Please note: any funds generated from this article will go towards a Life supported charity.
LIFElabs White Paper
*This Whitepaper information has been copied directly from the official source and formatted for Medium. Publication of this work does not imply ownership or official affiliation with LIFElabs (R) or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.
LIFElabs:
a decentralised array of Blockchain services, bridging traditional payments and loyalty rewards with social organisations in the philanthropic sector, underpinned by a long-term strategic, digital currency with ethical foundations, accessible to all.
WP V2.0 1
Confidential Copyright © LIFElabs.io ™ 2018
Disclaimer:
LIFElabs reserves the right to alter the content of this paper at any time, therefore the content and subject matter is tentative. A current view of the company’s development road map can be found at LIFElabs.io . The content of this white paper is high level and strategic, reflecting the overall focus of the company and its vision.
The content herein is not a prospectus, soliciting investment of any kind and should not be interpreted as accounting or the representation of a financial instrument. Any references to digital currency should be construed as a reflection of the utility of Blockchain and ERC-20 tokens in the respect of transactions. This white paper is written to inform interested parties of a forthcoming platform as a service (PaaS) or software based ecosystem, which is equable to a suite of products which interlink to achieve a common goal.
Introduction
A Note of Thanks from the CEO, Luke Chittock.
Loosely explained (and it will be better defined in the following pages) Blockchain is a revolution in decentralised internet technology.
I have always viewed it as a good disruptor in the challenge of the world and its many communities pursuing sustainable globalisation. Blockchain has been widely adopted by many companies, the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance is proof enough of this but mainstream adoption is still yet to come.
Blockchain has emerged from the shadows of the Internet, lending caution to some, but this revolution in data management has arrived to enlighten us all in data transparency and security. Every advancement in technology brings opportunities to the brave: our early philanthropic partners and loyalty reward customers have embraced the revolution of Blockchain with LIFELabs, allowing us to paint the future of our ethical platform and products. To all of you, the team and community of LIFE owe you their thanks.
Abstract
The utility of Blockchain makes a compelling opportunity for an inclusive society, redefining economic prosperity, unlocking uncertainty, and jumpstarting regenerative cycles in the digital age.
Here at LIFElabs we are embracing the paradigm shift that Blockchain represents and have created LIFEtoken (a digital currency) on the Ethereum Blockchain. Moving away from traditional depleting economic and social organisation models, we will encourage a more positive dynamic for individuals, communities, their local economies and the environment and the social organisations that strive to make a difference across the globe.
LIFElabs is building an ecosystem for digital currencies to be accessible to all but also a
multifaceted platform for social organisations to adopt Blockchain technology to support their own projects.
The technology of Blockchain is challenging for some to conceptualise and thought provoking in its reach across multiple sectors.
Defined by trust and transparency in an age of digital transactions, Blockchain has made it unnecessary for a centralised authority to verify and clear transactions but has also made it possible to track money transfers, reducing uncertainty on leverage or the tracking of goods in traditional supply chains. Blockchain embodies globalisation in our times, a far-reaching technology available to all; the seen and unseen across the world.
LIFElabs is a world-first in the emerging Blockchain sector. We have ring-fenced 30 billion tokens of our supply (almost one third of the total supply) for good causes. We are also underpinning the utility of this philanthropic-focused digital currency supply with a platform of Blockchain services that will enable adopters, ranging from individuals to businesses, to benefit from the Blockchain revolution.
The barriers to many social organisations adopting a new technology, or new technologies, are high, and Blockchain is no different in this respect.
That is why at LIFElabs we are going to create a PaaS (Platform as a Service) for social organisations to adopt, at no cost, to fulfil their own needs; whether to drive forward-thinking innovation, restore trust, or operate transparently in supply- or project- funded scenarios.
By adopting LIFEtoken (or LIFELabs services) any individual or organisation can make a difference by virtue of adopting LIFEtoken for rewards, transactions, or as a store of digital wealth: anyone can join our ethical revolution.
About Blockchain
What is blockchain and how does it work?
The simplest description of Blockchain is that it is a public ledger, decentralised and distributed globally. The ledger is not owned by any one individual, but rather it is best described as having curators who maintain the ledger by performing the complex mathematical computations that ensure its security, related to cryptography.
