That is an opinion editorial by Moustafa Amin, a expertise chief with greater than 20 years {of professional} expertise throughout massive organizations, service suppliers and telecom firms.
“Bitcoin Not Blockchain”
If you happen to’re a frequent reader of Bitcoin Journal or for those who’re a Bitcoin fanatic on the whole, you might need seen this motto. I got here throughout it quite a few instances and I agree with it 100%.
Typically there might be a minor exception, as an example when the scope is constrained, the context is personal and there’s no want for tokenization however generally, it’s all the time smart to stay to bitcoin.
Let’s analyze an imaginary case examine round IP addresses utilizing a “site visitors mild” analogy — yellow, crimson and inexperienced.
IP Addresses
I assume that the readers are or at the least conversant in how information communications happen throughout the web primarily based on the IP protocol (TCP/IP if we need to be technically correct). The extra technological readers might pay attention to web protocol (IP) addresses, like IPv4 and IPv6.
Attempt to Google “Who controls IP addresses?” You’ll promptly get “IANA: the Web Assigned Numbers Authority.” IANA is the highest authority behind IP tackle allocation and project. There are 5 totally different regional web registries (RIR) with jurisdiction underneath the IANA.
As a matter of truth, as a person or a standard web consumer you can not request IP addresses immediately from IANA or one of many 5 RIRs, however solely from web service suppliers, such because the providers supplied by cellular or telecom operators.
RIRs and their respective areas
From this structure, you may think about a central database of IP addresses held and maintained by IANA.
An imaginary pattern of IP addresses database
Allow us to assume that in the future IANA decides to launch a blockchain model of its IP addresses database, wouldn’t that be a authentic undertaking? The reply is dependent upon their method and their intention for doing so.
Earlier than we proceed, allow us to agree on a few factors:
- The time period blockchain doesn’t all the time consult with the underlying expertise of Bitcoin as invented (or found) by Satoshi Nakamoto. As a substitute, it has turn out to be a advertising time period that’s broadly utilized by distributors as a buzzword to explain their merchandise in both personal or public contexts.
- Even with a decentralized model of the IP addresses database, the IP addresses will all the time stay in IANA’s custody. These assets won’t ever be handed over to the general public neighborhood.
The Yellow Path
If IANA cares concerning the integrity, security and safety of their present centralized IP addresses database and desires to make it decentralized over a blockchain by having separate equivalent copies of the database held in geographically dispersed areas for decentralization and redundancy, they’d search for an answer that will likely be a mixture of decentralized storage (IPFS for instance) and personal blockchain (cloud-based or open-source). This might be in comparison with AWS blockchain, Hyperledger, Multichain, and so on.
On this case, every regional RIR will likely be answerable for some nodes that run this personal blockchain. Every node will ship and obtain updates over the blockchain whereas storing an equivalent always-updated copy of the IP addresses database.
No token will likely be required on this answer, and the entire answer will likely be maintained by nodes falling underneath both the jurisdiction of IANA or the RIR. As a matter of truth, IANA can pause, cease, restart, truncate and even delete components of this personal blockchain at their will.
Principally, this case just isn’t totally different from the present state of affairs the place IANA can change and even delete components of the IP addresses database of their centralized database (in the event that they need to). I’m not saying they might, however they might.
This path is labeled “yellow” as a result of it might be acceptable because it doesn’t symbolize any danger to outsiders, i.e., there are not any buyers who put up cash for tokens.
The Crimson Path
What if IANA decides to launch their blockchain model of IP addresses as a sensible contract dApp — utilizing some platform like Ethereum, and even as a separate public blockchain — and tokenizes the entire thing and possibly runs crowdfunding occasions to distribute these tokens? I received’t waste your precious time discussing this state of affairs any additional: This may make it no totally different from the opposite 20,000 ineffective altcoins on the market!
The Inexperienced Path
What if IANA is clever sufficient to maintain their IP addresses database actually decentralized over the one actually decentralized blockchain — Bitcoin — and permitting fee in sats? A doable possibility might be an utility constructed on prime of Bitcoin or the Lightning Community and built-in with a distributed off-chain storage.
The distributed storage will retailer the precise IP addresses together with their respective house owners. This may occur off-chain to keep away from overwhelming the Bitcoin community, however the indexes to the database entries might be saved on chain.
To counteract Bitcoin’s pseudonymity, prospects (suppliers or operators) will nonetheless be required to offer identification data for full possession of their IP addresses. Sadly, this may be in full compliance with know-your-customer legal guidelines (KYC) for on-line surveillance, as you may guess.
Whatever the abundance of IP addresses, they’re restricted by nature, which means that IANA can’t mint or create new addresses out of skinny air.
Fast truth: there are barely lower than 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses that had been all offered (depletion of IPv4 addresses began again in 2011), whereas there are 340 trillion, trillion, trillion IPv6 addresses — an insanely big quantity in order that the minimal IPv6 tackle allocation is split by 32 to be equal to the variety of all IPv4 addresses on the market.
As all transactions will likely be completely saved over the ledger, IANA can’t fiddle and resell the identical chunk of IP addresses to a different proprietor. That is named an “IP tackle block,” to not be confused with Bitcoin blocks.
The Best Path
What if we substitute the managed and surveilled IP addresses with new web addresses which can be primarily based on Bitcoin? These addresses will inherit all Bitcoin’s options, i.e., they are going to be purely decentralized, safe, future-proof, strong, nameless, unhackable, managed by no single authority and plenty of extra.
Is it only a dream? For now. If this might be true we might be altering the web as we all know it.
This can be a visitor submit by Moustafa Amin. Opinions expressed are completely their very own and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Journal.
