Latest news with #BSV
Coin Geek
an hour ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
BSV: Powering decentralized voting systems
Homepage > News > Business > BSV: Powering decentralized voting systems Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... In an era where trust in electoral processes and governance systems is increasingly fragile, the need for transparent, secure, and verifiable voting mechanisms has never been more critical. BSV, a blockchain designed to scale and fulfill Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, offers a groundbreaking solution for decentralized voting systems. By leveraging its immutable ledger, high transaction throughput, and low-cost transactions, BSV can revolutionize voting—from global elections to niche micro-democracies like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and local cooperatives. This article explores how BSV addresses the challenges of traditional voting systems, its unique advantages for niche voting applications, and its potential to reshape democratic processes. The crisis in traditional voting systems Traditional voting systems, whether paper-based or electronic, face persistent vulnerabilities; centralized databases are prone to hacking, as seen in the 2016 U.S. election interference concerns, while paper ballots can be lost, manipulated, or miscounted. Transparency is often lacking, with citizens unable to independently verify results. In niche contexts like corporate governance or community organizations, inefficiencies in vote tallying and disputes over legitimacy further erode trust. There is a growing public demand for systems that ensure every vote is provable and untouchable. Centralized digital voting platforms, while convenient, introduce risks of censorship and control. Governments or corporations managing these systems can suppress votes, alter records, or exclude participants based on arbitrary criteria. These challenges are particularly pronounced in micro-democracies—small-scale governance structures like DAOs, neighborhood councils, or worker cooperatives—where frequent, low-stake votes require cost-effective, secure solutions. BSV's decentralized architecture and technical capabilities position it as an ideal platform to address these issues, offering a level of transparency and security that traditional systems cannot match. BSV's technical edge for voting systems BSV's design makes it uniquely suited for voting applications. Its unbounded block size—reaching 4GB in recent tests—enables massive transaction throughput, with the BSV Infrastructure Team reporting 1,000,000 transactions per second (TPS) on the Teranode upgrade. This scalability ensures that BSV can handle the high volume of votes required for national elections or frequent micro-votes in DAOs without network congestion or delays. Unlike blockchains like Ethereum, which face high gas fees and throughput limits, BSV's low transaction fees—often below $0.00011—make it economically viable for small-scale, high-frequency voting. The immutability of BSV's proof-of-work blockchain is a cornerstone of its voting potential. Once a vote is recorded on-chain, it cannot be altered or deleted, ensuring a tamper-proof record. Each vote can be timestamped using BSV's native timestamping capabilities, providing a verifiable audit trail. Voters can use Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) to independently confirm their vote was counted, without relying on a central authority. This transparency addresses concerns that verifiable voting is the only way to restore trust. BSV's smart contract functionality further enhances its voting capabilities. Smart contracts can automate vote tallying, enforce eligibility rules, and ensure anonymity where needed, using cryptographic techniques like zero-knowledge proofs. For instance, a voter could prove they meet eligibility criteria (e.g., membership in a cooperative) without revealing their identity. This flexibility makes BSV adaptable to diverse voting scenarios, from anonymous ballots to weighted shareholder votes. Niche applications: Micro-democracy BSV's low-cost, scalable infrastructure shines in niche voting contexts like DAOs, local cooperatives, and community organizations. DAOs, which govern decentralized projects through token-based voting, often face challenges with voter apathy and high costs on other blockchains. BSV's micropayment capabilities allow DAO members to vote frequently without prohibitive fees, fostering active participation. For example, a DAO managing a decentralized fund could use BSV to record daily micro-votes on investment decisions, with each vote costing a fraction of a cent. Local cooperatives, such as agricultural or housing co-ops, can leverage BSV for transparent governance. Votes on resource allocation or leadership elections can be recorded on-chain, ensuring members can verify outcomes. In regions with limited digital infrastructure, BSV's peer-to-peer nature allows offline communities to sync votes via mobile apps, bridging accessibility gaps. These applications, rarely discussed in mainstream blockchain conversations, highlight BSV's potential to democratize governance at the grassroots level. The future: BSV as a voting standard BSV's potential to transform voting extends beyond niche use cases. Its regulation-friendly design, built to comply with legal frameworks, makes it appealing for governments exploring blockchain-based elections. Pilot projects, suggest BSV could underpin national voting systems, reducing fraud and