It's been a long time since I published my last post within PH community.
Well, I have an excuse for this absence...
I've just finished too long college exams (it was my senior year), and I did really well on it ;)
Now, I feel so much excited to participate again in my favorite place 😍.
So, let me begin my return with an educational post on a unique crypto project, which I think has garnered some attention lately, and by the way, it's NOT DeFi.
Without any further ado let's jump in...
It's no secret that online privacy is becoming the most scarce commodity these days.
Wherever you browse, you'll find a snoop tries to steel your data and sell them to a third party.
Facebook, Google, TikTok , your ISP, your browser, and the government ...the list goes on...
Most users who value privacy use VPN to get rid of this inappropriate spying.
VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. It is in its traditional definition a tool which encrypts your internet connection, so it protects you from any tracker. It also enables you to use services that are not available at your location or country.
That's at least what VPN is supposed to be...
This means that all your data is vulnerable to theft by those who are supposed to protect it.
Although, all VPN providers promise you that they will never log your browsing history and offer to you "the-best-in-class" service but, truthfully, they will not provide any evidence for that.
It is not an assumption, There are actually many reports revealed cases in which user data is sold by VPN providers to the US government and other third parties.
In addition to that, there are potential breaches that could occur to any VPN provider, as was the case recently with Nord (One of the most famous VPN providers around the world)
And finally, quite simply, If I do not trust the sites I visit, ISP, and the government, then what on earth makes me trust a VPN provider ??
Here where Orchid project steps in ...
source
Orchid project is a privacy-focused tool that allows you to buy with Orchid token (oxt) a VPN service from a global VPN providers pool in an pure decentralized environment.
How? you might be wondering.
Well, Orchid's vision depends on that everyone is welcome to become a VPN provider.
All you have to do is install the app provided by Orchid (there are versions for android, IOS and windows), and stake some Orchid tokens (oxt), then the app will receive traffic from those who want to buy a VPN service and route them through your network.
Of course, you'll get paid for that in OXT tokens, and that is the incentive which push many users to become VPN providers.
And like any proof-of-stake network there is a preferential rule. The more amount of OXT token you stake, the more chance you have to be a VPN provider, which in turn leads to more earned OXT tokens.
So, If I need a VPN, I won't need to trust any central entity, and I'll get my virtual network decentralized automatically.
This is the most simplistic explanation, but If you are someone who likes to dig deeper into underlying details (like me 😉), then I recommend you to read the white paper of the project.
Behind Orchid stands a star-studded team that includes the CEO and the co-founder Dr. Seven Waterhouse who has been a leader in the blockchain and tech industries for several years.
Joining him in the co-founder seat is Jay Freeman who is perhaps best known for having developed Cydia Installer, the alternative to the App Store for jailbroken iPhones and iPads.
The team includes some other prominent name like Gustav Simonsson & Brian Fox.
Also, the project is backed by well-known big investors which in turns led to be listed on high-profile exchanges Like CoinBase and Binance.
Now, my post is getting long, but It would be remiss of me not to mention some of challenges and difficulties that Orchid project faces.
The first challenge of course is the poor adoption between non-crypto users. I wonder how ready the average VPN user is to switch to Orchid. I see that Orchid has no Worthy competitor In crypto space, but it has so many competent rivals in non-crypto space.
Large VPN providers(like Nord, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost..etc) have pretty strong offerings with a multitude of servers around the world. They made their services straightforward and easy to use, which enabled them to attract many loyal clients. It would be anything but easy to Orchid to steal the limelight from them.
Another challenge that I can not ignore is that Orchid is still so new and not widely tested so, it's hard to know how secure each individual node will be.
Despite that though, I can't but marvel how innovative and creative Orchid project is. Like I mentioned earlier, privacy provided by Orchid is no doubt a valuable commodity, and placing our trust centralized VPN providers is risky.
I'm glade to see a crypt-powered project offers an important solution to a problem we have long suffered from.
Certainly, I'll keep a close eye on it...
What do you think about Orchid project my friends?
Do you think it is a worth investing project?
It is important to me to know your opinion in the comment section below 😉
