IoT Chain Interview with Altcoin Investing Group

IoT Chain’s CEO Xie Zhuopeng was recently interviewed by the team at Altcoin Investing Group (a popular Facebook cryptocurrency community). The following is the transcript from their conversation.

Today we will be talking with IoT Chain. For those who do not know, IoT is an acronym for the Internet of Things. IoT Chain aims to create a platform with impenetrable security that gives control of data back to the rightful owners. With unparalleled stability and data transfer speeds, they aim to also promote the development of AI through user data. Let’s talk with Xie Zhuopeng, CEO of IoT Chain!

Interviewer: Thank you for putting some time aside for this interview. Could you tell us where you are from, what were you doing prior to being involved in cryptocurrency, and what led you to start IoT Chain?

Thank you, I am happy to share information about IoT Chain. Most of our team members including myself are from China and have studied smart hardware and blockchain technology for several years. Previous to starting IoT Chain, I helped design and build smart lighting architecture for companies both at home and abroad. While developing an earlier IoT operating system, we found that adding additional devices to the network caused more and more problems including security vulnerabilities, issues with user data, and high centralized infrastructure costs. We realized that blockchain technology could help resolve these safety and performance issues and that is how IoT Chain (ITC) was born.

Interviewer: How did you manage to put together an extensive team of experts? Starting a new project and getting the right people behind it is a challenging task.

Our original team members have backgrounds in IoT. Due to our co-founder’s excellent relationships, we were also able to recruit senior employees from BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, three companies that dominate China’s tech industry). It is interesting really, as we have grown, the best talent has naturally gravitated towards our project. They share our vision for the Internet of Things and this made recruitment very simple.

Interviewer: Pretend you just met me at the airport terminal and we are both waiting to board the same flight. We start small talk about cryptocurrency and I mention that I am looking to expand my portfolio but I am not very technical. How would you explain your project to me?

It is easy to explain to someone why IoT is the future. There are issues with security and scalability of traditional solutions, and IoT Chain’s safe, lite OS driven by the blockchain solves those issues. Our network will make the interconnection of all things possible. Another important aspect to our project is data sovereignty. By using IoT devices on our network, users can benefit from the sale of the data generated. This is why ITC is valuable, now and in to the future.

Interviewer: IoT Chain implements PBFT, DAG, SPV, and CPS concepts. Could you give one to two sentences describing what they are?

IoT Chain (ITC) pioneered to combination of two DLT technologies — PBFT consensus and DAG, which ensure higher security, decentralization and enhanced performance. It is difficult to explain the architecture in a few sentences. To learn more, I recommend reading our yellow paper.

Interviewer: IoT Chain is planning a solution for decentralized data storage with reduced costs. It consists of multiple nodes that do not require constant monitoring and maintenance. Could you discuss how feasible this plan is and if you have tested it already?

Actually, we do not want to be a general purpose distributed storage provider. We are using blockchain technology to protect key information and data assets on-chain. Sensitive data will be protected by cryptography algorithms and consensus mechanisms.

Interviewer: The ITC network will allow people to maintain control of their data instead of handing it over to corporations without explicit permission. How will individuals have access to their secured, private data and how will they be able to choose to share it? Is there a platform to control this?

Currently, when we interact with corporations, they often store our personal data such as name, date of birth, address and credit card details. There is no universal platform that allows us to control how this data is shared and stored. IoT Chain has the ability to split and abstract user and personal data. Individuals will be able to maintain control of their data and decide how to share it. If they choose to share it, it can be abstracted to hide personal details.

Interviewer: Part of IoT Chain’s business solution is separating personal data from user data and allowing users to monetize it. Corporations can ask for access to user data and the users are rewarded accordingly. Are there limits to how much a corporation can pay for this data? Why can’t they just go to IoT Chain for the data without the user knowing?

Data is the oil of the digital economy and this data is responsible for the prosperity of the Internet. It is used in countless ways to help drive better business decisions. Users should be rewarded for the data they generate that is consumed by corporations. As such, data generated on the ITC network belongs to the IoT device user and if corporations wish to access this data, they need to acquire permission and reward the user accordingly. This ownership is tokenized on the network which is public, ensuring an open and transparent data marketplace.

Interviewer: Wrapping up here, where do you see IoT Chain in five years and how do you plan on getting there?

IoT Chain is a public chain. In the future, ITC would be applied to many industries including AI, renewable energy, sharing economies, smart hardware and more. When IoT device manufacturers connect their devices to the ITC network, they can quickly realize smart and secure connectivity to other users and other devices.

Our team is working on further enhancements including scaling performance from the current 1,000 TPS to 100,000 TPS by the main net release. Other public DAG networks are not decentralized enough. Our unique use of PBFT consensus and DAG allows us to build a truly decentralized and secure network.

Interviewer: Are there any final words you would like to leave the Altcoin Community with?

I encourage you to join our official Telegram or follow our official channels for updates on our project:
Twitter: @IoT_Chain
Facebook: @IoTChain
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/iotchain

Thank you very much!