In my last post, I mentioned Numeraire as one of the Altcoins that I believe will drive the future of the internet. Over the course of its history, it has gone from crowdsourcing stock predictions from data scientists, to launching a truly innovative protocol and information marketplace. 

For now, I'll stick to the protocol, which is called Erasure.

 On a basic level, Erasure is another proof-of-stake protocol, similar to Augur since it allows for the creation of stake-based markets. In this case, however, instead of basically being limited to futures of all shapes and sizes, Erasure facilitates trades of information.

Why does this matter, you might ask?

Consider the fake news epidemic we find ourselves in today, globally. Anyone can claim a piece of news is true about anything, publish it through any sort of website, and if it's about a trending topic, it'll go viral and be reposted across all sorts of news outlets as true. 

We've seen it time and time again and regardless of your political or social background, you've probably been a victim of it in some fashion. Often, the biggest catalyst for fake news spiraling out of control is that a story gets reposted by various "trustworthy" outlets and as more follow suit, it becomes nearly possible to find its original source.

With the Erasure Protocol, that doesn't have to happen anymore. 

Inside of its code, Erasure allows for the creation of markets and sites that run on a dual mechanism of griefing/staking. If you've been in crypto for any length of time, then I'm fairly sure you're familiar with the latter. The former, however, is also important to know since it represents a negative incentive for stakers.

While staking involves earning crypto in exchange for leaving your coins on a blockchain network, griefing involves burning another user's coins because you believe they have done something against the principles of the network(community) you are both involved in..Together, these features represent the theory of skin in the game, in practice, as written out by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.   

In case you're not familiar with this idea in a blockchain context, it says that if you've got crypto to lose, you're more likely to act honestly. In Erasure's case, this can play out in a myriad of ways. 

Imagine if a person claimed to be an expert on something and wanted to offer time to mentor others in it. To back up their claim of said expertise, they could stake a certain amount of crypto on said claim. If, after meeting with them, people were unconvinced that what they were saying was true, the Erasure Protocol would allow them to burn a percentage of that person's stake. 

This burning or "griefing" would be recorded forever on the blockchain of the service in question and effectively damage that person's reputation with regards to their claim for good. Thus, there would be a powerful incentive for honesty.

Right now, Erasure is live with Erasure Bay, a place where anyone can trade in any information of any kind. In the future however, I imagine, as the Numerai team does, that griefing/staking will be implemented on all sorts of marketplaces, services, and other locations.

Imagine the possibilities.

The whole world could become more honest.  

For now, stay tuned for my next post in which I'll dig further into Numerai via Erasure Bay. Until then, connect with me on Twitter anytime @Expatcrypto3. Additionally, reach out to the Numerai team anytime on Twitter here. 

-Expat

(Full Disclosure- I've been acquainted with the team for a while, but I don't currently work for them). 

P.S.- Over the long-term, I plan to spend a lot of time on Altcoins and Altcoin-projects that I believe could and do provide true value. Feel free to suggest projects to me any time.