This contribution rewards the curators differently depending on which Blockchain is being used. The Ethereum blockchain upon which LIFEtoken is built, classifies digital currencies such as LIFE as ERC20 tokens. Transacting tokens requires fractional amounts of Ethereum used as ‘gas’ to fuel the transaction. The Ethereum Blockchain allows programmers to create better solutions (using smart contracts for example) for today’s digital technology revolution. LIFElabs will use this technology to focus upon loyalty reward program problems.
In the context loyalty rewards Blockchain technology creates transaction records shared across a network of computers. Every transaction creates a new block of information for every token transacted. These blocks of information are chained to previous blocks, which are then shared across a network of nodes on the blockchain. This concept coined the term ‘Blockchain’. Loyalty reward points based on blockchain are easy to track, trace and have a transparent value and even higher levels of utility for the consumer.
Core Concepts
The technology that underpins the LIFE ecosystem.
Each party on a Blockchain has access to the entire database and its complete history. No single party controls the data or the information. Every party can verify the records of its transaction partners directly, without an intermediary.
Distributed Database:
Communication occurs directly between peers instead of through a central node. Each node stores and forwards information to all other nodes.
Peer-to-Peer Transmission:
Every transaction and its associated value are visible to anyone with access to the ledger. Each user can generate an infinite number of addresses. Users can choose to remain anonymous or provide proof of their identity to others.
Transactions occur between Blockchain addresses.
Transparency with Security:
Once a transaction is entered into the Blockchain and the blocks are updated, the records cannot be altered because they’re linked to every transaction record that came before them (hence the term “chain”).
Irreversibility of Records:
The digital nature of the ledger means that Blockchain transactions can be tied to computational logic and, in essence, programmed; so users can set up algorithms and rules that automatically trigger transactions between nodes.
Computational Logic (Smart Contracts):
The digital nature of the ledger means that Blockchain transactions can be tied to computational logic and, in essence, programmed; so users can set up algorithms and rules that automatically trigger transactions between nodes.
LIFE Platform as a Service
The Ecosystem Explained
At its core, LIFE embraces digital transactions by providing a wallet to hold digital currencies, a loyalty reward provision with e-
commerce plug ins, and the ability to exchange digital currencies. These services are all powered by the Ethereum Blockchain, a trusted and heavily-adopted Blockchain – known to some as a ‘global computer’.
The secondary objective of LIFElabs is to build a platform as a service (PaaS) for the philanthropic sector to access the utility of Blockchain to further their respective causes. Services in this platform include tracking and pooling – the ability of social organisations to enforce trust with donors and deliver their message to an ethically-minded audience in a trusted platform.
This architecture supports product development. Our product wheel (on the next page) reflects the various stages of product development. Product development is ordered in strategic importance to growth – initially, the first element is the LIFEwallet.
Why is this important? LIFEwallet allows you to store, access and transfer digital currencies. Featured here in the centre, our wallet is designed to be accessible to all, with the perfect balance of usability and security for users.
LIFElabs Product Wheel
The Ecosystem Explained
The LIFE product wheel: phased development approach. The following pages will discuss each product and its relative market and features in more detail. Each section forms part of the wider platform, and no one section is independent of another in its entirety.
LIFEtoken and Supply
The Lifelabs Ecosystem
The total supply of LIFEtoken is 100bn. The circulating supply reflects how much liquidity there is in the market; this is important to consider from the aspects of volatility and accessibility on digital currency exchanges worldwide. For some, LIFEtoken will become a store of value other than the focus of utility.
Over time, the circulating supply will vary marginally and organically due to the natural demand and supply dynamics, and the LIFElabs team will act as deficit central bankers, replenishing the ring-fenced supply from adopter transactions, maintaining supply to adopter wallets and liquidity for exchanges, and nominated brokers as fiat ‘ramps’ into digital currencies.
Lifelabs.io Roadmap
LIFEtoken
PaaS for transactional ecosystem
Digital currencies have a vital part to play in transactional ecosystems online and in traditional walks of life. Blockchain allows B2C or peer to peer cross border remittance possible in seconds.
The role can revolutionise the transfer of wealth by negating the need to use a third party. Our aim is to accelerate adoption of LIFEtoken with a first phase of product development, which will foster adoption by SMEs, SMBs, non-profits and individuals and provide a friction-less entry into the world digital currencies.
