In this segment we cover the behind the scenes technical specifications for DirtiCoin.
A Simple Explanation of Blockchain
Blockchain technology is the foundation of all cryptocurrencies. Although there are different types of blockchains all of them build on the notion of a distributed ledger.
Ledger entries live on each computer (node) on the network. New transactions are added to the network and validated. Then, they synchronize across all the nodes in the network.
Your exchange of data on a blockchain is free from interference by intermediaries. It is immutable; it can’t be falsified. Lastly, it is transparent. Anyone on the blockchain can see your transaction.
Blockchains are typified as decentralized and secure from tampering. Unfortunately, many of them struggle with being scalable.
Behind the Scenes – Old School
If you had an account at the Medici Family Bank (Banco dei Medici) in 15th century Italy, you might deposit money with them in one branch and want to withdraw some from a branch in another city.
The Medici didn’t have computers to connect their bank branches with one another. They also didn’t have a central computer to store all their account holder information. Or rather, the central computer was a ledger.
They kept separate, written records in ledgers at each branch. Periodically the books for each branch were brought to “the home office” in Florence. Then, they were reconciled with the master ledger. The Medici saw exactly how much each account holder had. They calculated how much they were owed on their loans. Based on what the ledger indicated, gold and silver money moved to, or from, the central treasury in Florence.
Blockchain does all of that in a matter of moments. At the end of the transaction, every node on the network has a record of what was done.
Ethereum Mainnet
DirtiCoin is implemented on the Ethereum Mainnet. This is a public blockchain. Ethereum Mainnet is currently one of the world’s premiere blockchain implementations. Implementing on this blockchain provides several important benefits.
- Blockchain Security/Immutability – the resistance to tampering with individual transactions is world-class. It makes tampering with files held by national defense agencies look easy by comparison.
- Resiliency – When using a distributed ledger (blockchain) the more nodes in the network, the more resilient the blockchain. Ethereum Mainnet has thousands, perhaps millions, of nodes spread all over the world. If only one survived a disaster it could be used as an authoritative copy of the entire ledger.
- Cost – Creating a private blockchain requires a significant investment in computer hardware, communications, and programming. Additionally, you need facilities with air conditioning and a lot of electricity to house and power those computers. Using the public Ethereum Mainnet converts all those large expenses into a bucket that all Mainnet users help pay. Instead of the time and costs of building all the infrastructure, Mainnet users pay a small “gas fee” for each transaction. The gas fees pay for the all the infrastructure.
All DirtiCoin transactions show up on the Mainnet. However, most of the Company’s work will either be encrypted or on private blockchains. This protects the privacy of those involved in our funding partnerships.
Level 1
As of this writing, when DirtiCoin is being introduced the Ethereum Mainnet is only available as a Level 1, or “Proof of Work,” blockchain. The drawbacks to Level 1 are that it doesn’t scale well and transaction costs can be high at different times of the day. They vary depending upon the volume of transactions and the available transaction capacity.
Level 2
Level 2 is a “Proof of Stake” protocol. Ethereum has been working on plans to move the main chain from Level 1 to Level 2 for several years now. The Company plans to migrate to Level 2 Ethereum after the new protocol has been fully implemented and is stable.
The primary benefits of Level 2 are the lower transaction costs and the significantly higher scalability.
We could do, and have seen, whole series of articles on Level 1 and Level 2. This is enough for us here. If you want to dive deeper, any search engine can quickly put days worth of reading materials at your fingertips.
Behind the Scenes – ERC20 Protocol
DirtiCoin uses the ERC20 standard contract on the Ethereum main blockchain. It is a smart contract to create a fungible token. The ERC has the primary responsibility of tracking balances (Solorio, Kanna, & Hoover, 2020).
ERC20 stands for Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) and 20 is the identifier of a list of standardized blockchain rules and actions. Each ERC20 compliant contract is called a token.
Benefits of ERC20
- Easy creation and coding.
- Easily exchanged. Allows interchange with other Ethereum ERC20 tokens
- Easily stored. Any wallet that accepts any ERC20 token can accept all ERC20 compliant tokens.
- Accepts many payment gateways.
- Inherits the security features of the Ethereum Mainnet
- Inherits the accuracy of the Ethereum Mainnet
- Reduced complexity in exchanges
- Fungibility and liquidity
- Transparency
Behind the Scenes – Key Fields
Each DirtiCoin has several fields common to all ERC-20 as well as some specific for the implementation. The list below contains some, but not all fields.
totalSupply – this is the total amount of DirtiCoin in circulation
coincap – this is the total amount of DirtiCoin which can ever be minted
balance – this tracks the balance for the owner address associated with this instance
transfer – the address where balances will be transferred to, and the quantity being transferred.
Conclusions
The Company chose to implement DirtiCoin on the Ethereum Mainnet using an ERC20 token. We did this to provide maximum security against unauthorized changes to transactions. Your wealth deserves nation-state-level security.
Using the ERC20 token also drives down many costs. We avoid nibbling your wealth to death with a myriad of fees and costs.
You won’t need a specialized crypto wallet to store your DirtiCoin.
