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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"blockchain",<br>"author":"drjitesh",<br>"permlink":"bitcoin-the-next-generation-hope-really",<br>"title":"Bitcoin ... The next generation hope,<br> really?",<br>"body":"Blockstream has just announced that the Bitcoin blockchain is now being broadcast from space. The new service,<br> Blockstream Satellite,<br> streams blocks down to much of the planet\u2019s surface for free,<br> in order to boost the connectivity,<br> decentralization,<br> redundancy,<br> affordability,<br> security,<br> privacy,<br> and ultimately adoption of Bitcoin.\n\n\u201cBlockstream Satellite enables further participation in Bitcoin,<br>\u201d states the company,<br> \u201cincluding the billions of people in the world without internet access and people in places where bandwidth prices make participating cost-prohibitive.\n\nThe service currently runs on three geosynchronous satellites positioned 22,<br>000 miles above the Earth covering four continents,<br> as well as several ground stations called teleports. Additional satellites will be added to the Blockstream Satellite network enabling worldwide coverage and reaching nearly every person on the planet by the end of 2017.![Blockstream-Satellite-Coverage2.jpg (https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmVTjwfLLMCCRmzzuGuCQB6HpvNAFzJ2t42T4cXuRZjbVw\/Blockstream-Satellite-Coverage2.jpg)\n\nSelf-described as \u201cthe leading provider of blockchain technologies,<br>\u201d Blockstream is the third-best funded startup in the Bitcoin space,<br> behind Coinbase and Circle. Several of the current Bitcoin core team developers work at Blockstream,<br> which provides a range of software and hardware solutions and expert professional services to companies deploying new blockchain-based networks.\n\nThe company's primary area of innovation is in sidechains,<br> a technology invented to extend the capabilities of Bitcoin's blockchain. Sidechains create the opportunity for new models of trust,<br> extending and improving upon the properties of Bitcoin.\n\nBlockstream Satellite is the company\u2019s newest innovation,<br> \u201cthe world\u2019s first public satellite service that allows anyone to operate and maintain Bitcoin nodes,<br>\u201d the company states,<br> \u201cwithout the constraints of traditional network connectivity.\u201d\n\nTo launch the service,<br> Blockstream leased capacity on existing,<br> commercial,<br> geosynchronous satellites already operating and orbiting,<br> instead of launching their own,<br> which keeps costs down. The satellites also host general purpose communications,<br> including television,<br> radio,<br> and data.\n\nThese satellites are fed a data stream of the public Bitcoin blockchain from ground based stations called teleports,<br> which run full Bitcoin nodes. The satellites then relay the broadcast back to earth using open source GNU Radio software and the Fast Internet Bitcoin Relay Engine (FIBRE),<br> an open source protocol based on several years of experience operating and studying the Bitcoin Relay Network.\n\nThe system is currently designed to guarantee a 64kbit\/sec connection. According to Blockstream CEO Dr. Adam Back,<br> \u201cThis provides adequate bandwidth to reliably maintain synchronization with the network with modest delay.\u201d\n\nThe size of the receiving dish also affects the download speed. \u201cWe designed the Blockstream Satellite system to work with a 46cm antenna to maximize the number of people around the world who will be able to use it,<br>\u201d the CEO explains. \u201cBut keep in mind this is the absolute minimum. Bigger antennas -- 60cm,<br> 1.2m,<br> or the VLA observatory antennas -- could result in faster speeds for users with future upgrades to the signals we transmit.\u201d\n\nOnce users on the ground find a satellite dish,<br> perhaps a used consumer satellite TV dish,<br> they\u2019ll need a USB software defined radio (SDR) interface,<br> which Blockstream claims can be found for around US$100. \u201cOrdinarily,<br> end user satellite equipment is very expensive,<br>\u201d the company states,<br> pointing out that their whole system was \u201cuniquely designed to dramatically reduce this cost.\u201d\n\nUsers can see details on what they need to get started in the website's documentation,<br> including a list of equipment,<br> how to point their antenna,<br> and how to use the software. They can then run their own Bitcoin nodes using the service,<br> or share Bitcoin nodes locally and configure their smart phone wallets to connect to their node.\n\nBlockstream Satellite isn\u2019t the first plan to put part of the Bitcoin network in space. Former Bitpay engineer and Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik created a company and promoted his idea to build \u2018BitSats\u2019 between 2012 and 2015,<br> before running out of funding and giving up on the concept.\n\nEach Bitsat,<br> which was proposed to be built and launched by Garzik\u2019s company for the cost of around US$1 million each,<br> was said to be able to be a backup copy of the blockchain in orbit that could verify incoming blocks and broadcast them around the world. Each had a five-year lifetime in low earth orbit and was prohibitively expensive.",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"blockchain\",<br>\"bitcoin\",<br>\"new\",<br>\"trending\",<br>\"hope\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/steemitimages.com\/DQmVTjwfLLMCCRmzzuGuCQB6HpvNAFzJ2t42T4cXuRZjbVw\/Blockstream-Satellite-Coverage2.jpg\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " | | vote | "voter":"drjitesh",
"author":"drjitesh",
"permlink":"bitcoin-the-next-generation-hope-really",
"weight":10000 |
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