LIFEapp
Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet
LIFEwallet is a Hierarchical Deterministic wallet (HD wallet). This means that unique wallet addresses can be generated to be used for each transaction, which protects the wallet holder’s wallet identity and therefore shields others from viewing their digital wealth.
We have also implemented a seamless sign-up process that maintains all of the best security protocols to protect our user base and also takes the friction and complexity out for newcomers to Blockchain and digital currencies. Our mission is to demystify cryptocurrency and make it accessible to all.
LIFEwallet on iOS supports ETH (Ethereum), LIFEtoken (and ERC20 compliant tokens), and Bitcoin. Other digital currencies will be added in due course.
The technical side of wallets is complex and security is of paramount importance. Our design has further features to help the user maintain their integrity, protect their LIFEtoken, Bitcoin, and altcoins, or any other digital currency.
If you would like more information regarding the code base of our wallet or more technical information, please see our forthcoming technical white paper, due to be released in late 2018.
LIFEwallet Features
Below are just a few features that will be included in our first release of the LIFEapp with plans to integrate more features in later releases.
LIFE wallet Generation, Wallet Security, Backup, and Recovery
The following figure shows how the HD multi-currency wallet in the LIFEapp is generated, secured, and how the wallet can be backed up and restored using the LIFEapp.
Wallet generation (from the LIFEapp): The wallet in LIFEapp is generated as follows:
Step 1: The app generates some random bits.
Step 2: The random bits are converted into 12 mnemonic words and are given to the user (these words need to be written down and kept safe).
Step 3 (optional): The user then chooses an optional mnemonic password. This optional password, not to be written down, can protect the 12 mnemonic words in case they are lost or stolen. If the password is used, the person who only has access to the 12 mnemonic words will be unable to generate the wallet keys.
Step 4: The wallet seed is then generated using the mnemonic words together with the password if one is provided by the user (the wallet seed stays in memory only).
Steps 1 to 4 are done using standard BIP39 libraries [1]. Since LIFEapp is using a Hierarchical Deterministic wallet (HD wallet), the wallet seed contains all the information to derive all the public and private keys in the entire wallet.
Wallet Security: LIFEapp protects the wallet in two ways. First, it protects the wallet seed on the storage medium of the device so that the wallet seed and all the private keys derived from it cannot be read by someone who has access to the storage medium. Second, LIFEapp protects the wallet actions so that an unauthorised person who has access to the device cannot transfer the funds.These two security goals are achieved using the wallet password provided by the LIFE user.
Step 5 (optional): The LIFE user provides a wallet password (optional) but is advised to provide a strong password for this.
Step 6: LIFEapp uses a password-based Key Derivation Function (PBKDF), such as scrypt, to derive a AES-256 key.
Step 7: The AES-256 key is used to encrypt the wallet seed.
Step 8: The encrypted wallet seed is stored on the storage device. The LIFEapp uses BIP32 [2] and BIP44 [3] to derive keys in the HD multi-currency wallet.
For security, we consider the following scenarios:
• An attacker gets hold of the 12 mnemonic words. If the LIFE user had used the mnemonic password, the attacker will not be able to generate the private and public keys to steal the funds. If the mnemonic password is not used, then the attacker will be able to access the funds in the wallet.
• An attacker gets hold of the device which is powered down. If the attacker gained access to the storage medium and managed to break the secure storage feature of the operating system, then the attacker cannot read the wallet seed if the wallet password is used by the LIFE user. If the attacker tries to brute-force the password then PBKDF will make this process very slow so that the attacker can guess only a few rather than millions of passwords per second on a standard personal computer. This will allow the user to regenerate the wallet on a different device and transfer funds to a different wallet.
• An attacker gets hold of the device which is locked. We assume that the LIFE user had used a strong PIN to lock the device and the attacker cannot unlock the device.
• An attacker gained access to the LIFEapp on an unlocked device. The attacker will then be able to see the transaction history and balances, but will not be able to steal funds easily if the wallet password is used. If no wallet password is used then the attacker can steal all the funds.
