MobileCoin

Last updated

MobileCoin
Denominations
CodeMOB
Development
White paper MobileCoin
Initial releaseDecember 6, 2020;3 years ago (2020-12-06)
Code repository https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation, https://github.com/mobilecoinofficial
Development statusActive
Written in Rust
Developer(s) Sara Drakeley H. (CTO), Henry Holtzman (CIO), part of a team of ~50 engineers
Source model FOSS
License GPLv3 [1]
Ledger
Circulating supply250,000,000 [2]
Website
Website https://www.mobilecoin.com/

MobileCoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency developed by MobileCoin Inc., which was founded in 2017 by Josh Goldbard and Shane Glynn. [3]

Contents

Technology overview

MobileCoin claims to focus on transactional anonymity (fungibility), ease of use, transaction speed, low environmental impact and low fees. [4] MobileCoin's mechanics build on Stellar (for consensus) and Monero (for privacy), using CryptoNote alongside zero-knowledge proofs to hide details of users' transactions. [2]

The MobileCoin company claims the cryptocurrency can facilitate decentralized payments for everyday transactions more quickly than most other cryptocurrencies. [5]

MobileCoin is a one dimensional cryptocurrency blockchain. Blocks use a consensus protocol originally developed for the Stellar payment network. Transactions are validated in SGX secure enclaves and are based on elliptic-curve cryptography. Transaction inputs are shown to exist in the blockchain with Merkle proofs of membership and are signed with Schnorr-style multilayered linkable ring signature, and output amounts (communicated to recipients via ECDH) are concealed with Pedersen commitments and proven in a legitimate range with non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs. [6] [ non-primary source needed ]

Much of MobileCoin's technology comes from previous privacy focused cryptocurrencies like Monero and has been re-written in Rust for MobileCoin. [6] [7] [ non-primary source needed ]

History

MobileCoin Inc., the entity behind MobileCoin, was founded in 2017 by Joshua Goldbard and Shane Glynn. [3] Signal's Moxie Marlinspike assisted as an early technical advisor. [8] [9] [10] The coin is intended to be an accessible form of cryptocurrency with a focus on fast transactions. In May 2018, MobileCoin secured $29.7 million in a funding round led by Binance Labs, in exchange for 37.5 million tokens. [11] [12] The foundation raised $11.35 million in venture funding in March 2021 [13] and $66 million in Series B funding in August 2021. Investors include Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gaingels, and Marc Benioff. [8]

Payment and trading

In-app payments via Signal and Mixin Messenger support MobileCoin for peer-to-peer payments worldwide. [14] The cryptocurrency exchange BigONE currently lists MobileCoin for trading.

Criticism

The integration of MobileCoin wallets into the popular security focused messenger app Signal received criticism. Security expert Bruce Schneier, who previously praised the app, stated that this would bloat the app and attract unwanted attention from the financial authorities. [15]

Related Research Articles

A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online. A number of micropayment systems were proposed and developed in the mid-to-late 1990s, all of which were ultimately unsuccessful. A second generation of micropayment systems emerged in the 2010s.

This is a comparison of voice over IP (VoIP) software used to conduct telephone-like voice conversations across Internet Protocol (IP) based networks. For residential markets, voice over IP phone service is often cheaper than traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN) service and can remove geographic restrictions to telephone numbers, e.g., have a PSTN phone number in a New York area code ring in Tokyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moxie Marlinspike</span> American entrepreneur

Matthew Rosenfeld, better known by the pseudonym Moxie Marlinspike, is an American entrepreneur, cryptographer, and computer security researcher. Marlinspike is the creator of Signal, co-founder of the Signal Technology Foundation, and served as the first CEO of Signal Messenger LLC. He is also a co-author of the Signal Protocol encryption used by Signal, WhatsApp, Google Messages, Facebook Messenger, and Skype.

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Whisper Systems was an American enterprise mobile security company that was co-founded by security researcher Moxie Marlinspike and roboticist Stuart Anderson in 2010. The company was acquired by Twitter in November 2011. Some of the company's software products were released under open-source licenses after the acquisition. An independent group called Open Whisper Systems later picked up the development of this open-source software, which led to the creation of the Signal Technology Foundation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Whisper Systems</span> Open source software organization

Open Whisper Systems was a software development group that was founded by Moxie Marlinspike in 2013. The group picked up the open source development of TextSecure and RedPhone, and was later responsible for starting the development of the Signal Protocol and the Signal messaging app. In 2018, Signal Messenger was incorporated as an LLC by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton and then rolled under the independent 501c3 non-profit Signal Technology Foundation. Today, the Signal app is developed by Signal Messenger LLC, which is funded by the Signal Technology Foundation.

Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company that now manages stablecoin USDC, a cryptocurrency the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. It was founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. USDC, the second largest stablecoin worldwide, is designed to hold at or near a stable price of $1. The majority of its stablecoin collateral is held in short-term U.S. government securities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hike Messenger</span> Instant messaging app

Hike Messenger, aka Hike Sticker Chat, was a multifunctional Indian adware application offering instant messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) services that was launched on December 11, 2012, by Kavin Bharti Mittal. Hike functioned through SMS. The app registration used a standard, one-time password (OTP) based authentication process.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal (software)</span> Privacy-focused encrypted messaging app

Signal is an open-source, encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls. The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users or may involve group messaging.

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Venmo is an American mobile payment service founded in 2009 and owned by PayPal since 2013. Venmo is aimed at users who wish to split their bills. Account holders can transfer funds to others via a mobile phone app; both the sender and receiver must live in the United States. Venmo also operates as a small social network, as users can observe other users' public transactions with posts and emoticons. In 2021, the company handled $230 billion in transactions and generated $850 million in revenue. Users can view transactions on the Venmo website but cannot complete transactions on the website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Ratchet Algorithm</span> Cryptographic key management algorithm

In cryptography, the Double Ratchet Algorithm is a key management algorithm that was developed by Trevor Perrin and Moxie Marlinspike in 2013. It can be used as part of a cryptographic protocol to provide end-to-end encryption for instant messaging. After an initial key exchange it manages the ongoing renewal and maintenance of short-lived session keys. It combines a cryptographic so-called "ratchet" based on the Diffie–Hellman key exchange (DH) and a ratchet based on a key derivation function (KDF), such as a hash function, and is therefore called a double ratchet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal Protocol</span> Non-federated cryptographic protocol

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zcash</span> Cryptocurrency aimed at privacy

Zcash is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency which is based on Bitcoin's codebase. It shares many similarities, such as a fixed total supply of 21 million units.

The Signal Technology Foundation, commonly known as the Signal Foundation, is an American non-profit organization founded in 2018 by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton. Its mission is to "protect free expression and enable secure global communication through open source privacy technology." Its subsidiary, Signal Messenger LLC, is responsible for the development of the Signal messaging app and the Signal Protocol.

A blockchain is a shared database that records transactions between two parties in an immutable ledger. Blockchain documents and confirms pseudonymous ownership of all transactions in a verifiable and sustainable way. After a transaction is validated and cryptographically verified by other participants or nodes in the network, it is made into a "block" on the blockchain. A block contains information about the time the transaction occurred, previous transactions, and details about the transaction. Once recorded as a block, transactions are ordered chronologically and cannot be altered. This technology rose to popularity after the creation of Bitcoin, the first application of blockchain technology, which has since catalyzed other cryptocurrencies and applications.

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References

  1. ↑ "MobileCoin". October 7, 2021 – via GitHub.
  2. 1 2 Greenberg, Andy (April 6, 2021). "Signal Adds a Payments Feature—With a Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency". Wired . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  3. 1 2 "About MobileCoin". mobilecoin.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ "MobileCoin's Mission". MobileCoin. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  5. ↑ "MobileCoin raises $66M for cryptocurrency payment platform". August 18, 2021.
  6. 1 2 MechanicsOfMobilecoin. "mobilecoinfoundation/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin" (PDF). github. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  7. ↑ "mobilecoinofficial". github. April 19, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Loizos, Connie (August 18, 2021). "MobileCoin closes on $66 million in equity in Series B round". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  9. ↑ Newman, Lily Hay (December 15, 2017). "The Creator of Signal Has a Plan to Fix Cryptocurrency". Wired . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  10. ↑ Goldbard, Joshua (April 8, 2021). "Comment". Reddit. Retrieved December 16, 2021. Moxie is not and has never been an employee, he's not an officer, he's not on the board of directors, he isn't a person who has worked day to day on the project, he gave us advice, which we are very thankful for because it was helpful to figure out what to build, but Moxie didn't write a single line of code in MobileCoin.
  11. ↑ "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". TechCrunch. March 9, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ "New Privacy Coin, called MobileCoin, Launches Mainnet, Might have Ties to Chat App Signal". Crowdfund Insider. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  13. ↑ Loizos, Connie (March 10, 2021). "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". TechCrunch . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  14. ↑ Mixin [@Mixin_Network] (January 18, 2021). "Mixin Network supports the 33rd public chain @mobilecoin, $MOB, that focuses on Building Secure Payment Systems for Mobile. We'r the 1st project connected the its Layer2 network, and also contribute codes for Node in Golang. Deposit & withdrawal are available on @MixinMessenger" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021– via Twitter.
  15. ↑ "Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support". Schneier on Security. April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
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