increasing turnout. By integrating with digital identity protocols, BSV could ensure voter authenticity while preserving privacy and addressing concerns about centralized digital IDs. Challenges remain, including educating stakeholders and countering misinformation about BSV's capabilities. However, ongoing developments, such as Teranode's scalability enhancements and the BSV Association's outreach, are paving the way for broader adoption. As trust in traditional voting erodes, BSV's transparent, decentralized approach could become a global standard, from micro-democracies to national elections. Conclusion BSV offers a powerful solution to the transparency and security challenges plaguing voting systems. Its scalable, immutable blockchain, low-cost transactions, and smart contract capabilities make it ideal for both large-scale elections and niche micro-democracies. BSV restores trust in governance processes by enabling verifiable, tamper-proof voting empowering communities and individuals. As the world grapples with democratic deficits, BSV stands poised to redefine how we vote, proving blockchain can deliver on its promise of decentralization and fairness. Watch: State of the Union with John Pitts title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
17 hours ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
Stephan February untangles Overnode, P2P networks
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... On the latest episode of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream, Stephan February, architect of Overnode, joined Kurt Wuckert Jr. to tell him about his latest project. This episode was an insightful deep dive into peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, the use cases for micropayments, and more. title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""> Who is Stephan February and what is Overnode? February has been on the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream before. He's a coder and dedicated BSV builder who has developed software, token protocols, and much more. 'Overnode is not a wallet, but it has a wallet built into it,' February explained. It's a native mobile app that joins two networks; its own peer-to-peer mobile network and the Bitcoin network itself. Overnode has its own P2P network, so it can do Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) and exchange arbitrary data separate from the Bitcoin network, February noted. What is the practical use of Overnode? February explained that Overnode was born out of an obsession with computing and P2P networks in general. He doesn't want to have a backend for it; unlike other apps, there's no server to coordinate user activity. This will be local-first for data and will not have such a server. February wants Overnode to be as useful as Twitter, Slack, and Telegram. He envisions micropayment-incentivized rules in Spaces, such as someone being able to pay .1 BSV to grab the mic and shut everyone else up for a minute in a Space. He also sees how micropayments could be useful for invite-only Spaces, paying hosts, banning specific identities, and so on. Unlike in Bitcoin, where P2P means person-to-person, in Overnode, it means peer-to-peer networks. Overnode is a P2P gossip network resembling a mesh; once he properly grasped it, he saw how all sorts of use cases are possible. What are the incentives to run and secure Overnode? Looking back to torrent networks, February explained how there are seeders and leeches. The latter contributes nothing to the network, and he has a few choice words for them. These networks relied on altruism, but that's not necessary now that we have micropayments. With them, we can financially incentivize hosting, connecting, sharing, etc; you can get paid for people moving, storing, and sharing data in the network. Having this network of incentivized operators that assist in the liveness of data further opens up the potential for what is possible, all without the need for an expensive backend server. Wuckert noted that Satoshi Nakamoto preferred true peer-to-peer transactions, with IP addresses being the original way. Paying public keys was seen as an OK compromise if the user was offline. He thinks Overnode could bring back many of those original ideas; it's somewhat cypherpunk in that sense. February said he wanted to go back and re-examine some of the assumptions from the cypherpunks in the early 2000s. As he builds out Overnode, he realizes he is architecting systems of serverless interaction, and he can see the beginnings of a circular data economy which can evolve. For example, he can curate information and charge a fee for access. How will you get past Overnode becoming a tool for grey and black markets? February said he only cares to the extent that he doesn't want it to be used to harm people. However, he is also trying to build the application in such a way that harm reduction incentives are implemented at the edge without infringing upon the liberty of individuals. There will be tools to allow individuals to distance themselves from this 'dark' activity. As with the Internet, there are ways to distance yourself from it. For example, there could be curated, verified marketplaces that are known as safe. What is the problem that Overnode solves? February isn't sure this is a problem for most people, but it is for him. He doesn't like how the Internet has evolved over time, and he doesn't like how human interactions are brokered by web browsers and social media platforms. He's always been interested in what the world would look like if we had Bitcoin in the heyday of P2P networks in the late 90s and early 2000s. While the platform model is great for many things, coordinating human activity is one. But there are downsides, and he wants to enable peer-to-peer interactions with true data privacy. Essentially, it's his contribution to trying to solve the platform dystopia we find ourselves in. To hear more about criticisms of Overnode, what adoption might look like, why tokens aren't products, and more, check out the livestream episode here. Watch: Peer-to-peer electronic cash system—that's micropayments title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
