Saviour of Bitcoin? You decide
Posted by: DeepDotWeb
October 5, 2015
Guest Post by by Fred Rico – Computer Engineering Graduate from Europe currently working in the computer industry, who took the project of resurrecting Bitwasp (Open source marketplace software designed to use Bitcoin which was used by several failed markets over the past 2 years):
Since 2009 many followers of the Bitcoin Crypto currency have searched for that illusive commercial platform which incorporates all the much publicized benefits of Bitcoin. Namely Free, Transparent, secure and available to all.
Any medium that has not only lasted but been a change agent in humanities timeline has depended on one thing commerce.
Recently we have seen that with the “App” Ecosystem, 20 years ago we saw that with the “Internet”, before that with Televisions, Radio and so on.
The trouble with commerce is it needs “Confidence” or “Trust” for it to work. Nobody is going to buy or sell things on Amazon unless they are pretty sure they are not going to lose financially. If there is no financial gain then there are no sellers to entice people with discounted goods and in turn no buyers flocking for cheaper goods than they could get from the bricks and mortar store down the road.
If people didn’t have something to log onto the internet for then they will stop doing it and the internet and the businesses and innovation that occur will die and we are back in 1993.
I use those examples because it’s the same with Bitcoin. We hear much about the “Blockchain” and how it will revolutionise everything, and how “Bitcoin” is the future but if commerce marketplaces keep on coming and going and people keep losing more or vendors having to restart over again then Bitcoin just gets stuck in this idea of “Ponzi” Scheme and nobody is either going to want to trade in it nor hold onto it and which means it doesn’t grow in value nor reach that phase where it becomes enticing for people to hold, use and develop things for.
Mid 2014 saw announcement that several Bitcoin wallets startup and Commerce startups where going to be adopting Multi-Sig.
The Idea behind True Multi-Sig is very simple. Everything is done through the “Blockchain” which means it’s transparent, you always have control over your Bitcoins 100% of the time so no middle man who can run away or steal your Bitcoins. In short the Marketplace becomes an old fashion town market where vendors display their products, buyers come and browse and all transactions is done direct between vendor and buyer.
That’s where Aflao comes it. Aflao is defined to offer all the things mentioned Free (Its open source code), Secure & Transparent “true multisig so it works just like an old fashion town market”.
The Name Aflao is new but many readers will be familiar with Bitwasp.
So why the name change you ask.
Essentially seeing lots of kids wanting to setup marketplaces (and we mean kids, some even needed to be told what server to buy , whilst others needed screenshot step by step guides for installation) was doing Bitwasp no favours. Firstly each time those Marketplaces had an issue it eroded the confidence and name of the Bitwasp project.
In the end the Bitwasp name was becoming a millstone and combined with the fact we fixed over 97 vulnerabilities in the Bitwasp code, we removed Javascript, improved the User Interface, implemented additional features such as offering both internal wallet functionality and multisig wallet features, offering the ability to create and track affiliate programs amongst many things it just made sense to call it a new product.
So when can we get access to the code ?
As we saw with Bitwasp just giving out the code and allowing “Kids” to download and destroy the time and investment is a bad idea. Our intention is to host a marketplace which can act as the Gold Standard which shows the code working properly. And on 31st December 2015 to open up our Github repository for all to be able to download and use the code for free. That way if some other market uses the code badly we can all say it’s down to individuals lack of knowledge or dishonesty rather than destroy the name of the product and keep Bitcoin in that cycle of “Ponzi” Scheme.
NOW WHAT ?
To celebrate the completion we are giving away “Free Bitcoins”.
Go to www.aflao.net for more information or check out the announcement on Deepdotweb.
Links
Aflao Marketplace – http://fuc3bgvav4epcydh.onion
Aflao Marketplace Community Forum – http://yl4nqu25v7zfcimt.onion/fluxbb
Updated: 2015-10-05