Backup and restore:
we consider the following scenarios where LIFE user wants to backup and restore the wallet:
• In order to backup the wallet, the LIFE user needs to write down the 12 mnemonic words and store the document safely somewhere. If the mnemonic password is used, it must not be stored together with the mnemonic words: if so, the password gives no extra security.
• LIFEapp strongly recommends that the user chooses a strong mnemonic password and stores it separately from the mnemonic words.
• Using the 12 mnemonic words and the mnemonic password the entire wallet can be restored. Since the LIFEapp uses standard libraries for the wallet, the LIFE user can take these mnemonic words and password to generate the same wallet using other wallet apps that support HD multi-currency wallets. Similarly, the user can bring wallets created with other apps to LIFEapp.
• The LIFE user can use multiple devices to access their wallets. They can recreate the wallet on one device using 12 mnemonic words and/or with a mnemonic password.
Loyalty Rewards
Why Rewards for Disruption?
*Loyalty points had a book value of around $350 billion globally in 2015 and will be worth an estimated $500 billion by 2019
*53% of consumers expressed a desire for all rewards to be digital
2/3 of consumers think it’s important for brands to take a stance on social issues
For 56% of consumers, knowing a brand is socially conscious influences their purchasing decisions
LIFElabs charitable partners benefit from the consumer adoption of loyalty rewards from 30% of the net transactions on
the LIFE ecosystem top up the ring-fenced supply (30bn tokens), which redistributes a sustainable source of wealth to our big philanthropic partners
*https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-exchange-loyalty-idUSKBN15F2SC
Blockchain works
so well for loyalty rewards because of its inherently transparent and secure nature. For consumers juggling an
array of complicated loyalty programs, Blockchain provides a way to instantly redeem and exchange multiple loyalty point currencies on a single platform. With only one wallet for points, represented as digital currency, consumers will not be hampered by redemption rules.
Loyalty Rewards
The Benefits of Blockchain Loyalty Rewards to the Consumer
Loyalty programs have proliferated across multiple sectors. The average U.S. household participates in 9 different loyalty programs, according to the Forrester*.
The result is a confusing array of point systems and redemption options, lack of insight into value, and the systems themselves often unnavigable for exchanging rewards among program partners or sharing with friends or loved ones.
The Loyalty Rewards Market is valued at $400bn globally and $48bn is the US alone (Forbes, 2018)** and is are ripe for some kind of disruptive innovation that would make them easier to use and accessible to smaller businesses to participate in schemes on their own terms, with little overhead, as well as for consumers to have more choice and control at the point of redemption.
Blockchain and LIFEtoken is our answer. The decentralised nature of Blockchain enables a ledger of transactions to be shared across a network of participants. When a new digital transaction occurs (for example, a LIFEtoken is redeemed, or exchanged), a unique record of the token transaction is recorded on the blockchain.
For consumers juggling an array of loyalty programs, with multiple physical cards, Blockchain is a compelling argument for amalgamating a multitude of rewards in a digital ecosystem that can support consumers of the future.
With LIFElabs digital ecosystem and wallet for loyalty rewards, consumers could benefit from centralised and transparent rewards with an ethical foundation.
*http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/consumers-loyalty-programs-3738548.pdf
The Benefits of Blockchain Loyalty Rewards to Businesses
Adopting LIFEtoken rewards enables companies to compete for customer retention with less developmental overhead to their existing methods. Joining the digital currency revolution further widens redemption avenues outside of the primary entry point, increasing consumer choice in how to spend rewards; with the combined ethical base of LIFE’s philanthropic vision, this makes for a strong brand advocacy experience.
The Blockchain and digital currency landscape would further enable businesses to break away from traditional loyalty programs and the tunnel vision model of redemption. Consumers have heightened awareness of the digital landscape, their value as data points, and the competitive landscape of loyalty rewards.
Adopting LIFEtoken for rewards enables SME’s and SMB’s to participate with very little overhead. The LIFE for rewards SDK and API will promote seamless integrations (plug and play) across e-commerce plugins; for example- Magento, WooCommerce, and Shopify, allowing partner businesses to be on-trend and LIFE rewards to scale in its reach.
Furthermore, adopters will have access to a dashboard displaying key metrics on their allocation of LIFEtoken, projections for supply, and customer behaviour.
Merchant Gateway
An Innovative Platform for Consumer Businesses
Naturally, the follow-on from loyalty rewards is the transaction gateway.
