{"id":23927,"date":"2017-05-01T16:29:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T16:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe6e40112697"},"modified":"2017-05-01T16:29:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T16:29:13","slug":"how-blockstack-uses-bitcoin-base-their-decentralized-app-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/how-blockstack-uses-bitcoin-base-their-decentralized-app-ecosystem","title":{"rendered":"How Blockstack Uses Bitcoin as the Base for Their Decentralized App Ecosystem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blockstack<\/a> is a new ecosystem of decentralized applications (dapps), which allow users to store their own data locally and connect with one another in a direct, encrypted manner. On the latest episode of \u201cThe Bitcoin Game,\u201d<\/a> Blockstack Co-founder Ryan Shea explained how this new ecosystem of dapps works and why it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking a look at how the internet has become so consolidated,\u201d said Shea. \u201cWe\u2019re so reliant upon a very small set of companies, and there are so many external dependencies. We essentially are reliant upon Facebook, Google and Amazon just to use the internet. In a sense, they are the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the lords, and we are the serfs,\u201d Shea added.<\/p>\n

According to Shea, the original vision of the internet was much more decentralized than how it is structured today. Instead of everyone hosting their own servers, merchants sell their products on Amazon and individuals post their social updates to Facebook. According to some polls<\/a>, many Facebook users don\u2019t even realize they\u2019re using the internet.<\/p>\n

With so much internet traffic going through a few major portals, Shea said there are a number of concerns related to security, monopoly power and innovation that can arise. In his view, it is important for everyone to control their own safety and freedom on the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, each of us want to be able to control our own experiences, we want to know that we\u2019re safe and in control and free \u2014 whether it\u2019s on the internet or any aspect of our lives,\u201d said Shea.<\/p>\n

Blockstack\u2019s ecosystem of dapps is an attempt to redecentralize the internet<\/a> and bring it back to its roots.<\/p>\n

The Concept of Decentralized Applications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dapps built on top of Blockstack essentially put users in control of their own data and force them to take responsibility for their own security instead of outsourcing it to a third party.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Applications run] locally,\u201d said Shea. \u201cIf you do that, I do that, and we\u2019re friends with each other on this application, then I can send you a message and it will get sent directly to you and won\u2019t require any other third parties for the message to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blockstack uses a new domain name system (DNS) built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain as the basis for these dapps. The DNS allows users to attach information to identities stored on the blockchain. The decentralized DNS allows users to communicate and connect with one another in a direct, secure and encrypted manner.<\/p>\n

The heavy reliance on this new, decentralized DNS means users will need to be able to protect their own private keys. According to Shea, Blockstack is working on a variety of user-friendly key management solutions involving multifactor authentication and hardware wallets.<\/p>\n

In addition to storing data locally, Blockstack users can also back up their encrypted application data on any cloud storage provider, from traditional solutions like Dropbox<\/a> to new alternatives such as Storj<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Specifics Examples of Decentralized Applications<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Shea, developers are building a variety of applications on top of Blockstack right now, including a decentralized alternative to Twitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cA P2P social network can exist, and the key to that is allowing each user to control their experience on their own local device and then helping users connect to one another so they can discover each other\u2019s content,\u201d said Shea.<\/p>\n

Shea also had high praise for OpenBazaar<\/a>, which is a decentralized e-commerce platform that uses Blockstack\u2019s DNS for user names and bitcoin for payments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the future of commerce,\u201d Shea said of OpenBazaar.<\/p>\n

Shea is also of the belief that some method of indexing and parsing data on Blockstack\u2019s new, decentralized version of the internet will emerge, which would be similar to what Google has done on the traditional internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome decentralized network will grow to compete in some way with Google; that\u2019s my prediction,\u201d said Shea.<\/p>\n

Thoughts on Ethereum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Right now, the dapps that are gaining the most attention are the ones launching initial coin offerings (ICOs) on top of Ethereum<\/a> rather than building on top of Blockstack.<\/p>\n

Shea claimed he is \u201creally intrigued\u201d by Ethereum and thinks \u201cvery interesting things are being built on top of it,\u201d but he\u2019s also concerned with some of the issues they\u2019ll face over the long term. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about remote code execution,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about the general philosophy of putting a large amount of logic on the chain, but I think it\u2019s been a great platform where there\u2019s been a lot of prototyping going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast to most dapps built on Ethereum, Blockstack dapps only utilize a blockchain for the naming layer. \u201cEverything else is off the blockchain,\u201d said Shea.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlockstack is blockchain agnostic,\u201d Shea clarified. \u201cOur philosophy is to operate on as many blockchains as possible but, whenever we can, rely upon the most secure and stable blockchain platform. Right now, that\u2019s the Bitcoin blockchain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blockstack is a new ecosystem of decentralized applications (dapps), which allow users to store their own data locally and connect with one another in a direct, encrypted manner. On the latest episode of \u201cThe Bitcoin Game,\u201d Blockstack Co-founder Ryan Shea explained how this new ecosystem of dapps works and why it\u2019s important. \u201cWe\u2019re taking a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3445,"featured_media":23928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1473,3196,143,3482],"class_list":{"0":"post-23927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-apps","9":"tag-blockstack","10":"tag-decentralization","11":"tag-ltb"},"author_data":{"id":3445,"name":"Kyle Torpey","nicename":"kyle-torpey","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/kyle-torpey-promo-image-96x96.jpg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/how-blockstack-uses-bitcoin-as-the-base-for-their-decentralized-app-ecosystem.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3445"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}