Bitcoin Private

Last updated
Bitcoin Private
Bitcoin Private Logo.svg
Ticker symbol BTCP
Precision10−8
Development
Original author(s) Bitcoin Private Community

Jacob Brutman

Christopher Sulmone

Rhett Creighton
White paper btcprivate.org/whitepaper.pdf
Initial release1.0.10 / 6 March 2018(9 months ago) (2018-03-06)
Latest release 1.0.12-1 / 24 June 2018(6 months ago) (2018-06-24)
Code repository github.com/BTCPrivate/BitcoinPrivate
Development statusActive
Forked fromZclassic, Bitcoin
Written in C++, Qt
Website btcprivate.org
Ledger
Ledger start2 March 2018(9 months ago) (2018-03-02)
Timestamping scheme Proof-of-work
Hash function Equihash
IssuanceBlock reward
Block reward1.5625 BTCP, halving every 210,000 blocks or ~1 year [1] [2]
Block time2.5 minutes
Block explorer explorer.btcprivate.org
Supply limit21,000,000 BTCP

    Bitcoin Private (BTCP) is an open-source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency with the optional ability to keep the sender, receiver, and amount private in a given transaction. [1] [ non-primary source needed ] This is in contrast to many cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which have a fully transparent transaction history. [3] [ irrelevant citation ] [4] [ irrelevant citation ] [5] [ irrelevant citation ]

    Open-source software software licensed to ensure source code usage rights

    Open-source software (OSS) is a type of computer software in which source code is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner. Open-source software is a prominent example of open collaboration.

    Peer-to-peer type of decentralized and distributed network architecture

    Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application. They are said to form a peer-to-peer network of nodes.

    Cryptocurrency digital medium of exchange

    A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, control the creation of additional units, and verify the transfer of assets. Cryptocurrencies use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems.

    Contents

    Details

    Bitcoin Private gives users the option to generate either public or private addresses, redeemable for transactions to either address type. Private addresses work by using use Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (zk-SNARKs), as opposed to the older technique of ring signatures used in coins such as Monero. Evidence of ownership is provided without revealing which units are owned. This means that owners can redeem funds without any traceable history. [1] [ non-primary source needed ] [6] [ irrelevant citation ]

    Non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs are a variant of zero-knowledge proofs in which no interaction is necessary between prover and verifier. Blum, Feldman, and Micali showed that a common reference string shared between the prover and the verifier is enough to achieve computational zero-knowledge without requiring interaction. Goldreich and Oren gave impossibility results for one shot zero-knowledge protocols in the standard model. In 2003, Shafi Goldwasser and Yael Tauman Kalai published an instance of an identification scheme for which any hash function will yield an insecure digital signature scheme. These results are not contradictory, as the impossibility result of Goldreich and Oren does not hold in the common reference string model or the random oracle model. Non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs however show a separation between the cryptographic tasks that can be achieved in the standard model and those that can be achieved in 'more powerful' extended models.

    Monero (XMR) is an open-source cryptocurrency created in April 2014 that focuses on fungibility, privacy and decentralization. Monero uses an obfuscated public ledger, meaning anybody can broadcast or send transactions, but no outside observer can tell the source, amount or destination. Monero uses a Proof of Work mechanism to issue new coins and incentivize miners to secure the network and validate transactions.

    Bitcoin Private retained Zclassic's Equihash algorithm. [7] [ non-primary source needed ] Equihash is a memory-intensive proof of work mechanism, making it ASIC-resistant. This reduces centralization by incentivizing mining with accessible hardware. Bitcoin Gold also borrowed Equihash from Zcash. [8] [ irrelevant citation ] [9] [ irrelevant citation ] Despite this, a study in May 2018 found that 30% of total hashes were coming from ASICs. [10] [ irrelevant citation ]

    Equihash is a memory-hard Proof-of-Work introduced by the University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the 2016 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium. The algorithm is based on a generalization of the Birthday problem which finds colliding hash values. It has severe time-space trade-offs but concedes vulnerability to unforeseen parallel optimizations. It was designed such that parallel implementations are bottle-necked by memory bandwidth in an attempt to worsen the cost-performance trade-offs of designing custom ASIC implementations. ASIC resistance in Equihash is based on the assumption that commercially-sold hardware already has quite high memory bandwidth, so improvements made by custom hardware may not be worth the development cost.

