Safebit: The Path Reveals Itself to Those Inquisitive Enough to Walk it
It’s no secret that times have been tough for the industry.
The ICO hype has died down (though we are seeing some new ones popping up recently). Many companies in this nascent industry have closed their doors, some due to regulatory pressure and others due to a lack of public interest. In these days of rampaging FUD we find it very appropriate to sit down and actually develop something amazing.
While it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for us, I am happy to say that Safebit has been growing in both concept and execution, and we’d like to tell you about it.
What We Are Doing, and Why
Safebit started out as a concept for a “really good” Bitcoin wallet, but the more we worked on it, the more it became clear that blockchain technologies are very different from anything that came before. Different enough that in order to build a truly compelling platform, it would require the invention of new development paradigms.
In other words, today's developers don’t really have a clue what to do with blockchain technologies, and the resulting stagnation is an indication. It’s not that blockchain isn’t as exciting as we thought it was. No, it is insanely exciting. But it lacks the tools to take advantage of it. Wallets are hard to use and numerous, private keys are hard to keep private, and dApps are limited.
At Safebit we’re building a platform, an OS, that can help solve it. Safebit proposes a change to the current paradigm and that will enable the entire industry to move forward. We’re going to do that by treating blockchains as a new layer of the internet and working out the right combination of tools and protocols to access it. How? The devil is in the details.
Architecture
Safebit’s architecture takes inspirations from Linux, Wordpress, Nodejs, and takes it a step forward into the world of decentralized clouds. The platform architecture is rooted in the following pillars:
Identities — Safebit identities are at the core of the system. In our paradigm, an identity is any type of entity that can be interacted with. It is essentially a vehicle for a private key or seed (where the key is stored is a different matter). This is not dissimilar to how Ethereum treats account — An account could be someone’s wallet, or it could be a smart contract. Safebit’s DNS service serves as a route to an identity. An identity could be a user (“@daniel-blank”), could be a multisig identity (“@apple”), could be an asset (“@ether”), could be a network driver (more on that below). Identities can be interacted with in the way that they specify. A user can send and receive funds. An asset can be queried for various details (think ERC20).
Drivers- “Drivers” are how Safebit interact with the external world. Drivers are external modules that can connect various wallets (private-key carriers), blockchains and other modules to the Safebit platform. Anyone can write a driver and plug it into the platform to extend Safebit’s functionality. The desired end result is a thriving ecosystem of wallets, blockchains and other modules that can be plugged into the platform at will. Security is achieved by community vetting the various drivers. We are looking for teams who would like to connect a blockchain via a Safebit driver! Bitcoin and Ethereum are already worked on. Interested in bringing NEO, EOS or anything else? Ping us at contact (at) safebit.io
Collaboration Network — Collaboration network is what you get when you connect the power of crypto to a user-friendly social UI. Collaboration networks are crypto for the masses and are the missing link towards crypto going mainstream. More on this in the future.
But What Can it Do?
Glad you asked, I get that a lot. Here’s what Safebit will be able to do:
For consumers:
- A universal wallet that supports any crypto-assets that have drivers written for them
- An application’s platform along with a discovery mechanism within the platform. dApps at your fingertips. (Building a dApp? We want to talk to you. contact (at) safebit.io)
- A collaboration network that allows users to do cool things with their crypto — create smart contracts on the fly, use multisig wallets (multi-user identities) and other things. We’re all about promoting new ways to collaborate
For businesses:
- A great enterprise wallet, employing the same robust Safebit architecture
- The ability to easily create and deploy dApps
- Smart contracts galore — Deploy contracts between identities out of common template libraries (OpenZepplin…)
As an API:
Now we’re getting to the cool stuff.
- Managed wallet and accounts — Plug directly into the Safebit OS and create identities for your customers — this way you can put crypto in your app without dealing with the bad stuff
- IFTTT between blockchains while leveraging Safebit as a cross-blockchain layer. This personally excites me more than anything — just imagine the possibilities
- Off-chain transaction through the platform
What’s the Plan
We are currently working on the developer preview for the alpha in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Ambitious? Yes. Impossible? Not if you do it right. Follow our progress on Telegram and expect an alpha soon.
