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Again, sir, I urge you to read the design notes [1] as it will answer many of your questions and uncertainties around this project. That said, you are someone

Again, sir, I urge you to read the design notes [1] as it will answer many of your questions and uncertainties around this project. That said, you are someone I respect to the highest levels possible, so I sincerely appreciate the comments and criticisms shared thus far and earnestly hope that your participation will continue! With that aside, to answer your question regarding monetized/cryptocurrency, here is an excerpt from the notes and there are far more details that can be found therein: A blockchain is proposed which optimizes for correcting prior weaknesses around acknowledging stakeholders such as existing top-level domain (TLD) holders and optimizes for decentralization (while still allowing for n-of-m attestations). Users use the native token (coin) to register TLDs which are pinned to a specific certificate as the identity. A committed merkelized proof of all top-level names allow for compact, shareable inclusion and exclusion proofs. This blockchain exists to attempt to resolve the need for a globally unique namespace which is necessary to have an association with unique names and certificates. While it's possible to create a singular centralized globally unique association (DNSSEC), a decentralized system can be resolved by creating a blockchain with its own cryptoeconomic incentives (coin), including name auctions of a unique namespace and block creation. Scarce resources require sybil protection, usually managed by a central trusted authority (CAs, ICANN), but can be resolved by having a blockchain based mechanism for global consensus and resource allocation. [1] https://handshake.org/files/handshake.txt https://handshake.org/files/handshake.txt (# Project Summary)

tptacek 7y ago
Is Handshake based on a cryptocurrency coin? Does that coin trade on coin markets? Are there early backers and investors? If so: it's a dead project. I don't know why anyone would take it seriously. I'm skeptical of the entire model for any application. But for Internet infrastructure? Never going to happen.
- rasengan 7y ago
  > Is Handshake based on a cryptocurrency coin? Does that coin trade on coin markets? Are there early backers and investors? Handshake is based on the ideal that the internet belongs to the people. > If so: it's a dead project. I don't know why anyone would take it seriously. I'm skeptical of the entire model for any application. But for Internet infrastructure? Never going to happen. People will always strive for better. I believe it will be Handshake, but if not, something else will come. People find a way, that's how we all got here today. This very thread itself is proof that the current system doesn't fulfill the wishes of humanity and there is a need for change. If you believe Handshake has faults, let's all work together and improve it!
  - tptacek 7y ago
    Sure. Step 1: lose the speculative cryptocurrency.
    - rasengan 7y ago
      > Sure. Step 1: lose the speculative cryptocurrency. The step seemed like it lacked any understanding of the mechanism design of handshake, and I realized it's because we skipped a step here. I like to start my count with 0: Step 0: Please read the design notes document. Let's be constructive here. Later: In all seriousness, though, I urge you to read and understand how Handshake works and how different it is from these other 'cryptocurrency' projects that I am (and I'm sure many in the hn community) on the exact same page as you about. I trust you'll see why the community is moving in this direction. Later 2: Just incase you don't read the paper, the coin, and auction process, helps prevent sybil attacks among other things.
      - akerl_ 7y ago
        I could launch a DNS replacement project where users registered a domain name by coming to my house and handing me $1,000 in cash. It would be accurate for me to say that the “come visit me with cash” approach prevented botnet-based brute forcing, among other things. It would also be accurate for an observer to point out that my project has a crucial flaw for replacing DNS. It’s clear you believe the usage of blockchain technology in Handshake is justified. But throughout this thread, whenever the question of ~“is your project backed by a cryptocurrency which is traded speculatively” has been posed, you’ve dodged answering it outright.
        rasengan 7y ago
        If you read closely, I did not dodge but instead suggested reading the design notes. It’s not worth arguing a point with someone who lacks the understanding of something. Once I realized that this was simply bias and the thread was attacks rather than sincerity, I answered directly. Later: My first response [1] included a direct answer pasted from the design notes - and it’s very clesr. Unfortunately, it won’t help if you don’t know what a Sybil Attack is. I incorrectly assumed that was basic knowledge in 2020 for anyone on Hacker News [2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22900846 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22900846 [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack

tptacek 7y ago

Is Handshake based on a cryptocurrency coin? Does that coin trade on coin markets? Are there early backers and investors? If so: it's a dead project. I don't know why anyone would take it seriously. I'm skeptical of the entire model for any application. But for Internet infrastructure? Never going to happen.

rasengan 7y ago
> Is Handshake based on a cryptocurrency coin? Does that coin trade on coin markets? Are there early backers and investors? Handshake is based on the ideal that the internet belongs to the people. > If so: it's a dead project. I don't know why anyone would take it seriously. I'm skeptical of the entire model for any application. But for Internet infrastructure? Never going to happen. People will always strive for better. I believe it will be Handshake, but if not, something else will come. People find a way, that's how we all got here today. This very thread itself is proof that the current system doesn't fulfill the wishes of humanity and there is a need for change. If you believe Handshake has faults, let's all work together and improve it!
- tptacek 7y ago
  Sure. Step 1: lose the speculative cryptocurrency.
  - rasengan 7y ago
    > Sure. Step 1: lose the speculative cryptocurrency. The step seemed like it lacked any understanding of the mechanism design of handshake, and I realized it's because we skipped a step here. I like to start my count with 0: Step 0: Please read the design notes document. Let's be constructive here. Later: In all seriousness, though, I urge you to read and understand how Handshake works and how different it is from these other 'cryptocurrency' projects that I am (and I'm sure many in the hn community) on the exact same page as you about. I trust you'll see why the community is moving in this direction. Later 2: Just incase you don't read the paper, the coin, and auction process, helps prevent sybil attacks among other things.
    - akerl_ 7y ago
      I could launch a DNS replacement project where users registered a domain name by coming to my house and handing me $1,000 in cash. It would be accurate for me to say that the “come visit me with cash” approach prevented botnet-based brute forcing, among other things. It would also be accurate for an observer to point out that my project has a crucial flaw for replacing DNS. It’s clear you believe the usage of blockchain technology in Handshake is justified. But throughout this thread, whenever the question of ~“is your project backed by a cryptocurrency which is traded speculatively” has been posed, you’ve dodged answering it outright.
      - rasengan 7y ago
        If you read closely, I did not dodge but instead suggested reading the design notes. It’s not worth arguing a point with someone who lacks the understanding of something. Once I realized that this was simply bias and the thread was attacks rather than sincerity, I answered directly. Later: My first response [1] included a direct answer pasted from the design notes - and it’s very clesr. Unfortunately, it won’t help if you don’t know what a Sybil Attack is. I incorrectly assumed that was basic knowledge in 2020 for anyone on Hacker News [2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22900846 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22900846 [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack