Immutability on Blockchain and Proof of Existence
By: Octavian Contis
Tags: Tech, Crypto, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Technology

In the last article I have explored two different consensus algorithms used in most of current blockchains out there. Proof of work and Proof of stake are used in order to provide immutability of transactions on the global ledger. The disruptive potential of blokchcian technology is so great that it can potentially change the way we keep records besides other great features. In today’s article I will explore the immutability aspect of blockchain, why is it important and also explore a couple of projects that are using this . So grab a coffe and let’s dive right into it! ☕☕☕

Immutability on Blockchain

Blockchains provide native immutability, feature which is integral and mandatory in each consensus mechanism. In other words, immutability is a relative condition that provide a proof to double spending problem and ensure each transaction gets recorded on the blockchain without being duplicated. I emphasis the word relative above as the immutability property is tightly coupled by the technology underneath and relates to how difficult is for something to change. Basically, Bitcoin`s Proof of work mechanism immutability could be broken by a 51% attack on the network which would require a huge amount of computation power. However, as we have seen recently in Ethereum Classic 51% attack, immutability could be broken if the network is small and not decentralized enough.

Nevertheless, immutability is the aspect that has levereged blockchain technology as being the most disruptive technology we ever create as it provides audability for transactions without a trusted 3rd party. Given this property, can it be extended beyond transactions and also be applied to data, providing audability for documents, records, contracts etc? The answer is Yes, but let’s see how.

Proof of Existence using Timestamp

Every since the first contract was ever written, people have used a delegate or a trusted third party in order to provide a level of security for their agreement. During the times these delegates have evoloved in legal bodies such as governments, notaries, law firms that confirm integrity of documents between two parties and offer a degree of trust. If you ever used one of the services offered by these bodies, you know that there is need for a signature, date(and time) and a stamp in order to validate a contract between two parties.

Timestamping on blockchain works in a similar fashion, by using algorithms to create a digest, or a cryptographic string that is representative of a piece of data. The digest created by a hash function is based on the characteristics of a document. No two digests are the same, unless the data used to compute the digests is the same. The cryptographic digest is attached to a blockchain transaction linked to the time when the document was subitted. This allows you to later certify that the document/data existed at that time and publicly prove that you have certain information without revealing the data or yourself, with a decentralized certification based on the blockchain network.

The key advantages of timestamping are anonymity, privacy, and getting a decentralized proof which can’t be erased or modified by anyone (third parties or governments). Your document’s existence is permanently validated by the blockchain even if this site is compromised or down, so you don’t depend or need to trust any central authority. All previous data timestamping solutions lack this freedom.

From signing important documents like mortgage deeds and insurance contracts, to claiming contest winnings, to creating patents and even claiming scientific discoveries, there is no limit to the uses of this basic business functionality. Prior to the blockchain it was time and labor intensive.

Po.et

Po.et (POE) extends the timestamping and hashing features pioneered by Proof of Existence to enable new commercial applications by including additional metadata and discoverability. While Proof of Existence requires users to have the original file in order to verify the file’s hash and timestamp, Po.et allows for the original file and its metadata to be discoverable. This makes it possible for anyone to verify both the authenticity of the original file and the associated metadata.

By creating an open platform using IPFS and the Bitcoin blockchain, Po.et aims to create the most institutional, globally-verifiable record of digital media assets. This record will be a framework for building smart, interoperable media applications using a shared, standard and extensible metadata. Such potential applications to build on Po.et protocol are:

Put together your own search engine ranking system by picking highly trusted curators that only use high-quality content

Creators can invest in validating claims about their content to ensure its authenticity, originality, and subject matter in order to make more money

Brands can be sure that their logo is only being used against approved pieces of content

Find other people trying to claim your content as their own to protect your intellectual property

Establish a provable chain of custody for your academic paper

More information on Po.et protocol can be found in the original whitepaper.

Tierion

Tierion project utilizes Bitcoin’s blockchain to verify documents by anchoring the cryptographic digest to a bitcoin transaction, in a similar fashion to Proof of Existance. At the core of Tierion’s technological infrastructure is the Chainpoint Proof protocol. The protocol comes into play when a user adds something in Tierion’s data store. Chainpoint, an open standard and Tierion’s API, anchors the data to the blockchain in order to generate a timestamp proof and gives customers confidence in the data integrity and timestamp of information they collect from their business processes.

Chainpoint has been applied to supply chain use cases, where the tracking information, sign of approvals and inspections are important to record. Other common use cases include:

Creating an audit trail for a business process

Document timestamping

Securing the integrity of clinical trial data

Regulatory compliance

With its highly scalable architecture consisting of nodes operated by the community, Chainpoint has the ability to create million of proofs per second. It scales with more usage — with throughput increasing as nodes join the network. At the same time, it is designed to remain free or inexpensive for network participants.

More information on Tierion project can be found in the original whitepaper.

So, today we have explored how using the Bitcoin blockchain Proof of Existance feature, we can create audit trails for documents integrity on enterprise level or verify content ownership and discovered two important blockchain projects with unique use cases for Proof of Existence concept.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful. If you like this kind of posts or you want me to cover any particular aspect of blockchain in particular, please leave a comment below!

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