Hello, I would like to propose a solution for authenticating physical goods that are subject to counterfeiting (gold coins, medicine, banknotes, artwork, organic seeds, collector's stamps, vintage wine, etc.). It would come in the form of a cryptographic microchip sealed by the manufacturer into the object to be authenticated, or into its packaging if the object is too small (packaging must irreversibly damaged once opened). The printed circuit would include a microchip able to make cryptographic signatures and communicate via NFC, and small battery (rechargeable via USB when empty).
When sealed into the object the microchip self-generates a cryptographic keypair. The manufacturer retrieves the public key from the microchip (the private key can't be communicated outside of the chip by any mean), generates a record data describing the object along with its microchip's public key, signs it, and records the data on a blockchain (dedicated or existing, not decided yet).
When anyone wants to authenticate the origin and the uniqueness of such an object, they just need to place their smartphone near the object, then:
1 - A compatible smartphone app retrieves the public key of the microchip via NFC.
2 - The app retrieves the corresponding data previously recorded by the manufacturer from the blockchain.
3 - The app authenticates the manufacturer and its signature of the data record.
4 - The app extracts the public key of the microchip from the data record.
5 - The app send random data to the microchip via NFC to be signed.
6 - The microchip signs the provided random data with its corresponding private key and sends the signature back to the app via NFC.
7 - The app checks the signature, and displays information to the user regarding the fact that the microchip and the manufacturer passed the test, or not.
That's it. I think this kind of technology could be very useful in various domains, I would like to develop it as an open, patent free and decentralized standard. I need help and advise for that, can you help me?
Thank you very much,
Camille.
PS: The microchip functionalities could be extended, e.g. carrying cryptocurrencies cold wallets (a bit similar too
https://opendime.com/). This technology is a simplified version of my main project
https://checkoin.org/, which allows to reach the same goal with low-tech solutions (but more complicated to implement, I cannot find any help, TLTR I guess…), more info about physical cryptocurrencies cold wallets exchangeable like cash on the site. See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Coin_Grading_Service
