Integrating the best of blockchain technology, and then taking it one step further...
* Proof-of-Stake * X11 Proof-of-Work * Community Governance * InstantX * DarkSend * Master Nodes * Native I2P/Tor * Identity Management * Encrypted Messaging * Extended OP Codes * Stealth Transactions * DApp Development * Digital Asset Subchains *
What is Tao?In 2009, the enigmatic persona “Satoshi Nakamoto” launched Bitcoin: a public currency network built on what was to be known as “blockchain technology.” Blockchain technology has unleashed such a wave of potential economic freedom and accountability that it has become one of the most transformative technologies since the internet, itself. Six years later there exists an entire universe of blockchain-based applications, from currencies to smart contract platforms, unleashing the spending power of the sovereign individual without the concern for any geographic economic disincentive on a global scale. Allowing for true borderless currencies and settlements over the Internet, blockchain technology has unleashed the imagination of technophiles, libertarians, academics, politicians, and financial professionals. Many innovations in privacy, smart contracts, and decentralized commerce have been developed, but there has been no cohesive manifestation of all of the best that modern blockchain technology has to offer. The Tao (pronounced “dow”) blockchain network represents the pinnacle of the evolution of blockchain technology, harmonizing these leading edge technologies into a network with unrivaled potential.
Throughout the entire 20th and early 21st centuries, technological advancement has come at the cost of security, safety and privacy but the open source software development community has decided upon a different fate. It is the purpose of this project to leverage the latest in cryptographic technology towards the protection of consumer privacy which, when coupled with blockchain settlements, unleashes an unprecedented ability for the average, sovereign individual to fully exercise their freedom of expression regardless of their nationality or geographic location.
The Tao Project is a distributed autonomous organization (DAO) which has been created by a community of individuals passionate about blockchain technology with the goal of providing a solid, stable platform for the development of decentralized applications (DApps) and services. These DApps are to be created with the singular purpose of demonstrating the power of blockchain based smart contracts to increase economic freedom without sacrificing privacy and security. This project marks the start of the next generation of blockchain platforms which take the technology out of the experimental phase and safely into practical application.
Introducing Subchains: Creating a Blockchain in a BlockchainSubchains are a means within the Tao Network to instantiate a completely new Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) data set within the main blockchain and establish a set rate of exchange between a new digital derivative and the TAO token. As the TAO token becomes a baseline for rates of exchange between subchained assets, entirely new economic possibilities emerge for the exchange of value and the settlement for goods and services. Every blockchain is based on public key cryptography which is comprised of two principal components: a public component and a private component. This key pair is used to create addresses on Bitcoin-based blockchain networks. Each blockchain has a specific set of parameters which make that blockchain cryptographically unique, and it is why the addresses for Tao are different than Bitcoin. However, if the specific parameters for generating an address for any given blockchain are known, a single key pair may serve for every blockchain. It is in this manner that a single set of key pairs are able to represent an almost unlimited number of addresses for subchained assets, each of which can be linked together with the most basic of smart contract implementations.
The Tao of Intelligent TransactionsThe most powerful feature of the Tao network is its Intelligent Transaction technology. This simple but elegant blockchain implementation allows for unprecedented flexibility in smart contract execution at per-transaction resolution. IntelliTx technology allows for a smart contract payload to be attached to each and every transaction. Transactions can be created which are simply a smart contract payload and a transaction fee. Transaction payloads are content agnostic, so as to be able to accommodate Bitcoin Script, Ethereum Serpent/Solidity, or your own custom protocol, and yet are still able to be validated through Tao network consensus. Naturally re-entrant smart contracts create a worry-free environment for developers who no longer need to be concerned about their programmatic flow being interrupted and funds being lost by a recursive contract call. The operation of IntelliTx removes the pitfalls with other smart contract networks, even if their scripting is implemented!
An Intelligent Transaction is more than just a smart contract, it is a means by which a blockchain may interact with the world outside of its network and do so while still enjoying the security of a blockchain data store and without the mandate of a virtual machine. New protocols and new DAOs may be developed and deployed without a single alteration of the operation of the Tao network or its consensus mechanisms. As such, the power of the Tao network Intelligent Transaction allows for the tokenization of any asset, creating cryptographic chains of custody for anything from gold bars, to bottles of wine, to digital music.
Identity in a Privacy-Centric Smart Contract PlatformOne of the key features of the Tao network is the ability to identify any entity, either human or machine, for the purposes of encrypted communication. The act of registering an identity with the network exposes the public key of the entity, allowing for security in communication and data sharing that is profoundly elegant in comparison to existing systems. As one may register an unlimited number of identities, the sacrifice for registering an identity is very small and yet carries with it tremendous benefits for the preservation of privacy. The concept of “anonymity” within blockchain technology has been widely misunderstood, and to the great detriment of the public. An immutable, immortal cryptographic ledger of financial transactions is in no way anonymous, or even pseudo-anonymous as has been often argued, but through the application of modern cryptographic techniques and business practices one may enjoy an unparalleled level of privacy. Privacy and anonymity are not the same, yet one may not aspire to be anonymous without the ability to keep their information private.
Blockchain forensic analysis is a new, but very effective, science which has already lead to arrests once the individuals involved has been properly identified. While currently benign in its use, blockchain technology is not immune to the specters of abuse and censorship that has plagued modern technological innovation. It is towards preserving the long term privacy of individuals in a landscape of constantly evolving education and innovation that the Tao network employs several means of securing individual privacy, and thereby individual liberty.
Multisig Wallet Automated Crowd Sale! Escrow available upon request!
Crowdsale Begins: July 28th, 2016Ticker symbol: TAO
Total tokens: 42 million
Total on offer via crowd sale: 30 million
Required tokens for Alpha Node qualification: 10,000 TAO
Proof of Work Reward: 10TAO per block for 10 years, 0.001TAO thereafter
Yearly Inflation via Proof of Stake: 4%
Complete White Paper Release: July 18th, 2016
Development Roadmap Release: August 1st, 2016
Crowdsale Ends: August 28th, 2016
Network Launches: September 1st, 2016
Websitehttp://tao.networkEmailinfo@tao.networkGitHubhttps://github.com/taoblockchainTwitterhttps://twitter.com/taoblockchain