    Application-specific integrated circuit Integrated circuit customized (typically optimized) for a specific task

    An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit (IC) customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use. For example, a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficiency bitcoin miner is an ASIC. Application-specific standard products (ASSPs) are intermediate between ASICs and industry standard integrated circuits like the 7400 series or the 4000 series.

    Zcash cryptocurrency

    Zcash is a cryptocurrency aimed at using cryptography to provide enhanced privacy for its users compared to other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

    History

    Jacob Brutman in February 2018 Jacob Brutman.jpg
    Jacob Brutman in February 2018

    Bitcoin Private is a merge fork of Bitcoin and Zclassic. [11] [12] [13] Zclassic is a fork of Zcash, an implementation of the Zerocash whitepaper. Zclassic was released in November 2016, [14] [ non-primary source needed ][ irrelevant citation ] by blockchain developer Rhett Creighton. Creighton used the same code as Zcash, with a lack of a founders fee required to mine a valid block. [6] [ non-primary source needed ][ irrelevant citation ] [15] [ non-primary source needed ][ irrelevant citation ] This promotes a fair distribution, preventing centralized coin ownership and control. In December 2017, Creighton announced that he would be restarting Zclassic development after months of inactivity. [16] The Zclassic team announced interest in creating a private Bitcoin fork days later. [17] [ non-primary source needed ] Bitcoin Private's fork snapshot occurred on 28 February 2018, and the mainnet was launched 3 days later. It was subject to a 51 percent attack on 13 October 2018. [18] [ non-primary source needed ]

    Bitcoin (₿) is a cryptocurrency, a form of electronic cash. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.

    Blockchain distributed data store for digital transactions

    A blockchain, originally block chain, is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data.

    See also

    References

    1. 1 2 3 "Bitcoin Private Whitepaper" (PDF). btcprivate.org. February 2018.
    2. ↑ "Bitcoin Private on Twitter". twitter.com. 1 March 2018.
    3. ↑ "Bitcoin Transactions Aren't as Anonymous as Everyone Hoped". technologyreview.com. August 23, 2017.
    4. ↑ "Protect your privacy". bitcoin.org. Sep 27, 2013.
    5. ↑ Conti, Mauro; E, Sandeep Kumar; Lal, Chhagan; Ruj, Sushmita (July 3, 2017). "A Survey on Security and Privacy Issues of Bitcoin". arXiv: 1706.00916 .
    6. 1 2 "Zcash Protocol Specification" (PDF). October 4, 2016.
    7. ↑ "BTCPrivate/BitcoinPrivate". github.com.
    8. ↑ Aaron van Wirdum (Oct 11, 2017). "Bitcoin Gold Is About to Trial an ASIC-Resistant Bitcoin Fork". BitcoinMagazine.
    9. ↑ Kariuki, David (December 14, 2017). "Benefits of Equihash Algorithm".
    10. ↑ "Study Reveals ASIC Miners Represent 30% of the Equihash Mining Hashrate - Bitcoin News". Bitcoin News. 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
    11. ↑ Kharif, Olga (January 23, 2018). "Bitcoin May Split 50 Times in 2018 as Forking Craze Mounts". Bloomberg.
    12. ↑ "Here's what happens when bitcoin just keeps forking". CNBC. March 8, 2018.
    13. ↑ Shen, Lucinda (February 22, 2018). "These Cryptocurrencies May Beat Bitcoin in the Coming Months". fortune.
    14. ↑ "Release 1.0.3 · z-classic/zclassic".
    15. ↑ "About Zclassic". zclassic.org.
    16. ↑ "Rhett Creighton on Twitter". twitter.com. December 8, 2017.
    17. ↑ "Rhett Creighton on Twitter". December 14, 2017.
    18. ↑ "Hacker Livestreams 51% Attack on Bitcoin Private".
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