5 days ago
- Science
- Coin Geek
BSV for decentralized academic research repositories
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... The academic research ecosystem faces significant challenges, from paywalled journals to plagiarism and data manipulation. BSV, with its scalable blockchain, low-cost transactions, and immutable data storage, offers a revolutionary platform for decentralized academic research repositories. By enabling secure, transparent storage of papers, datasets, and peer reviews, BSV addresses issues of access, integrity, and fairness in academia. This article explores how BSV can transform research infrastructure, focusing on niche applications like timestamping, open-access micropayments, and sensitive data management. The crisis in academic research Academic publishing is plagued by inefficiencies. Major publishers charge exorbitant fees for journal access, limiting knowledge dissemination, while researchers often receive no compensation for their work. Plagiarism and data falsification undermine credibility, as seen in high-profile retractions in medical research. Centralized repositories like Elsevier or PubMed control access, creating barriers for independent scholars. Not only should research be free, but it should also be verifiable. Blockchain technology can address these issues by providing immutable, accessible repositories, but most blockchains lack the scalability for large datasets or frequent transactions. BSV's high throughput and affordability make it an ideal platform for academic research, enabling a transparent, equitable ecosystem. BSV's technical fit for research repositories BSV's blockchain is built for data-intensive applications. Its unbounded block size supports 1,000,000 transactions per second (TPS), allowing repositories to store vast datasets, from genomic sequences to social science surveys. Transaction fees below $0.00011 make recording metadata, peer reviews, or citations cost-effective. BSV's immutable ledger ensures that research records—papers, datasets, or timestamps—cannot be altered, providing a verifiable audit trail. BSV's timestamping functionality is particularly valuable. Researchers can timestamp papers or datasets to prove originality, preventing plagiarism or priority disputes. Smart contracts can automate peer review workflows, ensuring transparency in reviewer feedback. Data integrity and research trust should go hand in hand. Niche applications: Transforming research BSV's capabilities enable niche academic use cases. Open-access publishing can be funded through micropayments, with readers paying $0.01 to access a paper, directly compensating authors. This disrupts paywalled journals, making research accessible to scholars in developing countries. BSV's data storage allows repositories to host large datasets, such as clinical trial results, with embedded metadata ensuring proper attribution. In sensitive fields like medical research, BSV's immutability protects against data manipulation. For example, a clinical trial dataset could be timestamped and hashed on-chain, allowing regulators to verify integrity. Peer reviews, often opaque, can be recorded transparently, with reviewers incentivized via micropayments. BSV also supports collaborative research, enabling global teams to share data securely without centralized gatekeepers. The future: A decentralized research ecosystem BSV's potential to transform academic research is gaining attention. Projects are exploring blockchain-based repositories, while the BSV Association (BSVA) promotes adoption in scientific communities. As open-access initiatives grow—over 50% of papers are now freely available—BSV's scalable infrastructure could become a standard for research repositories. Challenges include adoption by traditional institutions and ensuring user-friendly interfaces. However, BSV's regulation-friendly design and growing ecosystem position it for success. By fostering transparency and accessibility, BSV could democratize knowledge production. Conclusion BSV's scalable blockchain, low fees, and immutable data storage make it a powerful platform for decentralized academic research repositories. Its ability to timestamp papers, fund open access, and secure sensitive datasets addresses critical challenges in academia. BSV's niche applications promise to transform research infrastructure from plagiarism prevention to transparent peer reviews. As the demand for open, trustworthy science grows, BSV stands poised to redefine how knowledge is shared and preserved, proving blockchain can revolutionize academia. Watch: sCrypt Hackathon students realize there's more to blockchain title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Coin Geek
6 days ago
- Business
- Coin Geek
BSV and tokenizing IP: A new paradigm for creators
