Introduction - Time & CryptoTransactions
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once"
This is one of Einstein's famous quotes about time in his attempt to bend time and reach into future faster.
In Entrepreneurship we often recall that time is money and money is time which is part of the so-called Project Management Trilemma; Time-Cost-Quality. You can never have all 3 of them.
According to Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum Network and Foundation, the corresponding Blockchain Trilemma, is addressed between the following 3 aspects - challenges of any digital monetary system:
- Decentralisation: creating a blockchain system that does not rely on a central point of validation
- Scalability: the ability for a blockchain system to handle an increasingly growing amount of transactions
- Security: the ability of the blockchain system to operate securely, defend itself from malicious attacks from adversaries attempting to take control of the blockchain, bugs, and other unforeseen issues
And in the blockchain Trilemma, Time is well incorporated in all 3 aspects of a blockchain. In terms of Security, speed is low when the transaction needs to pass through several layers of encryption. In terms of scalability the size of every block in the blockchain affects the speed of the execution since several transactions could be waiting to be executed (i.e incorporated into the blockchain ledger) in the queue of the blockchain at the same time causing delays. Finally, it is obvious that centralised systems execute transactions faster since they don't have to wait for several confirmations to be executed from the validators and one single validator is adequate. As a result, Time affects also the cost of the transaction gas fees since transactions "are eager" to bid the priority of their execution from the validators.
In fact, Fiat currencies, even when transactions are taking place also digitally on the internet, have traditionally sacrificed decentralisation to provide indeed security and scalability in a superfast but also highly centralised manner. For example, secure Visa transactions can reach up to 24,000 transactions per second. Still severe issues of accountability and trust emerged during the 2008 Financial Crisis following the default of Lehman Brothers banking institution that consequently led to the development of Bitcoin from Satoshi Nakamoto.
Historical Review
Satoshi Nakamoto with the paper "A peer to peer electronic cash system" in 2009 ignited the blockchain revolution that changed the way we perceive digital money as a mean of transaction. Eventually, Bitrcoin incorporated many novelties such as the anonymity of the transaction, the decentralisation of the blockchain cutting off the control of the centralised traditional banking system while solving the Byzantine Generals problem and the enhanced security of the Blockchain against adversaries making however a good compromise of the 2 out of three aspects of the Blockchain Trilemma. Yes, Bitcoin is good, it is very good, it is a revolution against the establishment of the central banks, however it lacks a very important aspect that makes it exceptionally super and easy to use for everyday transactions; It isn't scalable since the Bitcoin network is slow allowing only a mere of 7 transactions per second!
How it could have been possible for the Bitcoin network to maintain its original design and still serve as a high-speed network for every day micropayments such as paying for example for a cup of coffee at your favourite coffee shop on your way to your job?
Layer 1 Solutions
This is where the so-called chain wars begun with the emergence of Proof of Work (PoW) altcoins, such as Bitcoin Cash, LiteCoin, Dash or even Meme-coins such as DogeCoin. And all these PoW altcoins focused on how it will be possible to reduce the execution time of every transaction by simply increasing the capacity of their blockchain blocks (scalability). However, neither resulted in an effective way to balance the Blockchain Trilemma, emphasizing the challenge of scaling Bitcoin as a payment network through its existing Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm.
On the other hand, Vitalik Buterin attempted to transition its Ethereum Network from the traditional bulky Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism, to the significantly quicker and much more energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism. This transition is known as ETH 2.0 introducing an innovative technology known as sharding.
Layer 2 Solutions
The general idea of a Layer 2 solution is to build a secondary infrastructure that can interact with a fundamental base blockchain but not be restricted by its scaling limitations. And this is where there the differences between on-chain (Layer 1) and off-chain (Layer 2) blockchain networks begins.
Lighting Network is an example of a Layer 2 Bitcoin service i.e. a Bitcoin-based off-chain approach proposed by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja in 2016 on their paper with title "The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments", removing theoretically the burden of microtransactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. What actually happens is that the two parties need to agree to changes in their balances without the obligation of passing these changes to the bitcoin blockchain immediately.
Apart from Bitcoin's Lighting Network, several Layer-2 Ehereum services also emerged. OPtimism Mainnet is a fast, stable, and scalable Layer-2 blockchain with the ambition to reduce transaction fees and speeds up the Ethereum transactions. Polygon is another example of a collection of Layer-2 scaling solutions for Ethereum blockchain and an efficient cross-chain facilitator.
