MobileCoin

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MobileCoin
CodeMOB
Development
White paperhttps://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/master/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin-v0-0-39-preview-10-11.pdf
Initial releaseDecember 6, 2020; 9 months ago (2020-12-06)
Code repositoryhttps://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation, https://github.com/mobilecoinofficial
Development statusActive
Written in Rust
Developer(s)Joshua Goldbard (CEO), Sara Drakeley H. (CTO), Henry Holtzman (CPO), Toby Segaran (Head of Engineer), part of a team of 39 individuals
Source modelFOSS
LicenseGPL v3[1]
Websitehttps://www.mobilecoin.com/
Ledger
Circulating supply250,000,000[2]

MobileCoin (MOB) is a privacy-focused, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency launched in December 2020.[3][4] It is developed by MobileCoin Foundation with the involvement of technologist Joshua Goldbard and cryptographer Moxie Marlinspike.[5]

MobileCoin's mechanics are similar to Monero, using CryptoNote alongside zero-knowledge proofs to hide details of users' transactions.[6]

Technology overview[]

MobileCoin is a crypto-currency focusing on privay, ease of use, transaction speed and throughput, enabling decentralized payments for everyday transactions.[7] Transactions from mobile devices are possible without the need to store a copy of the blockchain that still preserve user privacy (i.e. no participant of the network can know the identity of the transaction partners, the transacted amount or the blockheight of funds in the blockchain), using a technology called fog.
The amount of energy required to operate the MobileCoin network is held low by avoiding proof of work in favor of federated byzantine agreement via the Stellar Consensus Protocol such that the estimated amount of engery should remain "less energy than that of a small town with e.g. ~5,000 residents, even as MobileCoin becomes a global phenomenon".[8]

In technical terms, MobileCoin is a standard one-dimensional directed acyclic graph cryptocurrency blockchain, where blocks are consensuated with an implementation of the Stellar Consensus Protocol, transactions are validated in SGX secure enclaves and are based on elliptic curve cryptography using the Ristretto abstraction on curve Ed25519, transaction inputs are shown to exist in the blockchain with Merkle proofs of membership and are signed with Schnorr-style multilayered linkable spontaneous anonymous group signatures, and output amounts (communicated to recipients via ECDH) are concealed with Pedersen commitments and proven in a legitimate range with Bulletproofs.[9]

Much of MobileCoin's technology comes from previous privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Monero[10] and has been re-written in Rust[11] for MobileCoin.

Fog[]

MobileCoin Fog enables use of the MobileCoin Payments Network in resource-constrained environments such as mobile devices by avoiding the necessity of syncing the ledger while preservice privacy.[12]


History[]

MobileCoin Foundation, the entity behind MobileCoin, was first revealed in 2017. The coin is developed by Joshua Goldbard and Moxie Marlinspike, creator of encrypted messaging app Signal, and is intended to be an accessible form of cryptocurrency with a focus on fast transactions.[5] In May 2018, MobileCoin secured $29.7 million in a funding round led by Binance Labs, in exchange for 37.5 million tokens.[13][14] It was officially launched on 7 December 2020.[3] The foundation then raised $11.35 million in venture funding in March 2021.[15]

Trading[]

Signal (UK[2], Germany, France and Switzerland [16] only) and Mixin Messenger (worldwide) support MobileCoin for peer-to-peer payments.[17] Cryptocurrency exchanges FTX[18] and 4swap[citation needed] list MobileCoin for trading.

The MobileCoin Foundation[]

The MobileCoin Foundation "coordinates and encourages a global community of developers working together to co-create the simplest possible private payments network."[19]

The board of directors consists of[20]:

  • Joshua Goldbard (CEO),
  • Sarah Novotny (formerly serving on the board of directors of the Linux Foundation and Node.js),
  • Dr. David Bray (Inaugural Director of the Atlantic Council's GeoTech center.),
  • Renée DiResta (technical research manager at the ),
  • Alex Feerst (General counsel at Neuralink, CEO of and board member of the )

The technical advisory committee consists of[20]:

  • Konstantin Richter (Chair)
  • Sara Drakeley Hall
  • Michael Rodriguez

The policy advisory committee consists of[20]:

  • Tony Lai (Chair)
  • Tiffiniy Cheng
  • Faisal Saeed AlMutar

Criticism[]

MobileCoin has been accused of a pump and dump scheme.[21] It also may be subject to legal scrutiny following its integration with Signal messenger.[22]

References[]

  1. ^ https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Greenberg, Andy (April 6, 2021). "Signal Adds a Payments Feature—With a Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency". Wired. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Dale, Brady (December 7, 2020). "Cryptocurrency Advised by Signal Founder Goes Live, Begins Trading on FTX". Yahoo. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Statt, Nick (April 6, 2021). "Signal is testing a payments feature that lets you send cryptocurrency to friends". The Verge. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Newman, Lily Hay (December 15, 2017). "The Creator of Signal Has a Plan to Fix Cryptocurrency". Wired. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  6. ^ "Signal Adds Payments—With a Privacy-Focused Cryptocurrency". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  7. ^ https://venturebeat.com/2021/08/18/mobilecoin-raises-66m-for-cryptocurrency-payments-platform/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ https://hackernoon.com/mobilecoin-is-the-worlds-first-carbon-negative-cryptocurrency-1i2o37my. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ MechanicsOfMobilecoin. "mobilecoinfoundation/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin" (PDF). github. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  10. ^ "MechanicsOfMobilecoin. Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  11. ^ "mobilecoinofficial". github. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  12. ^ https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin/tree/master/fog. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  14. ^ "New Privacy Coin, called MobileCoin, Launches Mainnet, Might have Ties to Chat App Signal". Crowdfund Insider. December 10, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Loizos, Connie (March 10, 2021). "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  16. ^ github https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commit/1241f4c0e95023d0995c2c07bae43ec68338d7fc. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ Mixin [@Mixin_Network] (January 18, 2021). "Mixin Network supports the 33rd public chain @mobilecoin, $MOB, that focuses on Building Secure Payment Systems for Mobile. We'r the 1st project connected the its Layer2 network, and also contribute codes for Node in Golang. Deposit & withdrawal are available on @MixinMessenger" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Loizos, Connie (March 10, 2021). "MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency advised early on by Signal's Moxie Marlinspike, has raised venture funding". Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  19. ^ https://mobilecoin.foundation/#about. Retrieved September 16, 2021. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c Cite error: The named reference mobFoundationWebsiteAboutPage was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Et tu, Signal?". www.stephendiehl.com. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  22. ^ "Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support - Schneier on Security". www.schneier.com. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
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