How does this differ from a standard wallet transfer?
LIFE merchant app is scheduled for release at the end of 2018 and will provide a secure payment gateway for small businesses to accept LIFEtoken as payment.
Merchants and customers will benefit from offline transactions to a fixed amount per day. These transactions will take place off the mainnet (accessing the Blockchain), which will materially speed up the transaction times to buy small items at point of sale (POS).
LIFElabs proposes to ring-fence a daily float of 5bn LIFEtoken to underpin this facility with a reserve.
The amount can be increased on a demand basis.
By providing this facility, which will reconcile overnight initially (or timed periods relative to global time zones), it will enable LIFE to provide a transactional alternative to fiat currencies and bypass the sometimes challenging speeds of transacting on the Blockchain.
This will be available anywhere in the world, subject to our Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering regulations (AML) policy on a territory-by-territory basis.
The merchant gateway will build upon the existing wallet infrastructure, and a third of all net transaction fees will be used to top up the ring-fenced philanthropic supply.
By adopting LIFEtoken as a payment method, businesses and consumers will be actively engaging in a philanthropic revolution using Blockchain technology.
By adopting LIFEtoken, partners become part of a wider network, enhancing brand awareness for transacting in digital currencies and further facilitating revenue stream opportunities.
Features:
Secure and scalable transactional gateway
Back-office system for supporting merchants
Merchant app
Merchant dashboard
Transaction notifications
LIFEcard
Digital Currency Transactions for Everyday Use
LIFEcard is a user-friendly, prepaid debit card, with no hidden fees. Enabling card payments for goods and services using LIFE and other currencies (including Ethereum and Bitcoin), LIFEcard bridges all elements of the LIFE ecosystem for use in everyday life.
The card will incorporate a range of technologies to make it as simple as possible to use. By using the card, users will be maintaining the ring-fenced supply for good causes, as fractions of transactions will top-up the ring-fenced supply.
The use of card payments continued to grow strongly in 2016, with the number of transactions increasing by 10% to a record total of more than 19bn. With regards to contactless payments, the total spending in 2016 was more than twice that of the previous eight years combined.
The Philanthropic Sector
Rapid View of Key Facts
There are 4000 International NGOs registered with the UN and providing humanitarian and medical services
Approximately 1.41 million non-profits were registered with the Internal Revenue Service (in the US alone)
The non-profit sector contributed an estimated $905.9 billion to the US economy in 2013, composing 5.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)
In 2014, total private giving from individuals, foundations, and businesses totalled $358.38 billion
A staggering 292 charities, with a combined income of £2.4bn in their latest reported accounts on the Charity Commission’s website, spent 10% or less on their charitable activities
1,020 charities, with a combined income of £6bn in their latest reported accounts on the Charity Commission’s website, spent 50% or less on their charitable activities
What is LIFElabs to the Sector ?
LIFElabs will develop with a broad role in the sector. The Guardian categorises three types of ‘player’ in this sector:
Innovation partner; for example, with our crowdsourcing platform LIFElabs reduces the barriers for non-profits to utilise blockchain technology
Strategic advisor; in applying the technology through its consultancy services LIFElabs can advise on best practice and identify savings and synergies for non-profits.
Vendor with a mission; By offering LIFEtoken as a viable alternative to volatile local fiat currencies or as a transparent reward system via the LIFEPaaS (platform as a service).
Sources:
Blockchain & Philanthropy
The Consumer Journey of Intent
The current state of philanthropy and Blockchain is in its infancy. While some charities have accepted Bitcoin for donations, for some time (RNLI press release 2014) the sector itself has tentatively embraced Blockchain with trust, trepidation, and reputation being significant factors on the rate of adoption.
The landscape of ICO startups presents a veneer of questionable intent and shrouds true entities with breakthrough potential. The story is still one of promise, with significant prospective change in key areas for non-profits.
Social organisations need to take action to bolster trust. Trust is one of the most precious commodities for non-profits and charities (CAF, 2015).Many non-profits benefit from unquestionable trust from consumers, but there is evidence that this trend is changing.
