{"id":3059,"date":"2018-10-28T12:17:17","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T12:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atozcrypto.org\/?p=3059"},"modified":"2018-10-28T12:17:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T12:17:17","slug":"ethereum-ethos-a-tale-of-two-cryptocurrencies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atozcrypto.org\/ethereum-ethos-a-tale-of-two-cryptocurrencies\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum & Ethos: A Tale of Two Cryptocurrencies"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Understanding Ethereum<\/a>\u00a0is key to understanding Ethos. If Bitcoin is \u201cdigital gold\u201d, i.e. a secure, decentralized and universal store of value that can appreciate or depreciate then Ethereum is digital oil\u200a\u2014\u200aa commodity that powers an ecosystem.<\/p>\n

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Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum and as a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ethereum was one of the original and\u00a0first token offerings<\/a>, now commonly referred to as an \u201cICO\u201d although at the time many referred to it as the \u201cEthereum IPO\u201d. In the original Ethereum offering, people who supported the original vision of what Ethereum wanted to develop, showed their support for the project by pre-purchasing the unreleased product with Ether tokens at a price of approximately 2000 Ether per Bitcoin. As Bitcoin at the time traded for approximately $500, each Ether was roughly $.04 each. Using the proceeds from the offering, the Ethereum foundation built the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), a decentralized global virtual supercomputer that eventually used Ether as the gas to execute smart contracts.<\/p>\n

Smart Contracts<\/a>\u00a0refer to Javascript-like code that run on the Ethereum virtual Supercomputer, a decentralized system that pays network participants to execute these contracts. Contracts are programmatically \u201cimmutable\u201d meaning once created and agreed there is no backing out.<\/p>\n

The Ethos Ecosystem<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If Ethereum is oil then Ethos is the engine. Ethos is a technology platform that uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) along with battle-tested industry standards such as BIP32 and BIP39, as well as new standards such as ETHOS-44. The ultimate objective is to create a cryptocurrency financial ecosystem that is designed to benefit consumers, businesses and developers while protecting the overall safety and soundness of this open system by remaining committed to market based rules, such as KYC & AML, and adopting a regulatory friendly structure to prevent bad actors from participating.<\/p>\n

The Ethos\u00a0Mission<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Shingo is the Founder and CEO of Ethos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mission of Ethos is to create a financial ecosystem that is open, safe and fair for everyone.<\/p>\n

What does the ETHOS token\u00a0do?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Similar to Ethereum, the ETHOS token is the \u201cfuel\u201d that powers the Ethos Ecosystem. This fuel powers a broad range of services including access to the Ethos API and many other services. For example, any developer can build applications that leverage Ethos wallets, keys or data in Bedrock by paying fractional ETHOS tokens for that application. ETHOS tokens reduce the cost for consumers, businesses and developers by enabling micropayments at very low cost to create a safe, secure and verified way for anybody to participate in the new economy.<\/p>\n

Ethos is open to everyone. Community participation is key to the success and development of the Ethos Ecosystem. The community can get involved in open source development, become a part of the Ethos movement and even in the future provide valuable services to the Ethos Ecosystem. Ethos is about using the powers of the blockchain to rethink how a digital financial ecosystem should operate.<\/p>\n

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How does Ethos use the blockchain?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Parts of the Ethos platform operate on the\u00a0blockchain<\/a>\u00a0and other parts don\u2019t. This structure is due to the simple fact that there are certain things blockchains are good at doing (keeping track of assets, verification, high value data persistence) while there are other things (scalability, cost, data storage) that blockchains are not good at doing.<\/p>\n

The mistake a lot of projects and organizations are making at the moment, especially with the large public appetite for ICOs, is most are trying to force anything they can into the blockchain when in reality the actual uses of blockchain are fairly narrow. That being said, although the current use cases of blockchain are currently narrow, they are in fact quite powerful and have the potential to fundamentally change entire financial ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Ethos uses the blockchain in a number of ways. First Ethos keeps Nodes of all major coin transactions, and identifies which are \u201cverified\u201d transactions according to registration data held within the Ethos ecosystem. This data can then be accessible by verified stakeholders or interested parties through the Ethos API in exchange for ETHOS tokens.<\/p>\n

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DON\u2019T SPEND A PENNY ON BITCOIN WITHOUT FIRST READING THIS EBOOK!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Secondly, Ethos can further\u00a0identify source of funds<\/a>\u00a0for certain blockchain transactions if those funds come into the ecosystem through an Ethos-partnered service such as a registered investment advisor, broker dealer, investment company, etc. Identifying KYC and AML\u2019d funds and transactions enables Ethos to contribute to a safer and more secure blockchain.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, scalable micropayment channels, or layer 2 scaling solutions, can be utilized on Ethereum involving ETHOS token transfers. This enables extremely cheap financial services for people around the globe who often have no access to financial services while also keeping the integrity of the system with verified source of funds on the blockchain.<\/p>\n

Finally, smart contracts enable Ethos to build a new financial ecosystem that benefits consumers first. The Ethos Ecosystem also enables consumers to own, and benefit from, assets directly using the properties of provable ownership on the blockchain. While in the traditional economy, direct ownership of an asset is difficult or impossible in some cases, the blockchain allows advanced financial instruments to be owned and custodied by the individual, vastly democratizing access to a global financial ecosystem.<\/p>\n

How the Ethos platform\u00a0works\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Broadly speaking, the Ethos platform has four major components<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Ethos Universal Wallet<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0a\u00a0self-custodied<\/a>\u00a0blockchain asset management architecture open to consumers, institutions and developers.<\/li>\n
  2. Ethos Smart Keys<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0a single secure digital key solution that allows secure self-custody or custodial management of hundreds of different coins, tokens and currencies with a single key.<\/li>\n
  3. Ethos Bedrock<\/strong><\/a>: a \u201cStripe for Crypto\u201d processing and development platform that can run scalable applications, broadcast data and verify identity and source of funds on the blockchain.<\/li>\n
  4. Ethos API<\/strong>: a way for financial institutions to seamlessly connect with financial institutions creating a new breed of FinTech applications.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What are the benefits of\u00a0Ethos?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    Ethos is designed to use existing standards within the cryptocurrency ecosystem, while adding functional benefits and additional standards to make it safe, secure and capable of integrating into the traditional financial ecosystem.<\/p>\n

    These include the following benefits:<\/strong><\/p>\n