space

Satellite orbiting Earth participates in the Ethereum KZG ceremony

The blockchain-powered satellite Cryptosat will be the contributor of the thousands that have already participated in the Ethereum KZG ceremony to do so from outer space.

The Ethereum KZG ceremony, which aims to provide a cryptographic foundation for Ethereum scaling , has already had over 83,000 contributions of randomness from users all over the world. Now it’s receiving a contributor from outer space.

Cryptosat, a blockchain-powered satellite orbiting Earth, announced its contribution of entropy from space on April 4 at 6 a.m. UTC. The contribution will be deployed from the Crypto2 satellite.

According to the announcement from Cryptosat, the satellite orbits Earth every 90 minutes following a remote course 550 km above ground, which makes it difficult for outside actors to gain access during the KZG contribution.

Yan Michalevsky, the co-founder of Cryptosat, explained to Cointelegraph that the ceremony needs parties that can generate “cryptographic parameters” that don’t leak what is called “toxic waste,” or intermediate computation artifacts that are discarded and inaccessible after being generated.

Michalevsky continued that if leaked, this “toxic waste” could compromise “the integrity of the cryptographic scheme” on which the next version of Ethereum is based.

“This is why generating those parameters in a completely physically isolated environment from which data cannot be extracted has a lot of merit.”

Cryptosat has a Verifiable Random Beacon service, which will generate entropy for its contribution. Beacons from this service are signed by the satellite itself and can be verified using the public key of Crypto2, which was also generated in space.

“Apart from using the API to it, we don’t access the internals of the satellite or the data that is generated as part of the intermediate steps, and is kept secret on the satellite.”

The commitment of entropy from Cryptostat’s space satellite will be viewable in real-time via a dashboard monitoring the satellite’s trajectory and latest status.

Cryptosat is one of the thousands to participate in supplying randomness to the KZG ceremony, as requested by the Ethereum Foundation to strengthen security.

The satellite, Crypto2, was launched into space on Jan. 3 aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9. It was the successor to the first satellite launch of Crypto1 back in May. According to Cryptosat, the second satellite has 30x the computing power of the first one.

Previously the company said that blockchain-powered satellites are part of the effort to make outer space a “new battleground in the quest for bulletproof cryptography.”

The Ethereum Shanghai upgrade to the mainnet, for which the entropy by Crypto2 is generated, is scheduled for April 12.

Magazine: Blockchain fail-safes in space: SpaceChain, Blockstream and Cryptosat

Davos 2023: Education is key to driving sustainability in blockchain and beyond

Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated a panel discussion at the 2023 Davos conference in Switzerland on sustainability in the blockchain world.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, brings together global leaders and thinkers across various industries to hone in on global issues each year. As the world of crypto and blockchain continues to push into the mainstream, it has become a topic of discussion at the legacy event.

Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated a panel on Jan. 17, which touched on sustainability efforts in the blockchain industry.

Even though not all panelists come from the same background, they unanimously highlighted education and learning as the key to driving sustainability in emerging technologies during “The emergence of Breakthrough Technologies” panel.

The panel’s focus viewed sustainability in the blockchain industry through two lenses. One is in the “green” sense of the word, with a more energy-efficient and sustainable future for the environment. The other speaks to the long-term impact of projects and initiatives in the greater Web3 space.

Mark Mueller-Eberstein, the CEO of business consultancy Adgetec Corporation, pointed out that the industry does suffer from “greenwashing,” but verification standards that can be taken from the blockchain can lead to productivity in sustainability practices in the industry.

“Knowing that we can trust the data is extremely important. This is why I think blockchain especially is so important.”

He continued to say that educating the community, especially the next generation, will be “the cornerstone for all of us, as societies and individuals.“

Christina Korp, the president of Purpose Entertainment and founder of SPACE for a Better World, highlighted the significance of education to older generations with an example of a United States congressman aged over 70 who began educating himself on artificial intelligence.

“How can all these people make the decisions about what happens with the laws when they don’t even understand the technology or this new world?”

The chief financial officer and treasurer of the Hedera Foundation, Betsabe Botaitis, also touched on trust as a foundation for a more sustainable industry, especially she said, as the blockchain industry can sometimes have a bit of a negative reputation.

“We need to be careful with that because it is easy to think that a new idea can be immediately funded. And that’s not always the case.”

Botaitis used carbon credit tracking as an example of a trust-building niche, in which blockchain can be utilized for this transparency and verification.

“It’s such an honor to see how companies are coming together to really build this trust infrastructure, an immutable layer.”