“Research published by the Charities Aid Foundation in September 2015 suggested that public trust in charities had fallen significantly in the past year. When asked in 2014 whether most charities are trustworthy and act in the public interest 71% of over 1,100 people agreed , a figure broadly in line with previous years . In 2015, this had fallen to just 57%”*
Maintaining trust is an expensive endeavour, tied to both marketing spend and maintaining high levels of awareness. Like many businesses, non-profits vie for consumer retention. Blockchain, due to its inherent qualities of transparency and immutability, presents a new toolset to enforce trust for consumers.
LIFElabs aims to bridge this gap by becoming an intrinsic part of the Blockchain and philanthropic landscape, by lowering the barriers to access the technology for non-profits and linking philanthropy to the consumer in a trusted and transparent platform, with everyday utility for the consumer.
At the same time, consumers can be sure their adoption will ensure our philanthropic partners have ongoing donations, marketing, visibility, and support, but also crucially, a technology gateway to Blockchain services.
Philanthropy is no stranger to Blockchain; there are a number of companies vying for attention in a marketplace worth an estimated $3 trillion dollars globally (the exact figure is not known).
Alice.si and Disburse are just two validated ventures that are looking at smart contracts as ways to revolutionise the way non-profits work. Other players include the Bitgive.org foundation which offers a crowdfunded platform.
All of these ventures have credible arguments and foundations but they lack a holistic vision of the greater challenge: non- profits not only gaining and enforcing trust in a rapidly evolving consumer environment, but also ensuring the retention rate of consumer adoption and participation rate through integration into daily life remains high.
*Garton, J. (2018) “What is leading to a decline in trust in charities?”,
OpenLearn, http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/business-strategy-studies/what-leading-decline-trust-charities
Blockchain, LIFEtoken, and the Frontline of Philanthropy
Many organisations work in areas and with populations that are subjected to high levels of insecurity and corruption, which are heightened by traditional monetary systems.
Digital currencies offer an opportunity to offset this trend by presenting an alternative that can be tracked, or only redeemed, in a more secure manner in predefined merchant gateways, tied to the aim of a particular cause or localised event.
The direct nature of transactions makes third parties obsolete, further reducing the risk of negative influence.
LIFEtoken has the potential to have a demonstrable impact in this area by gaining adoption from inherited trust from its relationship with non-profits. Also, in return, adoption at the grass-roots level reinforces the LIFElabs giving model with fractions of transactions topping up the ring-fenced supply.
Adopters for merchant services or loyalty rewards in developing countries will benefit further from an alternative payment mechanism that is easily utilised by transient worker populations, many of whom are vulnerable to exploitation through a lack of access to banking or secure financial services.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that there are 150m transient works worldwide.
The UN’s 2017 report states:
“When supported by appropriate policies, migration can contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development in both home and host communities. In 2016, migrants from developing countries sent home an estimated US $413 billion in remittances. Remittances constitute a significant source of household income that improves the livelihoods of families and communities through investments in education, health, sanitation, housing and infrastructure.”*
The secure and accessible nature of LIFEtoken, powered by the Ethereum Blockchain on global digital exchanges, has a durable level of utility for international remittance, bolstered by the philanthropic message at the core of LIFElabs’ purpose.
Increasingly, the exposure of Bitcoins and altcoins (any other digital currency, like Bitcoin Cash, Stellar Lumens, or LiteCoin) adds an inherent risk of volatility, with speculation from external sources a significant factor.
LIFEtoken offers a grass-roots alternative to secure and non-volatile storage that can be economically passed from CtoC or BtoC through the Blockchain.
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts lay at the heart of utility of the decentralised computing phenomenon. The Etheruem Blockchain has been labelled ‘a global computer’. Smart contracts govern actions and the utility can be applied to a wide range of scenarios. Smart contracts are defined by Wikipedia (2018) as:
“A computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract.
Smart contracts allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties. These transactions are trackable and irreversible.[1] Smart contracts were first proposed by Nick Szabo, who coined the term, in 1994.[2]
Proponents of smart contracts claim that many kinds of contractual clauses may be made partially or fully self-executing, self-enforcing, or both. The aim of smart contracts is to provide security that is superior to traditional contract law and to reduce other transaction costs associated with contracting. Various cryptocurrencies have implemented types of smart contracts.”
