A faster processor than Blockchain

[tgarcia]

Hi all,


We are retired professors of a well-known B-School and we recently created a new way for transacting bitcoins because we felt that the Blockchain is deficient in a number of ways: transactions take 10 minutes or more to complete; it is commercially infeasible ( it will ultimately crash when the history of transactions becomes excessively large); it uses massive amounts of energy and power; it employs miners that can slash your purchasing power (their transaction fees average 4-5% (https://blockchain.info/stats)).


Our system is at beta right now at http://Fasterchain.com and we would heartily appreciate your comments regarding it.


We hope to incorporate our business early this year if enough people are interested. Ideally, we would like to have a free site from a reputable institution partnering with us.


Our system uses the atomic clock to process transactions instantly, first-in, first-out. It does need any history of transactions (only current balances), uses very little energy and power, and does not employ miners. If you are ahead of others, you get processed first, at no additional cost to you. You never have to pay extra to speed up your transaction.


The Blockchain’s power lies in the verification of transactions by consensus. But this causes delay. In its place, we have transparency of transactions: every transaction is published publicly and anonymously as soon as it is made. Hence, anyone can download transactions of any given day and verify that the transactions are consistent continuations of the previous day's transactions.


Thanks!


Tom and Bill

 

[satoshis_sockpuppet]

it will ultimately crash when the history of transactions becomes excessively large

Good to know. I'll sell now, thanks for the heads up!

 

[AdrianX]

@tgarcia without researching any further, I imagine for this idea to be used the way the blockchain is used as money you need to distribute the whatever is being record as a transaction, how is this done?

 

[79b79aa8]

@tgarcia, surely you don't think that those who have thought long and hard about the Bitcoin protocol are not aware of these presumed "deficiencies", and do not consider them to be such?

In any case, I hope that database where all transactions are to be stored in fasterchain is secured trustlessly, to everyone's satisfaction! After all, it will hold all balances . . .

 

[tgarcia]

Good to know. I'll sell now, thanks for the heads up!

Thank you for your comment.
We did not mean to say that the bitcoin price will crash.
Rather, that the blockchain process will ultimately fail when the history of transactions becomes excessively large.
Best,
Tom
[doublepost=1484723735][/doublepost]

@tgarcia without researching any further, I imagine for this idea to be used the way the blockchain is used as money you need to distribute the whatever is being record as a transaction, how is this done?

Thank you for your question.

Our answer is in http://fasterchain.com/fasterchain/faq:
(We have transparency of transactions: every transaction is published publicly and anonymously as soon as it is made. )

How does Fasterchain assure me that transactions are being processed truthfully?
Anyone is allowed to download any or all the transactions of the past twelve months. Thus, you may audit the Fasterchain transactions by downloading the time-stamped transactions of a period and verifying that they are consistent with transactions of a previous download.

We encourage you to download regularly to help the Fasterchain community arrive at a distributed consensus.




How can I be assured that my Fasterchain account balance is backed by bitcoins in the Blockchain?
When you send or receive bitcoins, the transaction and your new balance are immediately published publicly and anonymously at "View All Bitcoin Transactions" and "View the Bitcoin Repository Creditors". (I.e., your transaction and new balance are transparent to all.)




How can I be assured that the Fasterchain Repository is fully backed by bitcoins in the Blockchain?
The total balance in the Fasterchain Repository is published at "View the Bitcoin Repository Transactions" and "View the Bitcoin Repository Creditors".

To assure yourself that your balance is fully backed in the Blockchain, you may verify that the total balance in the Fasterchain Repository equals the Fasterchain account's balance in the Blockchain by clicking here.




How can I be assured that a fraudster has not stolen funds from the Fasterchain Repository?
Every account balance and the total Repository balance are published publicly at "View the Bitcoin Repository Creditors". The fraudster cannot steal funds from the repository, because the shortfall in the total Repository balance must show as a negative balance for some account, which is not allowed by the system.

Best,
Tom

 

[tgarcia]

@tgarcia, surely you don't think that those who have thought long and hard about the Bitcoin protocol are not aware of these presumed "deficiencies", and do not consider them to be such?

In any case, I hope that database where all transactions are to be stored in fasterchain is secured trustlessly, to everyone's satisfaction! After all, it will hold all balances . . .

Thank you for your comments.


Sorry if we gave the impression that the public is unaware of Blockchain's deficiencies.


We do strongly feel that the requirement of a complete history of transactions is a serious deficiency that would ultimately lead to the failure of the Blockchain to process transactions due to prohibitive costs. Already today, “we can observe empirically that more than 50% of the hashpower securing the network right now is owned by just five entities…” (https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/blockchain-scalability).


We also feel that instantaneous Visa-like verification, which as far as we know only Fasterchain provides for all transactions, is a must in today’s world.


Regarding security of the Fasterchain transactions, we have used the latest cyber technologies to secure our servers. Moreover, transactions and balances are published publicly and anonymously as soon as they occur, allowing anyone to replicate our database, to report anomalies to us and to the public, and for us to act promptly against fraudsters. Account holders can check their new balances in the Fasterchain repository at will, and fraud will be evident to the public if they occur (please visit http://fasterchain.com/fasterchain/faq, “Security” for details.).


Best,


Tom

 

[Ben T]

Please explain how the advantage of eliminating the time lag justifies doing away with the security of the distributed nature of blockchain. Thank you.

 

[tgarcia]

Thank you for your question.


Comparing Blockchain's and Fasterchain's methods for security:

Transactions are verified by Blockchain through consensus of miners: miners agreeing that transactions did not double spend. On the other hand, transactions are verified by Fasterchain through transparency of transactions: transactions and balances are instantly published for public auditing.

1. Note that the public must trust that miners process transactions correctly: such a process is not verifiable easily and inexpensively. On the other hand, every published transaction on Fasterchain is instant and low-cost, and can be verified by the transaction’s sender and receiver themselves.

2. Because of the massive use of storage and power by miners, instead of a widely distributed consensus, in fact, we have centralization: as of June, 2016, only 10 miners control 95% of the Blockchain and the top 4 miners - all from a single country - control 65% of the Blockchain. (http://www.businessinsider.de/bitcoin-pools-miners-ranked-2016-6?op=1). This ought to be a serious concern for those who believe that bitcoin will become the future currency. On the other hand, Fasterchain uses very little storage and power because it requires only the transaction’s ending balance in order to confirm the transaction's validity. Thus, we feel that Blockchain’s oligopolistic control of security is inferior to Fasterchain’s method of verification.


Regarding speed of verification,

if bitcoin is to be the currency of the future, verification must be Visa-like: imagine how upsetting it would be if you were buying merchandise at a store and you would have to wait indefinitely (10 minutes, one hour?) before you can walk out of the store with your merchandise.


Regarding cost,

miners must be compensated for the cost of their massive use of power. Currently, their transaction fees average 4-5%. By 2040, miners award will be zero; yet their cost will keep rising. In contrast, Fasterchain does not employ miners that cut your purchasing power: we are seeking for a reputable institution that can offer a free site as a public service.


Finally,

in its current form, Blockchain is commercially infeasible - it will ultimately fail when the history of transactions becomes excessively large. (For a discussion on how this problem is being addressed, please refer to https://www.quora.com/Why-isnt-the-size-of-the-blockchain-a-serious-problem-for-Bitcoin.)


Best,


Tom

 

[sugbarfc]

Would try it a bit soon. seems promising.

 

[7queue]

Is this open source?