The advantages of Blockchain Layer-2 services such as the Lighting Network in its complete development, include everything every blockchain enthusiast including Satoshi Nakamoto, could ever dream for everyday cryptomicropayments i.e. speed of transaction, low transaction fees, scalability, cross-chain atomic swaps and anonymity.
Unfortunately, Layer-2 services only serve a specific Blockchain Network, i.e. a separate Layer-2 service for Bitcoin, another for Ethereum etc and until today they only handle a tiny fraction of the on-chain transactions through mostly unfriendly user interfaces. Yet, the most significant problem, is the risk of emerging powerful hubs on the network risking it's security as well as risking the re-introduction of centralisation to the system bringing the Blockchain Trilemma again into jeopardy.
The SoftNote Transactionless Payment System Minted on the Tectum Blockchain
Few Words about the Tectum Layer-1 Blockchain
The Tectum Technology had been originally developed by scientists that used to work on critical submarine encypted and sustainable in a flooded environment software as early as the 1980s era on the mist of the Cold War owned to a private limited company called Crispmind Ltd. based both in Chicago, Illinois and Ile de Port, Seychelles.
Contrary to the traditional Layer-1 blockchains where the bulky transaction-related data is stored directly in the blockchain ledger requiring sizeable blockchain blocks compromising their scalability, the Tectum Blockchain incorporates a distributed functionality using its "HashDrive" technology which is based on the idea of storing in the blockchain ledger only the encryptions aka hashes of the transaction-related data and NOT the data itself which is alternatively stored at the chain's available decentralised nodes.
Therefore, the main advantages of the Tectum Blockchain against not only the traditional competitive PoW consensus Layer-1 protocols are:
- Transaction Speed of over 1 Million TPS (Transactions per second)
The Tectum blockchain is capable of reaching a fully decentralised consensus at an astonishing 1.3 Million TPS (Transactions per second), overtaking not only the transaction speeds of other modern blockchains but also the transaction speeds of the conventional centralised banking systems such as the SWIFT, Visa or even Ripple. - Enormous Storage Size
The "HashDrive" technology enables Tectum Blockchain of reaching vast data storage size, limited only by the driver space of the chain's decentralised nodes and NOT from the size of the block that congests all the other transactions executed on the ledger. - Energy Efficient Technology
Since the HashDrives enables only the storage of the Data Hash on the Blockchain ledger, makes Tectum a competitive Green light-weight technology for high-volume record-keeping applications used for notarisation and storage such as government, municipal, legal, logistics, and even commercial billing records removing all the heavy-weight information stored on the traditional PoW blockchains.
The SoftNote Transactionless Payment System
According to Tectum's White Paper, SoftNote is a transactionless payment system, minted (created) on the Tectum Blockchain, characterized by instant payments and zero handovers aka transactions fees. SoftNote reaches these characteristics by inheriting all the advantages of Tectum's HashDrive Technology enabling fast and high-volume payment transactions hashed and NOT validated on the Tectum ledger across the whole blockchain network.
Therefore, SoftNote is actually a multi-chain Layer-2 system of the Tectum T12 blockchain capable of minimizing transfer costs to zero and provide instant validation enabling fast and anonymous crypto transactions by replacing them with handovers of the Softnote Smart Contracts Crypto Certificates called SoftNote Bills between 2 transactional parties, making EVERY BLOCKCHAIN a scalable global cash system!
How SoftNote Bills work
A SoftNote Bill is actually a carrier, a suitcase, a Smart Contract representing ownership of a crypto wallet address pre-filled with a specific amount of cryptoliquidity ready to be transferred at the "speed of light" bending Time like Einstein using the Tectum Blockchain. In other words, they are crypto digital certificates (just like the traditional BankNotes used to be gold/silver certificates and now are FIAT certificates) that can be used for crypto transactions between 2 parties in the form of a handover.
Users execute the handover by transferring ownership of a SoftNote Bill QR-code and a random six-digit security Proof of Ownership (PoO) pin to the receiver by using SoftNote's dedicated web-application wallet in a peer-to-peer manner. Once the receiver scans the QR code and enters the passcode, the SoftNote system changes the code cryptographically validating the ownership of the SoftNote Smart Contract to the receiver who is the new owner of the SoftNote Smart Contract containing the prefilled cryptoliquidity.
Users can also use any modern internet communication application such as Email, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, Facebook Messenger by sending SoftNote QR-Codes certificates as a picture file together with the random six-digit security Proof of Ownership pin to the new owner.
