We built a secure decentralized ID system. We’re sophomores.
Neither of us have participated in a hackathon before.
Dakota Baber and I, entered an online hackathon, hosted by the College Crypto Network, spanning the month of November. The typical hackathon construction, a 48 hour programming binge, is not our style as we both prefer larger project development timelines to create a more rounded prototype. Thus, we were excited to try out a month long online hackathon.
We are both computer science students at the Rochester Institute of Technology and have the benefit of being roommates, meaning our house has become a working office during this event. This event has led up to massively reorganize our house to boost productivity in any future endeavor.
Both Dakota and I are proud to announce CryptID, a decentralized platform that hopes to bring identification systems like school IDs and driver’s licenses into the twenty first century. By using private keys and a 3 factor authentication system, we can prevent any possibility of counterfeits or fake IDs. Instead of renting large, dedicated servers and hiring security personnel to protect databases, we can place any member registry on the blockchain, creating an unhackable system with 100% uptime for less than 5 cents per issued ID. These blockchain-issued IDs can be stored in anything with at least 33–44 bytes of storage, like a QR code or magnetic stripe.
CryptIDs can be verified on our website (www.cryptid.xyz) — simply scan an ID on your phone and enter your password. While we aren’t currently registering IDs directly through our website, we can implement that for any client or organization who wishes to register their members. Schools, businesses, or governments could use CryptID, using it to secure student IDs, standardized test scores, employee IDs, driver’s licenses, or even social security numbers.
Our hackathon experience
Online hackathons come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Large projects take a lot of planning, and it’s easy to get discouraged throughout the process. Dakota (my teammate) and I spent a weekend converting a C# library into Java, which wasn’t even used in our final release. By breaking up your project into smaller chunks, you can create more short term goals, move quicker, and even release modules individually — we created a Factom API package in C# which was separated into a separate dll for anyone to use with C#’s package manager, NuGet.
Also, don’t underestimate the value of having a design team. While you might have the best developer who can build the entire project, a designer can help explain your project to the public quickly, easily, and concisely. Since we had longer to build, we were held to a higher design standard — we built a custom website, which could be viewed consistently across all platforms.
I’ve never experienced a hackathon like the the Borderless Block Party. While most consist of empty cans of RedBull, sleep-deprivation, and a shocking lack of deodorant, the BBP allowed us to dig deep into our idea and build something viable. And with the wealth of resources that the College Cryptocurrency Network (like access to a core developer of Factom to answer our questions), we were able to bring our idea to reality.
In addition, the BBP also pushed us to develop our marketing materials. While it’s easy to focus on building product, it was refreshing and valuable to begin promoting our hack. And by including milestones throughout the competition, we were able to get real-time feedback from judges about our branding, design, and hack. The BBP Slack and GitLab channel helped us to communicate efficiently with everyone involved across time zones too.
However, some things did fall short of spectacular. Compared to larger hackathons like HackMIT or PennApps, the prizes were small relative to the amount of time we spent hacking (as a runner up, we received a bluetooth speaker). However, they more than made up for it with milestone prizes, access to toolkits (like Factom, BitGo, and Coinalytics) throughout the hackathon, and valuable connections in the industry. All in all, I’m excited to see what they cook up next!
