What is Communal Validation and why does it matter?
An introduction to the operation of a system that applies this validation technique and a look at how it could potentially remodel the current evaluation and regulatory mechanisms of modern society.
Many people question:
Why is Bitcoin and other blockchain technology in general so valuable?
If you were to ask someone who is unfamiliar with the technical side of crypto currencies and blockchain, they will likely tell you that they are purely speculative assets that have no “real” or “intrinsic” value. Of course, these people are generally arriving at this conclusion because they don’t fully understand the technology. The problem with the perception of crypto currencies and blockchain technology stems from the fact that the mass media has pushed a negative narrative regarding the topic due to:
A. Lack of technical details regarding blockchain’s functionality.
B. Content that almost solely consists of price oriented discussion.
C. Sensationalisation of ‘negative news’ to induce doubt and fear.
To answer the aforementioned question about bitcoins value:
“Distributed Consensus’. These two words define what blockchain is as a whole.
These words elaborate into blockchain’s ‘protocol of verification’, usually referred to as ‘mining’ or perhaps more technically referred to as a ‘consensus algorithm’. The most highly regarded but original method of this is present in Bitcoin and was denoted as Proof of Work (POW). This requires a network of nodes, all of which share a common connection to a source or initial reference point, in this case it is Block 1 of the chain usually technically referred to as the Genesis Block. After this starting point, a SHA-256 cryptographic hashing chain function initiates. This is the basis for POW’s computational puzzles and reward difficulty implementation. This is usually expressed as the base digital currency of the consisting chain. As time moves forward the rewards become less, and more competition arises. These puzzles are fundamentally defined as a computational calculation related to the nonce of a block hash. Miner’s use their computers hardware and power consumption to attempt to solve the puzzle as fast as possible and win the block reward. This system works extremely well since the answer to the puzzles are difficult to determine but easy to verify. If a miner proposes a false value, it will be rejected from the network. As it could only be confirmed if 51% or more of all nodes agree on the provided result.
The important key here is that miners propose a result. The network: a community of independent nodes; then validate whether it is correct or incorrect. If correct, this data will be logged within the block and become immutable due to the basis that an entire network has simultaneously reached a consensus on the underlying result.
Communal Validation is defined as a form of peer production that is based on equipotential participation i.e. the a priori self-selection of participants, and the communal vetting of the quality of their work in the process of production itself
‘Proof of concepts’ are a form of communal validation, as each result produced from each peer is immediately verified with other nodes to confirm if it is indeed true. This is one of the main reasons why blockchain technology has so much potential. Most systems of society currently function on the basis of a centralised source, which can lead to bias data representation or even data manipulation through corruption. The integrity of digital information should be pure, only to be solidified if it is authenticated through a form of peer confirmation. With technology’s evolution steadily continuing, it is imminent that society incorporates methods of consensus or Communal Validation to digital information before it can be trusted.
With the attributes of decentralisation in blockchain comes one fatal flaw from a financial aspect. These digital currencies are unregulated. Regulation is usually dictated through a central source. Since there is a lack of regulation, many frauds or scams have taken place and it can be difficult to interpret what is safe and what is not. The problem with these cyber-criminals is that they will continue to repeat these amoral ventures, especially if they can steal without being identified.
Blockchain need’s a solution to the countless acts of deceit and trickery conducted within the space. It was recently revealed that 81% of all ICO’s (Initial Coin Offerings) during the year of 2017 were scams.
So what’s the proposition? It’s an application of Communal Validation. Validity (VLDY) is a community-driven project that aims to bring a sense of regulation to crypto-currencies. Validity’s infrastructure will be used to evaluate and authenticate crypto currency projects through delegation and a peer analysis orchestrated by our team. VLDY tokens will act as an essential aspect of the infrastructure’s operation, as tokens are used to act as votes in delegation events. All of these events are compiled and executed through Solidity, which brings with it the essential functionality of Smart Contracts. Some events of which will:
A. Elect analysis proposals for validations
B. Express negative neutral or positive perspectives
C. Determine the integrity of analyses via peer review
After a participant completes all three of stages of the validation phases by utilising their tokens, they will be rewarded for their time through with compensation in VLDY tokens. The payout amount is computed via their voting weight and their viability rank. The reward system is planned to bare a difficulty implementation for incrementing payouts to decrease exponentially. Validity will redefine the traditional approaches towards voting but also evaluation, into a process that is decentralised, unbiased and rewarding.
Website: https://vldy.org
Telegram: https://t.me/ValidityCrypto
Discord: https://discord.gg/YQZrzbW
Twitter:https://twitter.com/ValidityCrypto
GitHub: https://github.com/ValidityCrypto
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ValidityCrypto
References:
[1]: Communal Validation Reference: http://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Communal_Validation
[2]: ICO 2017 Statistics: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/cryptocurrency/81-percent-of-recent-icos-were-scams-research-finds/