Nevertheless, users should take into consideration that SoftNote bills is a commercial Smart Contract product that needs fuel in order to be justified, hence they can only be purchased through Tectum’s web wallet and mobile app using TETs, Tectum blockchain utility token, in packs of 100 notes distinguished by a unique serial number and denominations according to globally accepted standards of $1, $5, $10, $20 worth of cryptocurrency. Users should also mind that they only purchase empty SoftNote bills, which must later fill with liquidity imported from their personal cryptowallet at the same way of adding FIAT liquidity in a purchased prepaid debit card from a personal bank account! So far SoftNotes are emitted as a store of value in TRC-20 USDT, TRC-20 TRX and the unknown - unjustified SCH-256 BTC which is different from the traditional SHA-256 BTC protocol (unless this is a typographical error).
Printed SoftNote Bill - Giving Crypto a physical form
In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto gave to Bitcoin its electronic form through the Genesis block that all the crypto-enthusiasts know. Yet, taking the analogy of the tradition bank-coins and banknotes many wondered if there could ever exist a physical representation of a Bit-Coin as it is often depicted on the web, i.e. a coin of a digital currency that can exist as a mean of a transaction. This is where the SoftNote payment system revolutionized cryptocurrency by providing them a realistic un-replicated paper-printed physical representation of a SoftNote Smart contract Bill inheriting all the advantages both of a crypto certificate and a bankNote certificate. As a result, SoftNote succeeded providing to a digital entity such as Mr. Smith from Matrix a "flesh and bones" physical representation!
Hence, in the paper-printed physical representation of the Softnote Bill Smart Contract, someone can notice all the essential characteristics both of a smart contract certificate and a BankNote certificate such as:
- SoftNote Currency and Denomination i.e. 1000 TRX
- Network and Protocol i.e. TRON TRC20
- Serial Number
- PassCode
- QR-code
- status of Funds
- Smart Contract Address
- A notice informing: "SoftNote is a transactionaless payment service dedicated to enable you to conduct instant and zero-fee transfer of value worldwide and is not a legal tender of security."
Softnote advantages
The advantages of the SoftNote Payment system against all the already established competitors such as the traditional Layer-1 cryptocurrency and Layer-2 payment services such as the Lighting Network and the conventional centralised banking systems such as Visa, Swift or even Ripple are numerous and well justified.
- Absolute Anonymity
Tectum SoftNote Bill restored the default anonymity of blockchain transactions as it was envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto for the Bitcoin electronic cash system. Since the SoftNote Smart Contracts Payment System is built using Tectum's HashDrive technology of zero-knowledge proof, the transaction aka handover isn't registered in the native Tectum network ledger while the ownership of the Softnote Bill's balance is handed over to the new owner seamlessly. Highest levels of anonymity without even the need of an internet connection is reached when this seamless handover is performed though the paper printed physical SoftNote Bills that are used anonymously as traditional bankNotes of cryptocurrency. And finally as a consequence, no KYC is required to execute a SoftNote Bill handover. - Zero-Commission of Non-Commercial Payments
Due to the fact that SofTNote Bills smart contracts are executed on the super fast and high-volume Tectum Blockchain, delays that may cause high commission fees isn't possible to exist, eliminating any commissions for any handover aka transaction of the SoftNote Bills between the 2 individual parties. - Reverses the “Transaction Fee” Paradigm
An 1% commission is paid only by the retailers for all incoming transactions, if the Softnote is handed (received) due to a commercial merchandised transaction i.e when the SoftNote user is paying for the purchase of goods or services to a merchandiser. Therefore, the sender is never burdened with a transaction fee for a purchase. - Instant Payment Processing
By using the Tectum blockchain for the mint of the Softnote Smart Contracts, SoftNote handovers inherit the capability of executing 1 Million transactions per second providing instant payment processing and validation. Delays such as the ones experienced on the ERC-20 network for the execution of similar Smart Contracts belong to the past forever. - Electronic Independence of Cash money Property
Providing "flesh and bones" to a digital entity such as a cryptocurrency by printing the SoftNote Smart Contracts Bills in a physical paper format, provides the option of executing a SoftNote handout without using any kind of electronic device or even internet just like it happens with the traditional bankNotes aka FIAT certificates. Someone might say that you can also print your personal BTC public address QR-code or send it via an instant messaging application and use it as a BankNote. The problem is that if you try to print your personal BTC public address climb on the 6th floor of a building and start throwing them down to the crowd, almost nobody will tip it (probably via the Lighting Network) and it is very likely that the majority will try to check it on the blockchair. Nothing more. You can’t “hand” your printed BTC QR-coded address in exchange for a product or service like Softnotes or Banknotes! - “Handover” instead of “Transfer”
