Reclaiming Satoshi’s Vision
By: Kyle Forrest
Tags: Technology, Economics, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Blockchain

As I sought to explain in my previous post,Killing Satoshi’s vision, the potential for emerging technologies built on blockchain, such as Bitcoin, to create a paradigm shift in the world, is under threat. Here I propose the answer to the problems facing the crypto community.

In short, the article posits that, although blockchain’s potential to achieve decentralisation in every industry is undeniable, the approach is wrong. We have been looking at the crypto revolution backwards. We shouldn’t be starting with the cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin etc.); we should be starting with tokenizing goods and services. And, crucially, ICOs need to be following strict compliance procedures. However, I undersold the team that can make this vision, which I’ve dubbed “Satoshi’s vision”, possible.

In the original article, I spoke about Ammbr — a growing project that is building a decentralised wireless mesh network on blockchain technology. The idea behind mesh networking, in layman’s terms, is to build a series of interconnected nodes (the Ammbr mesh router), for users to get ad-hoc internet connectivity (for tokens) while enabling individual nodes to pay neighbouring nodes for traffic transit with the same cryptocurrency tokens. The backhaul nodes connect to the fixed line infrastructure (fibre-optic cables, telephone lines, etc.) and are paid as Internet gateways. It reduces the cost of connecting individual nodes, because each router doesn’t need an Internet connection, and technicians don’t need to install cabling. It also reduces the need for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to reach each customer, and rewards those exchanging Wi-Fi connectivity for tokens, ultimately driving fees down. If you want more details on routing protocols and why Ammbr is better than the other projects that are proposing the mix of mesh networking and blockchain, Ammbr Research Labs CEO, Dr Arjuna Sathiaseelan provides a thorough, well-articulated explanation in a series of articles:

Ammbr — Decentralised Blockchain Infrastructure for Emerging Markets (part 1)

Part 2: The Ammbr Mesh: Bringing Decentralised Infrastructure to the Masses

I highly recommend reading the articles, but the basic point is that Ammbr is making serious progress connecting 4.1 billion people to the Internet and therefore adding billions of people to participate in the crypto community, a privilege that is currently reserved only for people who have reliable access to the Internet (there are less of you than you think). The unconnected people of the world are concentrated in developing nations who need blockchain technology the most. Blockchain democratises things, opens up opportunities in education, business, communications and countless platforms upon which people can genuinely improve their lives. Here’s an opportunity in the market where many blockchain initiatives can jump on the bandwagon. Ammbr is leading the way. It expands well beyond a decentralised Internet service…

The Ammbr mesh router is developed by AmmbrTech, who are building a blockchain economy with a hardware wallet, a global remittance system, back-office software and a number of blockchain-powered technical solutions that are each remarkable in their own right.

The BlackBird Hardware Wallet is an air-gapped wallet (a device used for the secure storage of your cryptocurrency). The BlackBird Wallet hasn’t officially launched, but their preview edition sold out almost immediately and it possess the features that will see it compete with the current giants of the hardware wallet market.

SendX is a global remittance platform that allows migrants to send money back home, reducing the exorbitant and exploitative fees that affect the families of hard-working migrants.

Finally, I want to discuss Electra, a back-office platform that takes care of back-office functions, like accounts and reporting, to make running an SME simpler than ever. It also creates a network of registered businesses that are able to cooperate within the system.

There’s no telling what else is in the works at AmmbrTech, but you can slowly start to see a robust economic model being built upon incredibly solid foundations, with a genuine focus on empowerment. Furthermore, management have stated their intention to follow strict compliance procedures and lived up to their word when Ammbr’s ICO was cancelled in November last year — thereby avoiding being implicated in the prevalent cases of public solicitation of funding in the ICO environment.

AmmbrTech has stated its commitment to self-sovereign identity platforms, because; let’s get real, who’s not thinking about an Orwellian “Big Brother” when everyone is connected to the Internet. AmmbrTech are also developing a solution to protect your data and privacy through technology that will cryptographically secure our online experience.

And here’s the best part — while AmmbrTech are developing many platforms, they seem to be following a pattern of creating a robust skeleton rather than the economy itself.

“[The] Ammbr network is, of course, open,” AmmbrTech CEO, Derick Smith says. “So we encourage other systems to come onto the distributed cloud infrastructure. We will definitely support Stellar, for example.

“The AMR token and our blockchain platform is for paying for Internet access, but ultimately it’s about providing upliftment and income to the owners of the devices.”

This is exactly what I was talking about in the first article. The major cryptocurrencies are focussed on generating money with a market-determined value. Ammbr are creating the market — the AMR is simply the unit of exchange for a digital economy that will be run by its participants. The users aren’t just spending money, they are making it. And the value of that money is reflected in the products or services they offer.

The final exciting thought is… how many Richard Bransons and Elon Musks are living in every developing nation from Algeria to Zimbabwe right now? The money system has been holding back the people of the developing world for too long. Creating blockchain solutions for upliftment programs, enabling online learning, giving small businesses the opportunity to thrive; it will make people’s lives a lot easier and, crucially for those of us that already have access to the crypto world, the number of people on the blockchain will rise dramatically.

And, even if the established powers resist it, we will have numbers on our side and we’ll drag them into a fair, decentralised blockchain-oriented global economy. Make no mistake, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Ammbr has reclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision and the decentralised digital economy is now upon us.