Botaitis continued by saying that creating and leaving a sustainable legacy for the next generation is not just about wealth, but ensuring a safe environment for that wealth and education is the key.

“There’s very, very little technology that is given for the education of wealth management. I think that it is the private sector that needs to have that education, the regulators and everyone that is having this conversation.”

Education continues to be a major touch point in the Web3 space, with many brands and initiatives focusing on educating users alongside technological developments.

Cryptosat launches second ‘cryptographically-equipped’ satellite using SpaceX rocket

The addition to the satellite constellation was part of efforts to make space a “new battleground in the quest for bulletproof cryptography” by expanding computational power.

The company behind a crypto-satellite module launched in May has announced that an additional piece of its blockchain-related infrastructure went into Earth orbit.

According to an announcement, one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicles carried a “cryptographically-equipped” Cryptosat satellite — called Crypto2 — into orbit on Jan. 3. The addition of Crypto2 to the firm’s satellite constellation was part of efforts to make space a “new battleground in the quest for bulletproof cryptography” by expanding its computational power.

“The launch of Crypto2 gives us more availability and more powerful spec to support the growing portfolio of use cases in our development pipeline,” said Cryptosat co-founder Yonatan Winetraub.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Winetraub said some of the use cases the firm was exploring with the satellites include data encrypted to a public key and retrieving a signed timestamp for applications like smart contracts. In addition, the satellite is capable of generating a cryptographic key pair and releasing a private key after a given amount of time in an effort to prevent “premature decryption.”

SpaceX launched the module as part of its Transporter 6 mission, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:56 pm UTC on Jan. 3. In addition to the Cryptosat payload, the Falcon 9 rocket carried 114 satellites into orbit for various operators worldwide.

*SpaceX Transporter-6 Mission launch on Jan. 3. Source: YouTube*

Cointelegraph reported in May that the Crypto1 — the first satellite Cryptosat launched — aimed to facilitate blockchain applications by providing a physically unreachable, tamper-proof platform. The technology behind the satellite had been previously trialed on the International Space Station, or ISS.

“There’s a lot of need for this,” said Cryptosat co-founder Yan Michalevsky in May. “If we’re looking into protocols, especially in Web3, there are whole financial systems and smart contract systems, kind of digital legal agreements that depend on the trustworthiness of the cryptography behind it.”

Other private crypto firms, including SpaceChain and Blockstream, have turned to space as an alternative solution for blockchain validation, multisignature wallets and verifiable time-delay functions. In 2019, SpaceChain sent tech to the ISS aimed at demonstrating the receipt, authorization and retransmission of blockchain-based transactions. Similarly, a crypto user in Brazil used Blockstream’s satellite network to establish a Bitcoin (BTC) node in Earth orbit.

Not quite to the moon: Aussies offered NFT that could send them to space

The NFT offering is part of a promotion celebrating the launch of Web3 marketplace Crypto Competitions.

Australians may not ever see their nonfungible tokens (NFTs) take them “to the moon,” but they might be able to get to the next best place — the edge of space.

Crypto Competitions, an Australia-based Web3 sweepstakes startup, has recently signed a partnership with stratospheric exploration company World View, offering its NFT holders a 1-in-7,000 chance to win a priority seat in a World View space flight in 2024.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Harls Cannard, managing director of Crypto Competitions, said the sweepstakes was a way to celebrate the launch of his Web3-powered marketplace, which uses NFTs and prizes as an incentive to join its discount rewards program:

“Everyone in crypto talks about like, when are we going to get a Lambo, and when are we going to the moon?”

Canard said he thought the space flight was a “great way to launch,” even if it wasn’t necessarily sending someone “to the moon.”

He explained that his Web3 company wanted to use blockchain to power its space flight sweepstakes project as the technology allows the draw to be “safe, secure and transparent.”

“Because in a lot of lotteries and systems like this, you never actually know your odds of winning. You can’t verify your details to know if your name is actually in that barrel or in that draw. So we’re creating more of a trustworthy and transparent system of generating winners.”

Crypto Competitions’ model bears resemblance to traditional NFT lotteries that use an NFT to represent a sweepstake “ticket.”

However, it puts a unique spin on the sweepstakes process, as it employs a gradual elimination process to determine a final winner:

“We start with 7,000 NFTs that have been purchased. Then we begin to remove people that have entered […] On the final day, there might be 10 people left with 10 NFTs in the draw.”

Canard explained that at each step, eliminated NFT holders or new buyers would be encouraged to participate in the secondary sales market for the surviving NFTs:

“We’re creating secondary resale market value for the actual NFT.”

Canard said his hopes for the company’s space flight project will showcase the capabilities of its blockchain technology.