Instead of transferring a cryptocurrency amount between 2 public addresses aka owners, SoftNote Bills, actually handovers the ownership of the Smart Contract address prefilled with crypto liquidity from one owner to another seamlessly. - Multichain functionality
Intead of using a unique Layer-2 service for each major Layer-1 protocol, Softnote Bills can be minted for representing liquidity in either SCH-256 ? BTC, TRC-20 TRX or ERC-20 ETH combined in one unique payment system yet isolated from one another avoiding the costs, risks and difficulties of the multi-chain bridges. - Friendly User Interface combined with Network Independence & Isolation
Contrary to already established Layer-2 payment systems, SofNote's easy to use device-to-device technology through any communication channel capable to transfer picture format files enables the use of high levels of user friendly handover interface without the need of sending long complicated alphanumeric public address visible on the chain. Furthermore, it also protects the user from native networks’ performance issues and security vulnerabilities since even a public blockchain address can also be defined as a personal property. Highest levels of network protection combined with the increased usability of the handover interface, is reached of course, through the physical paper-printed SoftNote Bills format - Security of PoO
Softnote's random 6-digit Pin Codes cryptographically secure the Softnote Bills Proof of Ownership (PoO). - Geographical Versatility
No matter if they are used in their electronic or physical representation, SoftNote bills are denominated according to globally accepted standards of $1, $5, $10, $20 etc. and transported or exchanged without any geographical boundaries. - Microtransaction-Friendly Smart Contract Certificate
Zero-fee policy for the non-commercial transactions allows the execution of microhandouts aka micropayments without the burden of consuming the transacted amount on fees, eliminating the problem of the dust funds (tiny frictions of cryptocurrency which are too tiny to be transacted and left into the crypto-wallet eternally) making micro-payments of as tiny as $1 worth of cryptocurrency a reality.
Final Thoughts
Yes, after a thorough investigation, I have to admit that SoftNote's ambition to become a major blockchain transactionaless payment system is well established with very strong technological arguments and concrete advantages over its already established competitors. Indeed, SoftNote payment system provides an efficient balance of the Blockchain Trilemma. It possesses the decentralization and security of Layer-1 blockchains but also offers high scalability due to the inherited characteristics of the lighting-fast Tectum blockchain avoiding the security vulnerabilities, burdens and risks of centralisation of the Lighting Network, that could bring the Blockchain Trilemma again into jeopardy..
As mentioned above, as a Layer-2 Solution, SoftNote Payment System, indeed includes everything every blockchain enthusiast including Satoshi Nakamoto, could ever dream for everyday cryptomicropayments i.e. Absolute Anonymity, Zero-Commission of Non-Commercial Payments, Reverses the “Transaction Fee” Paradigm, Instant Payment Processing, Electronic Independence and Cash money Property, “Handover” instead of “Transfer”, Multichain functionality,
Friendly User Interface combined with Network Independence & Isolation, Security of PoO, Geographical Versatility, Microtransaction-Friendly Smart Contract Capability.
Unfortunately, Softnote's ambition plans of becoming the ultimate monetary system comes with a cost. And this is the use of a 3rd party i.e Tectum's Blockchain native utility token as a fuel for its minting. Let's remember here the definition of a utility token from CorpGov Law Harvard (2018) as a digital asset sold ‘to be used to purchase a good or service available through the network on which it was created.
So, SoftNote might indeed provide zero fees for non-commercial payments, however, the cryptouser who would like to purchase SoftNote Bills packs for the everyday micropayments, should purchase first the TET utility token exclusively owned by a private company called CrispMind Ltd, based at the House Of Francis, Room 303, lle Du Port, Mahe, Seychelles !!!! This appears to be the main source of income of the Tectum Limited Company apart from the merchantised 1% commissions. So nothing is free in the crypto-world. Yes, indeed, cryptousers don't need to pay gas fees for a peer-to-peer transaction but they actually need to purchase TETs to fuel their SoftNote Bills first that perform the commission-free SoftNote handovers.
Interestingly, apart from everything else, TET consists a scarce commodity with only 10M TETs created and when potential markets realize this, its market price will be impacted by this scarcity at the same way that Bitcoin appears to have managed to link its scarcity to its price.
That's a brilliant business model !!!!
Disclaimer: All information found on this article is for informational purposes only. I do not provide any personal investment advice so please make your own research before proceeding to any investment/trading actions
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