens
Interchangeable
A fungible token can be exchanged with any other fungible token of the same type. It is like exchanging a dollar bill with another dollar bill and the value is still the same.		Non-Interchangeable
A non-fungible token cannot be exchanged with another non-fungible token of the same type. It is like your passport or ID, they cannot be exchanged.
Uniform
Each fungible token is identical to all other fungible tokens of the same type. For example, your one-dollar bill is the same as John’s one-dollar bill.		Unique
Each token is unique and different from all other tokens of the same type. For example, your bank account is not the same as John’s bank account
Divisible
A fungible token can be divided into smaller units and the total value is still the same. For example, you can divide a dollar bill into two 50 cents or five 20 cents and the total value is still the same.		Non-divisible
The non-fungible token cannot be divided into smaller units. The basic unit is one token and one token only. For example, your driving license.
ERC-20 Standard
The Ethereum Standard is used for issuance tokens to be used as cryptocurrencies.		ERC-721 Standard
The Ethereum Standard is used for the issuance of unique, non-fungible tokens. The most well-known case is CryptoKitties, which is a virtual collectibles marketplace where each kitty is unique.

Non-fungible tokens can be used in KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures, for academic degrees and other educational certificates, collectibles, badges, voting & elections, loyalty programs, in-game items, copyright, supply chain tracking, medical data, software licenses, warranties, and more.

What is Ethereum?

According to the Ethereum Foundation, 

“Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third-party interference.

These apps run on a custom built blockchain, an enormously powerful shared global infrastructure that can move value around and represent the ownership of property.

”

Definition of Ethereum

Based on the above descriptions, Ethereum is an open-source blockchain-based decentralized platform featuring smart contracts.  Indeed, Ethereum is a programmable blockchain that enables developers to build and deploy decentralized applications. Rather than providing users with a set of predefined applications like bitcoin, Ethereum allows users to create any kind of applications they wish. In this way, it serves as a platform for many different types of decentralized blockchain applications, including but not limited to cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum Virtual Machine

At the core of the Ethereum platform is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (“EVM”), which possesses its own programming language, known as the ‘EVM bytecode’.  It is the runtime environment that executes all of the smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

The Smart Contract code is written in high-level programming languages such as Solidity. The code is compiled to the EVM bytecode so that the Ethereum Virtual Machine can understand what has been written.

Decentralized Applications(dapps)

The Ethereum Virtual Machine makes the process of creating decentralized applications much easier than ever before. Instead of having to build an entire blockchain for each new application, the EVM enables users to develop decentralized applications all on one platform.

Cryptokitties  is one of the most well known decentralized application (dapp) among many dapps developed so far. You can check out lots of interesting dapps at https://www.dapp.com/.  I have also developed a prototype dapp that I named it Kittychain Shop. In this virtual pet shop, the user can adopt a kitty, as shown in the figure below.

The Ethereum Architecture

Ethereum runs on a distributed public blockchain network. Each and every node connected to the Ethereum network helps to maintain and update the blockchain database. The nodes of the network run the EVM and execute the instructions according to the smart contracts.   Ethereum node runs the EVM in order to maintain consensus across the blockchain.

Ethereum peers achieve consensus via the proof of work algorithm, which is similar to bitcoin. However, they are planning to shift to the proof of stake algorithm in near future to improve scalability. The consensus gives Ethereum a high level of fault tolerance, ensures zero downtime, and makes data stored on the blockchain immutable and secure.

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum allows individuals to exchange cash without involving any middlemen like financial institutions and others. However, Ethereum is more than just cryptocurrency. Beyond financial applications, we can create decentralized applications where trust, security, and permanence are considered important. Among the potential applications are asset registries, voting, governance, Internet of things, supply chain management and more. 


Similar to Bitcoin, we can also carry out mining activity in Ethereum. However, In the Ethereum blockchain, instead of mining for bitcoin, miners work to earn Ether, the default currency of Ethereum. Beyond a tradeable cryptocurrency, Ether is also used by application developers to pay for transaction fees and services on the Ethereum network. For example, the user needs to pay for acquiring a crypto asset in a dapps marketplace using Ether.

What is Mining in Blockchain?

The Purpose of Mining

Generally, people conceive mining in blockchain as a way to obtain bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. Well, it is partially true but this is not the main purpose of mining. In actual fact, the main objective of mining is to ensure the perpetuity and security of the decentralized network. The network comprises nodes that store the distributed ledgers in the form of the blockchain.

Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies are awarded to the miners for their effort in maintaining the integrity of the blockchain by validating the transactions in the blockchain. Because of the reward system, miners (nodes) will stay on in the network and help to prevent network downtime. Just imagine if there is no reward, nobody will want to connect to the network and it will just cease to exist.

How does Mining work?

The mining process starts when miners are trying to validate new transactions and record them on the blockchain. The miners are competing to solve a difficult mathematical puzzle based on a cryptographic hash algorithm. The solution found is called the Proof-Of-Work. When a block is ‘solved’, all the transactions contained in the candidate block are considered validated, and the new block is confirmed. This new block will be appended to the blockchain. The time taken to confirm a new block is approximately 10 minutes for bitcoin, for other coins it is much faster. So, if you send or receive some bitcoin, it will take approximately 10 minutes for the transaction to be confirmed.

Miners receive a reward when they solve the complex mathematical problem. There are two types of rewards: new bitcoins and transaction fees. The amount of bitcoins created decreases every 4 years or  every 210,000 blocks to be precise. Today, a newly created block creates 12.5 bitcoins. This number will keep going down until no more bitcoin will be issued. This will happen around 2140, when 1 millions bitcoins will have been created. After this date, no more bitcoin will be issued.

Miners can also receive rewards in the form of transaction fees. The winning miner can collect all the transaction fees in the block. As the amount of bitcoin created with each block diminishes, the transactions fees received by the miner will increase. After 2140, the winning miner will only receive transaction fees as his reward.