“I’ve been doing this in the Web2 space for the last four years and I’ve seen a massive gap in the market in Australia and internationally and so that’s why.”

Crypto Competitions is a Web3 company that offers a membership platform that gives members access to discounts, coupons, and rewards in over ten countries.

Canard said in the future he plans for the adjacent NFT sweepstakes product to include prizes such as Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs and more “life-changing” giveaways and experiences.

Brazil beams Bitcoin from space: A case for BTC satellite nodes

Bitcoin’s blast off to becoming “space money” takes one giant leap with a satellite full node in Brazil.

A Bitcoiner in Brazil has beamed the blockchain from space. Alessandro Cecere, product manager at Ledn and a Venezuelan national, has established the purported first Bitcoin (BTC) satellite full node in Brazil.

The full satellite node that Cecere has established downloads the Bitcoin blockchain directly from the Blockstream Satellite Network, negating the need for a reliable internet connection. It’s a small step for Bitcoin’s web of nodes but a giant leap for Bitcoin adoption, evincing that those in remote or hard-to-reach areas could run nodes.

Cecere poses with the satellite dish that receives the Bitcoin blockchain. Source: Cecere

A refresher for those new to nodes: A Bitcoin full node is software that continuously monitors the blockchain and its complete transaction history. A full node prohibits non-legitimate transactions and thwarts attempts to spend Bitcoin twice, known as a “double-spend.” Cecere explains that nodes “grant their owners decentralized access to the only uncensorable monetary network that we know of today.”

However, up until 2020, configuring a Bitcoin node (sometimes called a Bitcoin peer, as Bitcoin is a “peer-to-peer version of electronic cash”) was wholly dependent on local internet providers. Thanks to upgrades in Bitcoin company Blockstream’s Satellite Network, Bitcoin believers around the world can download a full node without an internet connection.

The satellite receiver from novra technologies. Source: Cecere

But, why does it matter? As Cecere explains: “Satellite Full Nodes are the next step to further decentralization of the Bitcoin network,” adding:

“The use case for Satellite Full Nodes could not be brighter. A few offline access points of these can fully connect remote communities to Bitcoin, even ones without prior internet access.”

There is a compelling case for satellite full nodes, particularly in countries that struggle with unstable governments, unreliable internet connections and weak digital infrastructure. In effect, a satellite full node can help more emerging countries and individuals without internet connections contribute and eventually participate in the Bitcoin network.

Bitcoin Gandalf (not his real name), of Braiins Bitcoin mining company explained to Cointelegraph that “using Blockstream satellite adds an additional level of redundancy should more traditional connectivity methods be interrupted.”

It’s taken me much longer than expected, but I will download #Bitcoin‘s blockchain from space within Brazil this year. ⛓

— El Sultán ₿itcoin (@elsultanbitcoin) January 27, 2022

In neighboring Venezuela, for example, a Bitcoin satellite node was installed in 2020. Venezuela benefits from a robust infrastructure of satellite dish networks, which as Cecere explains, “can be leveraged to expand Bitcoin’s offline signal on earth.”

Cecere connected to a Blockstream satellite from his homeland, after television network provider DirecTV left the country:

“I recycled a dish that DirecTV had installed at my parent’s house more than 10 years ago and turned it into an access point to the most powerful monetary network on Earth. That’s experiencing the power of borderless money at its utmost in the flesh!”

Venezuela is an increasingly pro-crypto nation, having experienced high levels of inflation since 2016. Across the border in Brazil, it’s another hotbed for adoption, particularly in light of a new bill that proposes protections for private keys as well as the legalization of crypto payments. The ability to run a satellite node in these countries as an offline connection point is a boon for adoption and the network’s resilience.

*For* Cecere’s satellite node in Venezuela, he “modernized`“ the dish with a clothes pin to assist the download of the blockchain. Source: Cecere

The Brazilian satellite full node Cessere built is connecting from a family member’s house in Santos, just south of Brazil’s largest city São Paulo . If the node runs successfully, the intention is to “port the equiment to Fundação Parque Tecnológico de Santos Gustavo,” a technology and innovation park where it will remain permanently connected as an offline connection point.

However, the Bitcoin space signal has some limitations. Cecere explains it’s a “one-way street, since one can only download data from it but not push any; hence, they’re not capable of broadcasting transactions to the network.”

In the future, Blockstream may introduce an even more advanced version of their satellite equipment that may enable those with extremely limited access to internet access — such as crypto mining companies in far-flung destinations — to connect to Bitcoin.

Then, and only then will Bitcoin take on the mantle of being “space money.”