CYBERMILES: CHANGING E-COMMERCE
With the advent of blockchain, a number of developers came up with decentralized applications focused on making more systems free from the setbacks that centralized systems experience. Blockchain in itself is not free from flaws. Developers who took up blockchain sometimes underestimated the setbacks that can be caused by the flaws in blockchain. Serious problem solvers are hard to find especially with mushrooming ICOs in the internet. It takes in depth research to discover the extent at which these developers are willing to go to complete deliver stable, problem solving systems. Investment in these ICOs have to be done cautiously. The world is an unfair place and people have been taken advantage of by scammers on the internet.
A serious firm that is focused on using blockchain as a problem solver is CyberMiles. This was not just a random idea that some upcoming developers concocted in some café as it is with some of the blockchain based companies. CyberMiles was strategically developed and is in its fourth year of development. CyberMiles was born out of the parent company, 5miles. 5miles is a shopping application that is successfully serving more than 12 million US citizens and conducting transactions worth over 3 billion US dollars annually. It is among the top 10 shopping apps preferred by US citizens. Though it is still a long way away from dethroning other marketplace applications such as Amazon and E-bay, 5miles will be a strong contender through its CyberMiles project. 5miles saw the potential of blockchain in online marketplaces and e-commerce which prompted their team to start developing a blockchain that is solely focused on solving e-commerce and online marketplace solutions.
CyberMiles is more than just another blockchain application. It is the blockchain solution that will disrupt the e-commerce space. If executed perfectly, even established platforms like E-bay will find reasons to partner with CyberMiles. CyberMiles is being developed as a blockchain protocol just like Ethereum. However, having oriented itself in the e-commerce space, CyberMiles will serve online marketplaces better than any other company based on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum still offers okay services, but it is not specialized as CyberMiles is. This specialization strategy taken up by the CyberMiles development team is the future of blockchain application. Generalized platform may not always upgrade to serve upcoming niche markets, that is why blockchain protocols, such as the one CyberMiles is building, are needed.
There are a host of problems facing blockchain protocols such as Ethereum mainly based on the transfer speeds that transactions are processed. Ethereum processes about 15 transactions per second which seems like a good speed but if you consider that they are transacting millions daily, then it is likely to cause delays in transactions. The same is being experienced by Bitcoin which processes even fewer transactions per second and with their ‘proof of work’ system, it may take a longer time to optimize their blockchain. Having seen these problems, CyberMiles knew that operating an e-commerce blockchain will be cumbersome with the currently available blockchain protocols. It therefore needed to design its own protocol that could facilitate the large number of transactions that usually take place per day in online marketplaces.
In line with this, the CyberMiles’ technical team came up with solutions to these transactional problems. The main reason why blockchain is slow is the need for processing of data through all nodes in the blockchain, this will definitely take time. With CyberMiles however, they will use middleware to lessen the time taken for each transaction to be processed. They will also use their own smart contract called the ‘smart business contract’ which is a more developed and efficient version of the smart contracts developed by Ethereum.
The CyberMiles smart business contracts works better compared to Ethereum’s smart contract in this way. For Ethereum’s smart contract, each transaction requires a different smart contract that has to be constructed form the ground up. For CyberMiles, their smart contracts are specifically designed to handle the traffic present in e-commerce. They will be constructed from already existing smart contracts that were used in facilitating similar transactions. A Library of similar smart contracts will be available which will help developers have an easier time while making their smart business contracts. This, together with the middleware employed by CyberMiles, is set to lessen the hassle during transactions on the CyberMiles blockchain protocol.
The smart business contracts by CyberMiles will also be vital in making the CyberMiles protocol adaptable. Smart contracts only function in the blockchain where they are created. They cannot be used in different blockchains. CyberMiles created their smart business contracts to serve in different blockchains as long as they are based on the CyberMiles blockchain. In accordance with CyberMiles plan for expansion, their smart business contracts enable them to host a number of e-commerce platforms on their blockchain protocol with data being transferrable between these platforms.