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... In an era where creators struggle to protect and monetize their intellectual property (IP), BSV emerges as a transformative platform for tokenizing IP assets. By leveraging its scalable blockchain, low-cost transactions, and immutable data storage, BSV enables artists, writers, inventors, and creators to secure, manage, and monetize their work without relying on costly intermediaries. From fractional ownership of patents to micropayments for digital content, BSV offers a new paradigm for IP management that empowers creators and redefines the creative economy. This article explores how BSV addresses longstanding IP challenges and its potential to reshape the creator landscape. The IP crisis in the digital age Creators face significant hurdles in protecting and profiting from their IP. Traditional systems like copyright offices and patent registries are slow, expensive, and often inaccessible to independent artists or small-scale inventors. Digital platforms, while democratizing distribution, frequently exploit creators through unfavorable revenue splits or fail to prevent piracy. For instance, musicians earn fractions of a cent per stream on platforms like Spotify, while authors battle unauthorized e-book distribution. This is why we need a system where creators control their own IP. Tokenization—the process of representing assets as digital tokens on a blockchain—offers a solution, but most blockchains lack the scalability or affordability to support widespread IP applications. BSV, with its unbounded block size and high transaction throughput, fills this gap, enabling creators to tokenize everything from songs to scientific patents in a secure, cost-effective manner. BSV's technical advantages for IP tokenization BSV's blockchain is uniquely suited for IP management. Its ability to process 1,000,000 transactions per second (TPS), as demonstrated by the Teranode upgrade, supports global-scale tokenization without network congestion. Transaction fees, often below $0.00011, make it feasible to issue and trade tokens for small-value assets, such as a single poem or a 3D-printed design. The blockchain's immutable ledger ensures that tokenized IP records—such as proof of authorship or licensing agreements—are tamper-proof and verifiable. BSV's smart contract capabilities enable complex IP management workflows. For example, a musician could tokenize a song, embedding royalty splits that automatically distribute micropayments to collaborators each time it's streamed. Fractional ownership is another key feature: a patent for a new technology could be tokenized into 1,000 shares, allowing inventors to raise capital by selling stakes to investors. BSV's timestamping functionality provides a definitive record of creation dates, helping creators prove originality in disputes. Think of it as unhackable timestamping. Niche applications: Empowering creators BSV's IP tokenization shines in niche use cases that traditional systems overlook. Independent authors can tokenize e-books, offering readers exclusive access or limited-edition digital copies as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Unlike Ethereum-based NFTs, which incur high gas fees, BSV's low costs make this viable for small creators. Visual artists can tokenize digital artworks, embedding resale royalty clauses to earn a percentage of future sales, addressing the 'starving artist' problem. Inventors, particularly in open-source or collaborative fields, benefit from BSV's fractional ownership model. A team developing a new biotech patent could tokenize it, allowing global investors to fund research in exchange for equity-like tokens. This democratizes innovation, enabling small-scale inventors to compete with corporate giants. Additionally, BSV's data storage capabilities allow creators to embed metadata—such as licensing terms or creative commons agreements—directly into tokens, streamlining IP management. The future: A creator-centric economy BSV's potential to transform IP management extends beyond individual creators. Applications are building BSV-based tools that integrate tokenization into creative workflows, from music production to patent filing. These tools could disrupt centralized platforms, giving creators direct access to global markets and simultaneously removing the middleman. Challenges remain, including regulatory hurdles and the need for user-friendly interfaces. However, BSV's regulation-friendly design, built to comply with legal frameworks, positions it to gain institutional adoption. As creators demand fairer systems, BSV's scalable, transparent approach could become the standard for IP tokenization, fostering a creator-centric economy. Conclusion BSV's ability to tokenize IP offers creators unprecedented control over their work. Its scalable blockchain, low fees, and smart contract functionality enable niche applications like fractional patents, royalty micropayments, and timestamped authorship records. By bypassing traditional intermediaries, BSV empowers artists, authors, and inventors to monetize their IP securely and transparently. As the creative economy evolves, BSV stands poised to redefine how intellectual property is managed, proving that blockchain can deliver tangible benefits for creators worldwide. Watch: Small casual payments transforms content creation business title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
Mint
7 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Mankind to expand gastro, derma presence, says MD Rajeev Juneja
