Why Blockchain Timestamping Might Hit Critical Mass Before Cryptocurrencies

This Connection is Untrusted.

Your web browser has probably shown you that message, or a variation of it, at least a few times as you’ve poked around the internet. Usually, there’s also a brief description of the problem (which you probably skimmed over) and some dramatically worded options such as

Proceed anyway

or

Get me out of here!

Now imagine if your browser — or even other computer programs like your email client or multimedia player — started giving you similar warnings and options, like:

This program cannot establish the lineage of this digital file.

View it critically

or

Forget it!

Obviously, that scenario isn’t a reality yet. But we predict that blockchain technology will soon make it a common part of everyday digital life for practically everyone using a computer. And maybe even sooner than the “poster child” blockchain application — value transfer via cryptocurrencies.

That’s because interest in the benefits of blockchain authentication is both bottom-up and top-down, i.e. from grassroots crypto enthusiasts as well as major organizations in the private and public sectors. Here’s why:

Individuals interested in using cryptocurrencies are likely to be interested in blockchain authentication for similar reasons.

In other words, if you appreciate the key ideas behind cryptocurrencies — with the details of quickly executed transactions stored forever on a distributed ledger with no third-party oversight — then you’re likely to appreciate the key idea behind blockchain authentication.

In broad terms, that key idea involves using a unique cryptographic hash to take a “snapshot” of a given file at a given time. That hash is stored in the blockchain along with a specific record as to when and by whom it was done. In the future, anyone with the file can run the same process again and compare the resulting snapshot with the original one. Even small changes to the file will result in dramatic discrepancies.

This way, using a blockchain you would be able to “notarize” any digital files. You might do so, for example, to prove that you are the creator of a piece of intellectual property in case of future conflicts.

You can also use a blockchain this way to authenticate digital files that others have notarized. There are a lot of reasons that you would want to confirm the original source of a file, especially with the rise of so-called fake news. It is already possible to spoof video of anyone saying anything you want. Who knows what will be possible in five years.

Don’t forget that it would also be easier for you to have third parties to authenticate your documents. Consider, for example, a scenario in which your bank might need documentation from several different sources in order to finalize your mortgage paperwork. Instead of sending you on a “paper chase” to get stamps and signatures from your employer, the land registry, and the tax office, your banker might just authenticate all your digital files in a few seconds using a blockchain.

Obviously, you have a lot to look forward to in this kind of future. Fortunately, so do the large organizations that you interact with every day.

Blockchains are an optimal fit for the complex, multi-stakeholder information sharing challenges that large organizations face.

Think about the example of a mortgage documentation paper chase from the perspective of the bank.

You can’t really blame the bank for needing to get all their ducks in a row, so to speak. Fair deals are built on good information accessible to both sides. After all, if they weren’t requiring detailed information from you, it would probably mean that they were up to no good somehow.

Instead, you are unhappy about the inefficiency of the overall system. Just keep in mind that overarching challenge organizations face here — gathering the right facts and sharing them with the right people in compliance with all the necessary rules and regulations — are highly complex.

For example, they need to ensure that information is not only true but also stored properly so that other people in the organization can access it in a legally and ethically secure way. And that’s just for starters. There are countless stakeholders involved. That is especially true for businesses handling large volumes of data and even governments themselves — in particular when they are from different countries with different sets of rules.

In theory, the solution to all this internal and external “fact establishment complexity” involves common standards. Basically, that means that everyone agrees that certain agreed-upon standards are followed regarding some information, then we treat that information as a fact.

One public sector example would be the framework established by the Apostille Convention of 1961. Signatory governments will treat documents from other signatory governments as authentic according to certain conditions. These conditions usually involve getting a shiny seal and maybe a ribbon or two from a government office somewhere.

The obvious problem here is that just because standards exist doesn’t mean they can’t be followed by the wrong people, i.e. fraudsters, to convey false information or that rules may be bent around them.

Regulators are of course aware of this problem. For instance, European Union lawmakers require financial institutions to inform their clients of important changes on so-called durable media that cannot be backdated or otherwise altered after the fact.

To overcome these types of challenges, businesses and governments have been exploring and launching new technologies like e-apostilles and secure messaging. One of the most promising of these technologies involve blockchains, which are of course designed for standardized, immutable, and transparent information sharing. In other words, they are a perfect fit for sharing and authenticating information among large numbers of interested parties — exactly what large organizations need to do.

Ultimately, therefore:

Businesses and governments are likely to adopt blockchain timestamping and bring their clients and citizens along for the ride.

As of today, the overwhelming majority of popular attention in the crypto world goes to blockchain’s value transfer application, a.k.a. Cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, other blockchain applications, especially related to timestamping or data provenance, tend to receive the majority of attention from enterprise technologists.

That isn’t to say that launching a cryptocurrency — and encouraging people to use it — could never be part of a large organization’s innovative business plan or governance model. But we don’t see it happening anytime soon. More likely a cryptocurrency from a big business or government would be part of some dystopian disaster contingency plan, like the fictional E Corp ecoin or all-too-real Venezuelan petro.

In comparison, we already see businesses and governments around the world experimenting with and even adopting one form or another of blockchain timestamping. Some courts have even admitted blockchain stamped files as evidence.

In our opinion, that means that customers and citizens will soon be using blockchains to receive and send information — whether they know they are using a blockchain to do so or not. Today, not all of them realize they are using SSL encryption technology to log on to their banking interface, for example. Likewise, tomorrow they may not realize a blockchain is their secure messaging center is running on top of a blockchain.

And that’s why there’s a good chance that the first way your grandmother uses a blockchain will be to send or receive some sort of official information — not to pay for groceries.

In conclusion, even if you’re not such a crypto enthusiast, blockchain timestamping any important digital files has an extremely limited downside — a few seconds of time and minimal transaction costs with BlockStamp, for example — and significant potential upside as the technology catches on in coming years. And if you’re a diehard crypto enthusiast you probably don’t need an excuse to start playing around with timestamping and exploring its possibilities!

Either way, you can timestamp digital files with the BlockStamp blockchain with the desktop interface downloadable here.

About BlockStamp:

BlockStamp is a multipurpose Bitcoin blockchain fork developed by the BlockStamp Foundation, a not-for-profit organization. Designed to promote liberty, transparency, and sovereignty in areas of the digital economy where these fundamental values are most at risk, BlockStamp hosts a radically fair gambling platform, a digital tool for transparently sealing data, and a censorship-proof internet Domain Naming System.