Bitcoin, a dream come true for lovers of freedom, finally a possibility against the centralized financial systems that dominate our society, a safe way to manage our money without accountability to any corrupt entity.
A way to handle our wealth with privacy? That seemed at the beginning, that we could keep our money without worrying about external agents obtaining personal information from us, however, the reality is different.
Although it requires time and some effort, it is possible to acquire a significant amount of information about the individuals and institutions that use the Bitcoin blockchain, something harmful to the participants' freedom.
Nowadays information is power and, I do not believe that most people agree that anyone can have power over them. Privacy is a right, we must not use technology to plunder our data, but to protect them, that way we will be protecting our freedom and that of others.
Several individuals have created methods to protect certain data, but this is detrimental to the future of the Bitcoin chain since to have "something" of security, we must saturate with more information the system, affecting the scalability of the currency.
Recall that to validate Bitcoin transactions, all members must verify the data, in addition to having all the information of transactions made in the past. This makes Bitcoin's efficiency inversely proportional to the use of currency, while more information, slower and inefficient is the system. To give you an idea, keep in mind the following information:
- Currently, the size of the blockchain is 181.7 Gb
- The size of each block has increased between 5 and 11 times since the beginning of the currency
- Today, the number of transactions is almost 350 million. Daily, around 200 thousand
The magnitude of this data makes us imagine how difficult it will be to work with Bitcoin in a future where the adoption of cryptocurrencies will be total since for everyday use, think that a normal person will wait more than 10 minutes to confirm a transaction it is illusory.
What would happen if there were a method in which only a small amount of information was needed to carry out secure transactions? It exists, its name is MimbleWimble and, the currency that has adopted this protocol is called BEAM.
What is BEAM?
BEAM is a next generation confidential cryptocurrency based on an elegant and innovative MimbleWimble protocol. (Source: BEAM Position Paper)
BEAM is an innovative cryptocurrency based on an ingenious protocol that allows greater protection to the privacy of its users, being much faster, more efficient, scalable and secure than other currencies in the market.
This cryptocurrency allows users to fully manage their data since it is based on the MimbleWimble protocol, which allows participants to choose what information to share and what to reserve for them. This minimizes the size of the blocks in the chain, therefore, it creates a much more scalable and efficient system for a future where the volume of transactions will be greater.
This system is totally decentralized, no arbitrator or trust setups are necessary; in addition, no information is stored about the parties involved in the transactions –such as their addresses–.
What is Mimblewimble? How does BEAM work?
Apparently, the person who came up with the protocol was a fan of Harry Potter, that's why he was inspired by the enchantment of the tied tongue of the series, quoting:
Why Mimblewimble? Because it is used to prevent the blockchain from talking about all user's information. (Source: MimbleWimble whitepaper)
The Mimblewimble protocol basically fulfills two functions, the first one being the Confidential Transactions, which hide the information and validate the data. The second one makes it possible for the blockchain to work with a much smaller amount of data since it does not need to know all the past info. In case you want to investigate more about this technology, I invite you to read its whitepaper.
These characteristics are those that provide the great strengths of BEAM, because they make possible the construction of a totally private cryptocurrency, in which users have full control, in addition to allowing sustainable growth, with which there will be no long-term problems.
BEAM allows you to carry out different types of transactions for the different uses that users can give it, acting as a smart contract –it is possible to perform atomic swap or time-locked transactions–. It should be noted that the BEAM mining process is designed to be compatible with most machines that exist today so that their adoption is facilitated.
The team has developed intuitive wallets –both for PC and mobile version–, so that the use of the currency is comfortable and effective, as well as providing administrative facilities for it. Another important point is that the project is open source and, 20% of the mining rewards will go to a pool to reward those who will help BEAM grow.
Use case
Businessman in crisis
John Galt is a Venezuelan businessman who managed to make profits despite the repression of his government. However, there came a time when he realized how fragile his financial security was in that country, so he decided to save his wealth in Bitcoin.
His security was short-lived, as the government began to see the growing use of the currency with suspicion. At first, they started jailing the miners of the country without cause, which scared Mr. Galt. Then, it began to be rumored that the political police would find the owners of Bitcoin to "hold" their funds for "the good of the nation."
The young John did not want to leave his country, but neither would he allow himself to be robbed to finance the narco-state, what to do? A friend recommended BEAM, the currency that allows him to protect the privacy of his funds and handle them safely. John Galt did not hesitate a second to adopt this new currency.
Anonymity in danger
Winston Smith is another common citizen of the United States, who has certain political affiliations not shared by the majority, but who always had the assurance that they would be protected. True to his ideals, he always donates some money to the causes that he is passionate about.
However, the politicians in power approve a law in which all donations to charity, non-governmental organizations and political parties are made public so that Winston's integrity is threatened since any madman could want to attack him because of his ideas.
Should Winston Smith abandon his principles? No, luckily he finds out about BEAM, the cryptocurrency that allows him to use his funds with the certainty that his privacy will never be violated.
The TEAM
Advisors
Roadmap
Investors
I am a faithful believer that freedom is the most important value that a society must have, as long as it is violated, no other value or principle will have a true livelihood, that is why if we must work together for something, it is to preserve and increase our freedoms.
An important part of individual freedom is the right to privacy, which has been constantly violated by states and institutions –private and public–, granting them power over us, which could be the beginning of a tight control over all individuals in a near future.
We have searched for a variety of solutions to this problem; however, none has proven to be ideal for the number of people who seek the security of having his private data, until the arrival of BEAM.
This currency allows us to store our value with the certainty that only the data we allow will be known, so that we can have real power over our funds, without anyone interfering in our affairs, which is, in the end, true freedom.
For more info, check this video:
Observe the differences:
More resources:
- Beam Website
- Beam Position Paper
- Mimblewimble Paper
- Beam YouTube
- Beam Telegram
- Beam Facebook
- Beam Github
- Beam Bitcointalk
- Beam Medium
- Beam Twitter
Greetings
If you have any questions, leave it in a comment and I will gladly answer it.
This is my entry for the @originalworks writing contest.
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