In 2018, a US Senate report said: "While smart contracts might sound new, the concept is rooted in basic contract law.
Usually, the judicial system adjudicates contractual disputes and enforces terms, but it is also common to have another arbitration method, especially for international transactions. With smart contracts, a program enforces the contract built into the code."
Smart contracts will be at the heart of some PaaS product features, so it is imperative that the reader has an understanding of them.
In the diagram below we portray a project funded scenario, where funding is automatically released by smart contract, based on a projects progress:
PaaS for Philanthropy
Product wheel
The LIFEPaaS will be well-placed to bridge the gap between the consumers’ need for trust, the barrier to access the Blockchain of non-profits, and the endpoint in some cases on the front line for non-profits.
In this respect the LIFE platform is a holistic vision in the theatre of consumer awareness and trust in a digital economy, the role of non-profits, and the role of technology and the actions of non-profits in developing economies.
The role of Blockchain is not a cure-all or panacea, but rather should be seen a positive symptom of an increasingly dysfunctional dynamic between isolated communities and the divergent role of charitable corporations.
As LIFElabs engages non-profits across the world, trust in LIFEtoken and PaaS will grow, which will in turn foster further adoption of the platform by non-profits and the role of LIFEPaaS as a third party, trusted by consumers to enforce trust with non-profit partners.
This adoption and trust will inevitably filter into the wider adoption of LIFEtoken in certain theatres, where the host population fiat* currency is subject to devaluation, boom and bust cycles, rampant inflation, and negative FX movements, all of which undermine food security and basic necessities, which inhibits development by limiting horizons of stability in many developing countries.
*Fiat money definition: Fiat money is legal tender, or currency (bank notes and coins), which has value only because a government says so, and because the people using it maintain faith in it having value.
Crowdsourced funding
Smart contracts can automate the disbursement of funds and can be used to track goods as they make their way around the world.
This level of transparency has eluded social organisations and donors alike.
Imagine a world where your charitable donations always made a difference. A world where a charity could be run with minimal overhead.
This charity would allow you to see what path your donation took; from the moment it was given to the moment it was spent, by feet on the ground making a difference.
A better charity is possible with Blockchain technology and Ethereum.
Using these technologies, we can build a decentralised, autonomous, charitable platform that can accept donations in digital currency, hold onto funds and deploy them globally, while maintaining complete transparency of individual donations.
LIFEvault
Proof of Identity
Individuals anywhere in the word could securely store and verify their identities and share those identities, however they choose, from our LIFEvault. This way, data can be held securely and disclosed to the minimum required to fulfil an obligation.
How would this work?
Individuals can validate certain pieces of information without sharing the information itself in a process known as ‘zero-knowledge proof’. This service could also be used by Individuals who may want to safe guard personal data if they reside in an area where the is a risk of personal identify theft or the loss of personal documents and data.
“In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof or zero-knowledge protocol is a method by which one party (the prover Peggy) can prove to another party (the verifier Victor) that she knows a value x, without conveying any information apart from the fact that she knows the value x.
Another way of understanding this would be: Interactive zero-knowledge proofs require interaction between the individual (or computer system) proving their knowledge and the individual validating the proof.”*
Ethical Behaviour
One of the uses of zero-knowledge proofs within cryptographic protocols is to enforce honest behaviour while maintaining privacy. Roughly, the idea is to force a user to prove, using a zero-knowledge proof, that their behaviour is correct according to the protocol. Because of soundness we know that the user must really act honestly in order to provide a valid proof. Because of zero-knowledge, we know that the user does not compromise the privacy of its secrets in the process of providing the proof.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof
Closing Statement
A Word from Our CEO
The philanthropic sector will continue to evolve at breakneck speeds as will Blockchain technology. Consumer awareness of breaches of trust will continue to dominate the headlines when they occur. Breaches of trust have become tangible digital assets, stored and shared across the world by an ever increasingly aware consumer society. Marketing, brand awareness, and the ability of social organisations to tell their unique stories with confidence and garner participation lie at the core of maintaining funding for the thousands of valuable good causes worldwide.
“It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”- Albert Einstein
By adopting LIFEtoken or LIFEPaaS, anyone can be sure that they are giving back sustainably and equably for generations to come, with transparency for all.
Kind regards,
Luke Chittock
CEO
