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The infrastructure of iris scanners and computers already exists in refugee camps (edit: for security reasons). It does require power but something like what we

The infrastructure of iris scanners and computers already exists in refugee camps (edit: for security reasons). It does require power but something like what we're building for the Sun Protocol (http://thesunprotocol.io http://thesunprotocol.io) can be deployed in hours and support token based payments instantly. I briefly worked with a startup whose founder is a Syrian refugee. Smart-phones and crypto wallets is what allows many of them to survive.

logifail 8y ago
>> The infrastructure of iris scanners and computers already exists in refugee camps (I'm genuinely curious) what kind of coverage across the globe are we talking about here? Things have obviously come a long way, it's not that long ago that the UNHCR was talking about "water, sanitation and hygiene". More infrastructure questions: does the system also require a working internet connection? If so, when the internet connection goes down, can vouchers no-longer be "redeemed" until it comes back up?
- decentralised 8y ago
  Well there doesn't need to be a fully working, always up internet connection. A satellite connection will do just fine, and these tend to be available at camps. One way of doing this would be with state channels, where most of the oltp is done off-chain and signed messages can be relayed via sneaker-net until an on-line node is found days / weeks later.
- logifail 8y ago
  If you're not working directly on the chain, because there's no internet connection, how do you deal with double-spending attacks?
  - decentralised 8y ago
    The sort of off-chain processing I mentioned requires the wallets / holders to enter a special smart-contract (state-channels) that locks their tokens. Think of it as a having a tab at a bar where the barman keeps track of your orders and at some point may tell you the tab is closed and you don't have any credit left. In fact that very method was used recently in a festival here in the Netherlands (https://blog.loyalgarden.co/running-a-live-festival-on-crypto-tokens-is-that-possible-7c6a9c2d94c9 https://blog.loyalgarden.co/running-a-live-festival-on-crypt...) Double-spends can only be securely verified once the transaction is processed on-chain but keeping track of nonces and signatures can be done with a secondary (off-chain) system which is easy to do with a limited population. The Suntainers we built have WiFi and GSM included so that transactions can be relayed along the ground network.

logifail 8y ago

>> The infrastructure of iris scanners and computers already exists in refugee camps (I'm genuinely curious) what kind of coverage across the globe are we talking about here? Things have obviously come a long way, it's not that long ago that the UNHCR was talking about "water, sanitation and hygiene". More infrastructure questions: does the system also require a working internet connection? If so, when the internet connection goes down, can vouchers no-longer be "redeemed" until it comes back up?

decentralised 8y ago
Well there doesn't need to be a fully working, always up internet connection. A satellite connection will do just fine, and these tend to be available at camps. One way of doing this would be with state channels, where most of the oltp is done off-chain and signed messages can be relayed via sneaker-net until an on-line node is found days / weeks later.
logifail 8y ago
If you're not working directly on the chain, because there's no internet connection, how do you deal with double-spending attacks?
- decentralised 8y ago
  The sort of off-chain processing I mentioned requires the wallets / holders to enter a special smart-contract (state-channels) that locks their tokens. Think of it as a having a tab at a bar where the barman keeps track of your orders and at some point may tell you the tab is closed and you don't have any credit left. In fact that very method was used recently in a festival here in the Netherlands (https://blog.loyalgarden.co/running-a-live-festival-on-crypto-tokens-is-that-possible-7c6a9c2d94c9 https://blog.loyalgarden.co/running-a-live-festival-on-crypt...) Double-spends can only be securely verified once the transaction is processed on-chain but keeping track of nonces and signatures can be done with a secondary (off-chain) system which is easy to do with a limited population. The Suntainers we built have WiFi and GSM included so that transactions can be relayed along the ground network.