Together with this, CyberMiles will also offer a different algorithm for its consensus system. As mentioned earlier, most blockchain applications use a ‘proof of work’ system for their nodes. This makes processing data delay as each node has to participate. CyberMiles is using a different system known as ‘dedicated proof of stake’ which makes transactions faster. The CyberMiles consensus system allows you to stake your coins through your wallet to facilitate transactions. For each transaction made possible by your stake, you will receive payment that is a percentage of the transaction facilitated. This consensus system will also be the basis for a community-based platform.
5miles will be the first marketplace that will experience the services that will be offered by CyberMiles. According to their roadmap, 5miles will start operating on the CyberMiles platform before the CyberMiles platform is fully launched. They will also serve as the best testing grounds for CyberMiles. Their number of users and transactions conducted daily will help CyberMiles with data needed to provide a robust platform. 5miles users will also be the first to experience the unique products offered by CyberMiles.
The CyberMiles platform will be great for both sellers and buyers especially with its consensus system. Normally, buyers or sellers would have their account blacklisted or blocked in e-commerce platforms when certain issues arise. With CyberMiles, this will never be the case. Part of the CyberMiles community will be involved in solving such disputes. They will asses the situation and a verdict will be given based on a majority vote hence making the CyberMiles system democratic. This will also save buyers and savers the reputation they will have built on these platforms from going down the drains without a fair hearing. Conflict mediation between two parties will also be offered by CyberMiles through its community members. The conflicting parties will select their agreed mediator who will pass judgement regarding the matter at hand. These services offered by the community will not be done freely. The CyberMiles tokens will come in play in such scenarios. The tokens, CMT, will be used for payment of such services. This is meant to incentivize community members to take part in the community-based running of the platform.
Another great possibility of the CyberMiles platform for their users is the chance to get paid for viewing ads. The marketplaces that CyberMiles aspires to host will definitely have a huge membership which will make it suitable for advertising. To make the advertising more pleasant for both parties, users will be incentivized to view these ads. The possibility of advertisers finding their target market is made greater through this. Users may find attractive ads that influence them to purchase certain products. It will also help advertisers reach their targeted market reach as more people will want to view ads that pay. The mode of payment will also be through CMT.
The CyberMiles structure will also allow it to run all day, every day. This is first supported by incentivizing CyberMiles members to frequently perform validating function in CyberMiles. This ensures that at all times, there are data validators on the platform. Secondly, CyberMiles will employ the Tendermint project which ensures that their network can support up to a third of node failures in the CyberMiles platform. Such failures in any blockchain based application or a centralized network would lead to massive delays or a complete collapse of the system.
These are just some of the features that will be available for 5miles. For CyberMiles, it plans to go beyond this scope. CyberMiles wants to accommodate more e-commerce platform in its blockchain protocol. It plans to have a decentralized identity management platform that will make it easier for cross platform shopping. Users can use their digital identity in all participating e-commerce applications in CyberMiles. This program will make it safer for shoppers as they will select who can view their data when transacting. Some companies are known to store user information whenever they use the platform. The problems of data breaches and user data safety can then be solved by this system. CyberMiles may also grow into providing supply chain solutions for e-commerce by limiting transactions and making the whole supply chain shorter and much faster. The community-based approach that will be available in CyberMiles may also prove important in solving the issue of counterfeit goods in the CyberMiles platform.
CyberMiles envisions a better e-commerce experience. There is so much potential in their system. Their planning and execution is done carefully and not rushed. They have not yet released their product but the CMT is getting good reviews and is also maintaining its value pretty well. It is currently valued at 0.1 US dollars which is higher than when it was launched. Its testnet, Travis, is already operational. CyberMiles has the potential to disrupt the whole e-commerce industry. With its experienced and innovative team, CyberMiles is probably a great step towards a better e-commerce experience.
You can visit the CyberMiles website on http://www.cybermiles.io/.
Their technical and project white paper can be read from the following links,
· http://www.cybermiles.io//wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Project-white-paper_en-US.pdf.
· http://www.cybermiles.io//wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Technical-Whitepaper_en-US.pdf.