Mankind Pharma is focused on expanding its presence in the gastrointestinal and dermatology segments this year, as it looks at expanding its presence in the chronic segments, managing director Rajeev Juneja toldMintin an interview. 'We are not great in the gastro [segment]...we have decided that we are supposed to work a lot in gastro because it has become semi-chronic, and our inclination is towards the chronic side," Juneja said, adding thatgastro in India is one of the fastest-growing segments. 'Along with this, we are working on derma as well," he said. The gastro segment grew 7.3% year on year in April, according to pharma intelligence platform Pharmarack. Further, Mankind is developing a novel anti-obesity and diabetes drug in-house. The drug candidate, GRP119, is currently in phase 2 trials in Australia, and Juneja said that results are expected in the next six to nine months. In FY25, Mankind signed a non-exclusive patent licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals to commercialise its novel drug Vonoprazan, to treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). Also Read: Sun Pharma to ramp up growth-boosting specialty portfolio in FY26 Juneja said that the company is evaluating all options to increase its presence in these therapy areas, including in-licensing products from innovators or small acquisitions. 'No past strategy can be guaranteed for future success. So we need to apply our mind and try to bring some kind of differentiation in whatever we do," said Juneja. 'The point is that once we decide that our intention is that we are supposed to be good on the gastro side, we start searching for avenues, we start searching for people, we start searching for products," he said. The company will also continue to strengthen its leadership in the women's health segment, which received a boost last year through its acquisition of Bharat Serum and Vaccines (BSV). With its foundation strengthened in FY25, Mankind aims to grow 1.2 to 1.3 times the Indian pharmaceutical market. Juneja said this will be driven by its focus on its chronic domestic formulations portfolio. Juneja said the focus is also on growing larger brands, from the current ₹50 crore to ₹100 crore brands for products to ₹500 crore brands. 'This is the strategy we basically want to pursue in future, because we have seen that once you create that kind of a brand, that's a very big entry barrier," he added. BSV acquisition Mankind is on track with the integration of BSV, which it acquired for ₹13,768 crore in October 2024. The integration will be funded through a mix of internal accruals and external debt. Juneja said the company focused on removing the 'extra flab" and bringing in the right talent for the acquired entity in FY25. This year, he expects 18-20% growth from the BSV portfolio. The goal is to increase the reach and awareness of BSV's niche super-speciality products. BSV is working on two biosimilars, the company's investor presentation highlighted, although Juneja declined to share more details on the BSV pipeline. Also Read: Emcure Pharmaceuticals to expand gynaecology, derma portfolio for India market in FY26 Vishal Manchanda, senior vice president of Institutional Equities at Systematix Group, toldMintthat BSV's platform and skillset for making recombinant drugs (created by inserting genes from one species into a host species) can be leveraged to make biosimilars. Select companies in India, including Biocon, are skilled at the recombinant process. However, Manchanda pointed out that Mankind has the potential to scale this up meaningfully. Innovation push 'If you're a pharma company, naturally, you gain respect once you have great R&D," Juneja said. 'We started our own R&D in Mankind 13-14 years back…going forward, we'll be putting a bit more money in the R&D side…our R&D expenses will increase because that would be the future need as well." 'We wish to become a bigger company…our dream is to become India's number one company on the domestic side," Juneja said, adding that 'we need to have certain innovative products, and we are working for that". Mankind's focus on innovation and speciality segments comes as the Indian pharmaceutical market has become more crowded. Most segments already have established market leaders. '…the promoters are realising that there is a challenge to growth. And they know the space they have been playing in is now kind of difficult to expand from where they are, meaningfully expand from where they are. So I think Mankind promoters being extremely committed to India business, they are also kind of prepared on how to take this forward," Manchanda said. 'What they are actually looking for is a bigger avenue to build growth on," he added, referring to Mankind's BSV acquisition. Internal corrections Mankind undertook several internal correction initiatives in the last year, including leadership changes and improving synergies between its divisions, Juneja said. Also Read: Zydus bets big on vaccines and medtech 'If you look at the history of Mankind, in 30 years, we have become the fourth largest company," Juneja said, adding that for any company growing very fast, there comes a time when growth plateaus. 'But once you bring commercial excellence, you bring people from outside…a number of flaws can come in front of you, and you have two choices: Either to remove those flaws gradually without affecting your sales and profit and growth, or second, do it immediately," Juneja said. 'We belong to the second category, and we decided that by March 2025, we'll clean up Mankind from every side," he added.
