Solving Bitcoin's Identity problem.
I know many people like the anonymity of Bitcoin, including some cool efforts to make it even more anonymous, but where are the people working on a proof of Identity (POI) algorithm?
While I deeply respect the need for anonymous transactions in certain scenarios, I also think proof of identity would go along way towards extending Bitcoin's usefulness to and trust with the masses. I see this being a perfect use case for a Sidechain. The purpose I see this being particularly valuable is with crowdfunding. There area many well-documented cases where people are raising money in various cryptocurrencies, only to have the recipient of the coins disappear into thin air. I think a POI algorithm could go along way to instilling some order in this early Bitcoin wild-west.
The actual POI algorithm needs much more thought, but here's an initial idea upon which I'd very much appreciate your comments:Â
Miners make a http request to a server claiming to represent a receiving address. The server/web service can have as many receiving addresses as they have pages that want to receive money (think Facebook profile pages). The web service representing the receiving address returns JSON containing identity of receiving party. Miners hashes the JSON which then can be checked by other miners or they can make the http requests too. Â
  > page I want to receive money on: https://op-fund.org/timrpeterson/myCrowdfundingCampagain-1Â
  > Miner sends request here: https://op-fund.org/timrpeterson/myCrowdfundingCampagain-1.jsonÂ
There are obviously many other ways to conceptualize POI, such as making use of Apple's Touch ID. Though, I prefer an open-sourced version of what Onename has done in connecting individual identities with individual webpages.Â
As an academic scientist (Ph.D. Biology), I'm really passionate about crowdfunding and finding trusted ways to fund research. A name I really like for this Sidechain concept is OP_FUND, playing on Bitcoin's Script notation. I'm starting to flesh out the ideas on this Github repo if you'd like to contribute there: https://github.com/onarbor/OP_FUND.
We would be very grateful to talk with anyone interested in this at [email protected] https://twitter.com/timrpetersonÂ
Timothy R. Peterson, Ph.D.
Onarbor, Co-founder
https://onarbor.com/by/timrpeterson
Harvard University
Molecular and Cellular Biology
NWL Rm.440, 52 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138