Gritcoin

Gritcoin

Get started with Gritcoin

Kom igang med Gritcoin

Gritcoin is used peer-to-peer. and works with a minimum of requirements for hardware, power consumption and communication networks. Everyone can take part, the start-up costs are minimal. Transaction protocols are uncomplicated and transactions are handled entirely by the parties involved. The Gritcoin system has a resilience and uptime that is in a class of its own. Through many of its unique properties, Gritcoin covers the users needs, that cannot be covered by any other existing payment system.

Gritcoin benyttes P2P (bruger-til-bruger), og fungerer med minimale krav til hardware, strømforbrug og kommunikationsnetværk. Alle kan tage del, opstartsomkostningerne er minimale. Transaktionsprotokollerne er ukomplicerede og transaktioner håndteres fuldt ud af de involverede parter. Gritcoin systemet har en robusthed og oppetid, som er i en klasse for sig. Gennem mange af dets unikke egenskaber dækker Gritcoin brugernes behov, som ellers ikke dækkes af noget andet eksisterende betalingssystem.

Fast peer-to-peer
transactions

Øjeblikkelige bruger-
til-bruger-betalinger

Low processing
fees

Ingen betalings-
gebyrer

Payments with
full privacy

Betalinger med fuld-
kommen privacy

Offline payments

Offline betalinger

Gritcoins are better known as cash.

Gritcoins kendes bedre som kontanter.

It can be difficult to see such a familiar thing in a new light. Especially after more than two decades of campaigning by banks and other powerful players, to abolish them. But let us try if we can break away from that. Let us, for a change, take a look at the good properties they have..

Det kan være svært at se så velkendt en ting med friske øjne. Især efter mere end to årtiers holdningsmassage fra banker og andre magtfulde spillere, om at afskaffe dem. Men lad os prøve om vi kan bryde med det. Lad os til en forandring se hvilke gode egenskaber de har...

Cash is a means of payment that works on its own. Two users can make a transaction, without any supporting systems. Sif at eight years old can get her pocket money in cash, she can buy a packet of chewing gum for cash, she can sell her Barbie doll at a flea market for cash, and so on. Cash does not discriminate. Everyone can use it.

Kontanter er et betalingsmiddel der virker i sig selv. To brugere kan foretage en transaktion, uden nogen understøttende systemer. Sif på otte år kan få lommepenge som kontanter, hun kan købe en pakke tyggegummi med kontanter, hun kan sælge sin Barbiedukke på loppemarked for kontanter, og så videre. Kontanter diskrimenerer ikke nogen. Alle kan bruge dem.

Cash is physical, so it gives the owner sensory input that no electronic system does. With electronic payment systems information first needs to be understood rationally, before it is realized by other parts of the mind. The sensory input of cash, on the other hand, speaks directly to those other parts, so the user gets a feeling for amounts and deposits, right away.

Kontanter er fysiske, så de giver ejeren sensoriske input som intet elektronisk system kan give. Med elektroniske betalingsmidler skal den information først forståes rationelt før den vil kunne sive ind i andre dele af bevidstheden. De sensoriske input fra kontanter går derimod direkte ind i disse andre dele, så brugeren uden videre får en fornemmelse af beløb og indeståender.

Transactions are handled decoupled from the authority behind the cash. That means that transactions are private by nature. The system does not leak any information about the transactions, they are only known to the degree that other systems inform about them. It is also in the nature of the system, that transactions are not controlled by the authority, so it is not possible to debank select users.

Transaktioner klares afkoblet fra den autoritet der står bag kontanterne. Det betyder at transaktioner er private i sin natur. Betalingsmidlet lækker ingen informationer om transaktionerne, de er kun kendt i det omfang andre systemer oplyser om dem. Transaktionerne kontrolleres heller ikke i kraft af betalingsmidlet, så det er ikke muligt at debanke udvalgte brugere.

Cash works offline. No infrastructure is needed. It is only important that the value of cash is guaranteed by an authority, and that counterfeiting is prevented. History even shows, that when these preconditions disappear, cash still continues to work for some time. Many parts of Europe prepare for serious crisis these years, and as part of this the authorities in many countries urge their citizens to store some cash. Exactly for this reason.

Kontanter virker offline. Ingen infrastruktur er nødvendig. Det er bare vigtigt at kontanternes værdi garanteres af en autoritet, og at forfalskninger forhindres. Historien viser endda, at selv når disse forudsætninger forsvinder, så fortsætter kontanterne med at virke for en tid. Rundt omkring i Europa forbereder man sig i disse år på alvorlige kriser, og som en del af dette opfordrer myndighederne i mange lande deres borgere til at ligge inde med nogle kontanter. Netop af denne grund.

