Tag: blockchain

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Thinking about a blockchain project? Here are 10 conditions you should meet before you start

So blockchains make sense for databases that are shared by multiple writers who don’t entirely trust each other, and who modify that database directly. But that’s still not enough. Blockchains truly shine where there is some interaction between the transactions created by these writers.

— Avoiding the pointless blockchain project | MultiChain http://www.multichain.com/blog/2015/11/avoiding-pointless-blockchain-project/

This article has some of the best thinking I’ve seen about how to figure out what to do with blockchain. Blockchain all the things really isn’t a good idea here. This is a complex set of technologies that have any number of useful applications, but, like any tool, it needs to used properly.

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Speaking of Ethereum, here’s Etheropt, an Ethereum powered options exchange

Etheropt is a decentralized options exchange built on Ethereum. The options you see here are binary call options on the price of Ethereum in USD as reported by Poloniex and Coindesk and verified by Reality Keys. Etheropt has no owner. Its entire operation is described and executed by an Ethereum smart contract.

http://etherboost.github.io/etheropt/testnet?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feedsapi%2FBwPx+%28Hacker+News+Top+20+Full+feeds+by+FeedsAPI%29

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Pax releases Codex, a legal scripting language for Ethereum

Pax is using Ethereum to build a peer to peer legal system. The best way to explain Ethereum is by contrasting it with Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s value comes from the fact that every transaction that happens is added to the record and can’t be changed. Each full node on the network holds a complete copy of the transaction history, which eliminates any possibility of double-spending. It turns out that this approach can also be used to create binding self-enforcing legal contracts between people, which can have use cases as wide ranging as employment, rent, deeds, property transfer, restitution, incorporation, subscriptions, billing, voting and dividend systems. Where there are disputes, a blockchain can hold an objective record of events making dispute resolution relatively trivial compared to traditional legal systems, both on the back-end (legislation) and the front-end (arbitration).

Codex is a legal scripting DSL (domain specific language) geared towards creating executable contracts via the Pax directory and API. Codex is a flexible and powerful way for clients to interact with Ethereum, and is underwritten by Solidity (one of Ethereum’s most popular high-level programming languages) and the Web3.js, which is a Javascript library which allows front-facing apps to connect to the Ethereum network.

http://pax.directory/codex/

As with Ethereum the focus of Codex is self executing contacts, but it should provide hints at expanding blockchain into other legal realms.