[Cryptography] Time(keeping) and Crypto-Economics

[Jameson Lopp]

On Sun, Jul 10, 2016 at 1:40 PM, james hughes <hughejp at me.com> wrote:

>
> On Jul 9, 2016, at 8:57 AM, g3upa9y4t9 at snkmail.com wrote:
>
> An comments will be helpful.
>
> Time(keeping) and Crypto-Economics
> draft
>
> Bryant Joseph GILOT, MD CM DPhil MSc
>
> Abstract. Economic systems with flexible monetary policies force the
> evaluation of time as part of many economic decisions. Common time, defined
> as the indefinite continued sequence of apparently irreversible events from
> the past through the present and into the future, is used to compute the
> time value of money. Until now, timekeeping has been based on predictable
> astronomical events or by observing a defined number of repetitions of a
> standard cyclical event. Such measurements of elapsed time are adequate
> where monetary policy and inflation are unpredictable. In contrast,
> crypto-economic systems possessing predictable monetary policies and
> inflation are rigidly and directly related to a standard cyclical event
> with a variable and unpredictable interval. This event, block creation, is
> tightly bound to all crypto-economic events. The creation of blocks rather
> than the interval between them is the fundamental unit of time when making
> crypto-economic economic decisions. The comparison of cryptographic assets
> not existing simultaneously requires the consideration of the total number
> of blocks created between the existence of the first and the existence of
> the second cryptographic asset. To facilitate decision making, a temporal
> measurement system without the need for intercalation, reflective of
> crypto-economic conditions, with standard nomenclature and with standard
> enumeration is proposed in the form of a calendar and clock.
>
>
> Here is a comment. The use of a cryptoCurrency as a time stamping service
> seems to be significantly more complex than that provided by other time
> stamping services like GuardTime <https://guardtime.com>. (I am not
> affiliated with GuardTime).
>
> Both require that you hash up your object.
>
> If you just want to prove existence, you are done. If not, you need to use
> a signature (requires a private key) and then done.
>
> With CryptoCurrency, you need a private key and to get the transaction to
> the miners.
>
> I honestly do not understand the value of putting the hash of the object
> into the blockchain when a timestamp like guardtime proves the same thing.
>
>
I'm unfamiliar with GuardTime, but from skimming their web site it appears
that they are using blockchain tech on the back end to power their service.
https://guardtime.com/technology/ksi-technology

Your point basically boils down to "what is the value in using a public
blockchain as opposed to a private blockchain that may be easier and
cheaper to use." There is no clear objective answer to this because it
essentially boils down to trust and security models. If a private
blockchain is good enough for your needs then by all means, use it!

Some light reading on the matter:

https://blog.ethereum.org/2015/08/07/on-public-and-private-blockchains/

http://www.multichain.com/blog/2015/10/private-blockchains-shared-databases/

http://bitfury.com/content/5-white-papers-research/public-vs-private-pt1-1.pdf

http://bitfury.com/content/5-white-papers-research/public-vs-private-pt2-1.pdf

http://www.truthcoin.info/blog/private-blockchains/
<http://www.truthcoin.info/blog/private-blockchains/>

- Jameson

Lastly, yes, common time and cybercurrencies have a notion of monotonically
> increasing assets.  Common time, is, well, more common.
>
> Anyway, if this is a serious paper, comparing and contrasting these two
> methods is a minimum.
>
> Jim
>
>
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