Gritcoin 2.0

Gritcoin 2.0

It is an interresting exercise to imagine how an electronic payment system, that matches all the good properties of cash, would work. So let os play designers, and see what we end up with.

Det er en interessant øvelse at forestille sig hvordan et elektronisk betalingssystem, som matcher alle kontanters gode egenskaber, ville fungere. Så lad os lege designere, og se hvad vi ender ud med at få.

We might as well start with the property that will shape our solution the most, namely offline payments.

Vi kan lige så godt starte med den egenskab der vil præge løsningen mest, nemlig offline betalinger.

Electronic payment systems that are offline has a problem that is called double spending. That is when you pay with the same money twice. It is quite simple to exploit.

Elektroniske betalingssystemer der er offline har et problem der hedder dobbeltspendering. Det er når man betaler med de samme penge to gange. Det er ret simpelt at udnytte.

The only thing it takes, is to copy the payment application and all its data, then you can spend your money two times. Because of that our Gritcoin 2.0 cannot be a pure software solution. It has to use tamperproof hardware. Like a TPM chip.

Det eneste der skal til, er at kopiere betalingsapplikationen og alle dens data, så kan man bruge sine penge to gange. Derfor kan vores Gritcoin 2.0 ikke være en ren software løsning. Den må nødvendigvis bruge manipulationssikret hardware. I stil med en TPM chip.

Let us take the next property that we need to live up to. Gritcoin 2.0 must be a self-contained system.

Lad os tage næste egenskab som vi skal leve op til. Gritcoin 2.0 skal være et selvstændigt system.

So we cannot require that the user has a computer or mobile device. Gritcoin 2.0 has to run on its own dedicated hardware.

Vi kan altså ikke kræve at brugeren har en computer eller mobil enhed. Gritcoin 2.0 er nødt til at køre på sin egen dedikerede hardware.

So what we have now, is a tamperproof roaming hardware unit. Let us give it solar cells and NFC read and write.

Så det vi har nu, er en modifikationssikret roaming hardware enhed. Lad os give den solceller og NFC read og write.

The tamperproofing needs to be particularly thorough in this case, because it is the owner that would gain by tampering with the unit. The unit also needs to be unusually robust. Recall that it is not possible to back it up, so your money is gone if it breaks down.

Modifikationssikringen skal være særlig grundig i det her tilfælde, da det er ejeren selv der vil kunne vinde ved at modificere enheden. Enheden skal osse være usædvanlig robust. Husk på man ikke kan tage en backup af den, så ens penge er væk hvis den går i stykker.

With that we now have a tamperproof unit with epoxy potted electronics.

Med det har vi nu en modifikationssikret enhed med epoxy-indkapslet elektronik.

Because we use roaming hardware, there is not that much reason to dive into the encryption and the communication protocols. The existing technologies for this, could be mixed together into a good solution.

Da vi bruger roaming hardware, så er der ikke så meget grund til at gå i dybden med kryptering og kommunikationsprotokoller. De teknologier der allerede findes vil kunne strikkes sammen til en god løsning.

Next property, Gritcoin 2.0 has to be sensory.

Næste egenskab, Gritcoin 2.0 skal være sensorisk.

Our unit needs to have a display. The interface must show how much is on the unit, also when you dont request to see it.

Vores enhed skal have en skærm. Interfacet skal vise hvor meget man har på enheden, osse når man ikke beder om at se det.

Tænk MobilePay, men offline, og med et lidt andet brugerinterface.

Theres not much idea in going on designing, as we have the general picture of the solution now. What we have resembles a small mobile phone dedicated to payments. A bit thicker than a payment card, and likely also a bit bigger than one. You would only be able to get such units from the authority that would back the design, and guarantee that deposits on them have value. If we think this solution as an alternative to cash, that authority would be the state.

Vi behøver nok ikke designe så meget videre, da vi nu har det overordnede billede af løsningen. Det vi har minder om en lille mobiltelefon dedikeret til betalinger. Lidt tykkere end et betalingskort, og nok osse lidt større end ét. Man ville kun kunne få sådanne enheder af den autoritet der ville stå på mål for designet, og garantere at indeståender på dem har værdi. Hvis vi tænker løsningen som et alternativ til kontanter, ville den autoritet være staten.