How does Decentralized VPN work and why would you need it?

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Tachyon Protocol

6 min readSep 23, 2020

The rising cases of internet censorship and unethical data collection practices all over the world are making private browsing technologies the need of the hour. Internet censorship in varying magnitudes is being imposed by authoritarian governments in different corners of the world.

On one hand, we see full scale disruption of Internet services to throttle anti-establishment protests in places like Belarus and Hong Kong. On the other hand, we see targeted banning of country-specific mobile apps (like TikTok) in countries like India and the United States. Whatever be the political motivation behind such actions, it takes away the right from citizens to access and explore the Internet in its uninhibited glory.

And it’s not just the federal government agencies which are to blame; social media conglomerates are also adding to this Internet quagmire by adopting unsafe and unethical practices involving user data.

Corporations like Facebook, Google and Instagram store and process our data using state-of-the-art big data algorithms to feed us targeted advertisements. What’s probably even worse is that the same techniques are being employed to use these sites as platforms for spreading political propaganda, often through lies and misinformation!

VPN: The Modern Age Privacy Tool

There has been a growing demand for technologies which can keep the user’s browsing data private. Tor and VPN, which were only used by tech savvy consumers for specific applications even a few years ago, are gaining popularity among the masses day by day. In the US, you might need a VPN connection even to access your favourite crypto-currency exchange!

VPN, or Virtual Private Network, creates a secure private connection between the user and the Internet. When a user connects to VPN, an encrypted virtual tunnel is created between the user’s local network and an exit node in another location. This secure data routing keeps the user’s IP address hidden, and lets him/her access websites and Internet services which block users on the location of data origin (formally known as Geoblocking).

VPN also hides the user’s browsing history from the ISP (Internet Service Provider), as the user activity gets associated with the VPN node’s IP address. VPN services typically have nodes (or dedicated data servers) all over the globe, allowing users the flexibility of choosing a location which works best for the website being accessed. Moreover, the encrypted data tunnel also helps in keeping away hackers, protecting the user’s device and data from cybercriminals.

The Other Side of the VPN Coin

VPN services available in the market today are easy to use and work reasonably well. However, while these VPN apps guarantee protection against external factors, it often becomes a question of “Who Watches The Watchmen!”

VPN companies are centralized enterprises, in complete control of their own servers and exit nodes. Most VPN services use standard protocols like OpenVPN and Internet Key Exchange v2/IPsec in their applications to keep the user’s browsing data private. However, the VPN exit node can log the user’s transmitted data, sites accessed and even IP address if it wants to. Most VPN services claim that they don’t, but one can never be sure.

Some VPN services even sell off user data to other companies for monetization purposes. The VPN service might also come to possess the user’s identity data, through contact information or fiat payment details. While it might not matter to most users, some people might find it to be an unwarranted risk.

It’s not necessary that VPN services always employ unethical practices; even with the best of intentions in mind, VPN applications might suffer from data leakage. In some cases, plain human callousness might lead to data hacks. The centralized nature of the VPN application itself creates inherent weaknesses and points of failure.

Decentralized VPN: The Next Step of Evolution

Centralized VS. Decentralized network, source

The advent of blockchain technology has made it possible to implement decentralized VPN (or dVPN) systems. The architecture of dVPN networks is similar to that of Tor — a global P2P (peer to peer) system of network nodes run by people voluntarily.

There is no centralized authority which runs or maintains the nodes. Nodes are run by individuals, or a group of like-minded people who pitch in to split the cost (and profit). The onus of maintaining the node lies entirely on the node owners.

Since dVPN networks are P2P in nature, nodes can set their own pricing for the services they offer, based on supply and demand. Typically, nodes offer their spare bandwidth to the dVPN users, and are paid in cryptocurrencies in return. Users pay for only the bandwidth they consume on a pay-per-use basis. Unlike centralized VPN services, users don’t have to pay a time-based subscription fee.

The distributed architecture of dVPN completely removes any possibility of collecting or logging user data in a centralized manner, which makes them more trustworthy (or trustless) than their centralized counterparts. Moreover, as with most P2P networks, the greater the number of nodes in the network, more secure, robust and stronger the network becomes.

Tachyon dVPN

Tachyon had launched the macOS version of the dVPN application last December (2019), and followed it up with the Android and iOS mobile apps last March. Within a short span of 6 months, Tachyon VPN has crossed 1.5million global users and 1400 global nodes. Recently, Tachyon has launched Tachyon Node Manager 2.0, an application which allows users to run and operate Tachyon nodes in an extremely easy and convenient manner.

Tachyon’s vision goes much beyond the dVPN application — we are using decentralized technologies to improve on the popular TCP/IP protocol stack, and create a robust, secure, scalable, censor-free Internet network for users worldwide. The dVPN app is the first service on this New Internet protocol. Tachyon plans to develop other applications such as IoT and distributed storage in the future.

Tachyon’s protocol is built on the VSYS blockchain. VSYS uses Supernode Proof of Stake (SPoS), which is an upgraded version of the conventional PoS consensus algorithm, to further improve the network scalability and performance. SPoS distributes the power of delegation among all participants, while restricting the power of consensus only among supernodes with higher processing and improved hardware resources.

Since Tachyon dVPN doesn’t require the user’s personal information, the network guarantees complete anonymity. Provider nodes in Tachyon can be run by anyone, and securely route Internet traffic. Tachyon is also developing real-time routing techniques which would improve the user’s browsing speed as compared to normal Internet connection, especially when the network gets congested.

A unique feature that Tachyon offers over other decentralized (or centralized) VPN services is the Protocol Simulation Scheme. Tachyon simulates the feature set of standard communication protocols like HTTPS, SMTP and FTP, disguising Tachyon VPN data to make it appear like a normal e-mail or file transfer. This deceives firewalls into letting the VPN data pass uninterrupted, as they don’t even recognize the Tachyon traffic as VPN data!

Tachyon is currently developing a P2P bandwidth marketplace, where users of Tachyon dVPN app will be able to purchase spare bandwidth from nodes. Payments would be made in Tachyon’s native currency IPX, for every 5MB block of data purchased. These nano-payments will be settled off-chain through a set of VSYS’ Euclid smart contracts, ensuring that they don’t clog the network or lead to exorbitant transaction fees.

Tachyon believes in open, non-surveilled Internet access for everyone across the globe. Tachyon’s dVPN comes as close as possible to the anonymity that Tor offers, without the speed issues that Tor users would be well aware of. Join us as together we strive to Free the Internet.

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