MobileCoin

Last updated

MobileCoin
Denominations
CodeMOB
Development
White paper MobileCoin
Initial releaseDecember 6, 2020;4 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 sentz.com

MobileCoin, also known as Sentz, is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency developed by MobileCoin Inc., which was founded in 2017 by Josh Goldbard and Shane Glynn.

Contents

History

MobileCoin, was founded in 2017 by Joshua Goldbard and Shane Glynn. [3] Signal's Moxie Marlinspike and former DARPA researcher Todd Huffman assisted as an early technical advisors. [4] [5] [6] [7] 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. [8] [9]

In March 2021, MobileCoin raised $11.35 million in Series A funding from the venture firms General Catalyst and Steve Jurvetson's Future Ventures. [10] Jurvetson would at some point join the board of MobileCoin. [11] [12]

In August 2021, MobileCoin raised $66 million in Series B funding from investors including Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gaingels, and Marc Benioff. [4]

In December 2021, Bob Lee (businessman), former CTO of Square (now Block), joined MobileCoin as Chief Product Officer, having been an early investor and advisor to the company. [13] Lee's time at the company was cut short after he was murdered in 2023. [14]

In July 2022, the company was announced that disinformation researcher and former CIA fellow Renée DiResta would be joining the board of the MobileCoin foundation. [15] [16]

In January 2023, Todd Huffman joined MobileCoin as a director. [17]

Technology overview

MobileCoin claims to focus on transactional anonymity (fungibility), ease of use, transaction speed, low environmental impact and low fees. [18] 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. [19]

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. [20] [ 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. [20] [21] [ non-primary source needed ]

Payment and trading

In-app payments via Signal and Mixin Messenger support MobileCoin for peer-to-peer payments worldwide. [22] The cryptocurrency exchange BigONE currently lists MobileCoin for trading.

Criticisms & Controversies

Signal Integration

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. [23]

Affiliations with FTX

MobileCoin began it's affiliation with FTX in 2021 after FTX's sister company Alameda Research participated in MobileCoin's Series B investment round. [24]

In 2021, MobileCoin played a role in the financial collapse of FTX. A buyer on the FTX platform purchased a large amount of MobileCoin, artificially driving up the price, and then borrowed against it on FTX. The platform had to buy out the trader to protect itself, and survived thanks to a loan from sister company Alameda Research, resulting in a loss as great as $1 billion. [25]

In April 2022, MobileCoin cohosted a happy hour with FTX at Crypto Bahamas 2022. [26]

DAY v. BOYER

In 2017, a MobileCoin employee named Dustin Boyer offered to sell Pamela Day, an investor and former contestant of The Apprentice, [27] 97,165 Mobilecoin tokens for the cost of $97,165. Boyer did not invest her money as promised but instead kept it for himself, comingled it with his own funds, and refused to return her money. [28]

In 2019, Day filed a legal action against Boyer to have the funds returned which was resolved in Day's favor in 2020. [29]

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. ↑ "About MobileCoin". mobilecoin.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  4. 1 2 Loizos, Connie (August 18, 2021). "MobileCoin closes on $66 million in equity in Series B round". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ Newman, Lily Hay (December 15, 2017). "The Creator of Signal Has a Plan to Fix Cryptocurrency". Wired . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "MobileCoin Whitepaper" (PDF). MobileCoin. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  8. ↑ "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". TechCrunch. March 9, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  9. ↑ "New Privacy Coin, called MobileCoin, Launches Mainnet, Might have Ties to Chat App Signal". Crowdfund Insider. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  10. ↑ Kind, Lucy (March 12, 2021). "Announcing the MobileCoin Series A". MobileCoin.
  11. ↑ "MobileCoin Announces New CEO to Lead Company Into Next Phase of Its Global Development". GlobeNewswire News Room. September 13, 2023.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ "Former Square (now Block) CTO Bob Lee Joins Crypto Payments Company MobileCoin as Chief Product Officer". www.prnewswire.com. MobileCoin. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  14. ↑ Sinreich, Macy (February 8, 2025). "Tech titan's murder rocked Silicon Valley. For his loved ones, it was personal". NBC News. NBC News. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  15. ↑ Kind, Lucy. "Renée DiResta joins the MobileCoin Foundation Board". MobileCoin. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  16. ↑ Fortson, Danny (September 28, 2024). "Renee DiResta: how I was turned into a villain by the online mob". www.thetimes.com. The Times. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  17. ↑ "MobileCoin Inc". opencorporates.com. OpenCorporates.
  18. ↑ "MobileCoin's Mission". MobileCoin. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  19. ↑ "MobileCoin raises $66M for cryptocurrency payment platform". August 18, 2021.
  20. 1 2 MechanicsOfMobilecoin. "mobilecoinfoundation/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin" (PDF). github. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  21. ↑ "mobilecoinofficial". github. April 19, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  22. ↑ 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.
  23. ↑ "Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support". Schneier on Security. April 7, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  24. ↑ Loizos, Connie (August 18, 2021). "MobileCoin closes on $66 million in equity in Series B round". TechCrunch.
  25. ↑ Smith, Matt; Kupfer, Matthew (April 7, 2023). "What is MobileCoin, the Company Where Slain Tech Exec Bob Lee Worked?". The San Francisco Standard. The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  26. ↑ Boyer, Dustin. "MobileCoin Jazz Happy Hour @FTX / SALT". Luma. Luma. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Day v. Boyer, Case No. 2:19-cv-01669-ODW (RAOx) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  28. ↑ Boyer, Dustin. "Linkedin / Dustin Boyer". Linkedin. Linkedin. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Day v. Boyer, Case No. 2:19-cv-01669-ODW (RAOx) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
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