[ANN] UBIC:The cryptocurrency providing UBI for the masses using the E-Passport

[uboid]

Mike Hearn talked about using the E-Passport as a solution to solve sybil attacks, very interesting, see: https://youtu.be/coj3uBrnxIg?t=11m

[uboid]

Enumivo in need for a good passport kyc, which ubic could provide? https://enumivo.com/topic/815-enumivo-oracles-to-be-the-enumivo-community-of-unique-individuals/

I'll take a look at it.

[uboid]

I think it would be a very good feature if there was a UBIC oracle that could be used by other project and not only other UBI projects.

[ubicorn]

I think it would be a very good feature if there was a UBIC oracle that could be used by other project and not only other UBI projects.

The KYC part is almost done.

[Ubiubi18]

I think it would be a very good feature if there was a UBIC oracle that could be used by other project and not only other UBI projects.

The KYC part is almost done.

I think there is a window of opportunity for ubic to grow on that unique selling point of possible decentralized kyc, until self sovereign identity (build on many components) and other validators go mainstream and bring in more competition in decentralized kyc.

we know now that most people fear scanning their passport chip - most likely because they doubt the security of their private data on blockchain. It doesnt help much when cryptography experts are impressed and mindblown by ubic as long as "normal" people dont see a need to adopt it.
introducing a kyc-functionality to the app will boost ubics participants number, because it creates a usecase, value. A lot of people share their data via kyc allready with strangers - the automated ubic process would give projects as well as participants a much faster, better and more secure alternative to manual kyc.

[Ubiubi18]

I dont know, maybe you could even completly rebrand and do airdrop promotion on kyc-narrative?

[ubicorn]

I dont know, maybe you could even completly rebrand and do airdrop promotion on kyc-narrative?

The KYC part will be implemented very soon.
Indeed it would be very advantageous if UBIC could become a KYC oracle for other projects.
For example it would be very useful if you could use UBIC to very easily subscribe to other cryptoUBIs or airdrops.

[ubicorn]

I released version 0.1.8 and I highly recommend to upgrade to this version.

[Ubiubi18]

I released version 0.1.8 and I highly recommend to upgrade to this version.

i did update my node yesterday. most respect for your work!

Another blasphemic idea: if it is possible to run all those different passport currencys on top of ubic blockchain, wouldnt it be also possible to run one additional "sans papiers" ubic currency on that blockchain too, low level security just with for example recaptcha / email /( mobile, but that costs something)? You can use the wallet and trade ubic without having to register passport, right? We know that Sybil Attacker can fake thousands of accounts and try to harvest such a currency, they would most likely do. But what if that nonsafe currency trades free against passport currency anyway? Wouldnt it have a free market value higher than zero just for engaging new people without passports or for engaging people who care extremly for their anonymity, by a faktor x lower, but still with value because it gives you a sense of beeing part of something? And you can still level up to real passport (and probably faktor X0.000 higher ubi) if you like?

[ubicorn]

I released version 0.1.8 and I highly recommend to upgrade to this version.

i did update my node yesterday. most respect for your work!

Another blasphemic idea: if it is possible to run all those different passport currencys on top of ubic blockchain, wouldnt it be also possible to run one additional "sans papiers" ubic currency on that blockchain too, low level security just with for example recaptcha / email /( mobile, but that costs something)? You can use the wallet and trade ubic without having to register passport, right? We know that Sybil Attacker can fake thousands of accounts and try to harvest such a currency, they would most likely do. But what if that nonsafe currency trades free against passport currency anyway? Wouldnt it have a free market value higher than zero just for engaging new people without passports or for engaging people who care extremly for their anonymity, by a faktor x lower, but still with value because it gives you a sense of beeing part of something? And you can still level up to real passport (and probably faktor X0.000 higher ubi) if you like?

I had in mind the idea of creating a hybrid solution that would combine a web of trust with the use of the current E-Passport approach.
Under this scheme every E-passport holder would be able to certify 3 other people. If someone gets 5 certifications he would get a UBI too.

[ubicorn]

I added 2 new endpoints in the API, /ubi/verify-kyc and /ubi/do-kyc
The functionality is still under development.

[ubicorn]

The KYC functionality is now working. To verify someone, a website creates a challenge, something like "www.utopia.org/?kyc-request=1462517"
The user then scans his passport and generates a base64 encoded identity proof for this challenge. As said previously there a re 3 modes: anonymous, with written information and with facial image.

When the base64 encoded proof is sent to the /ubi/verify-kyc endpoint, the output would be like this one:

Code:

{
    "success": "true",
    "dscID": "81fd9c80a1c40f2fbde419ee928318013fe714ff",
    "currencyID": "42",
    "expiration": "1568278666",
    "passportHash": "35715d1ae2c2b67e17815c3d53b12406833a0b294cc9bc40a37473111d32deb9",
    "challenge": "www.utopia.org/?kyc-request=1462517",
    "passportNumber": "A54DF5AA4",
    "name": "DOE  JOHN",
    "isoCountryCode": "UTO",
    "gender": "M",
    "dateOfExpiry": "210519",
    "dateOfBirth": "890529",
    "mrz": "P<P>UTODOE<<JOHN<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<A54DF5AA44UTO8905293M1909214<<<<<<<<<<<<<<08",
    "facialImage": "AAAAgdf0...."
}

in the above example the KYC proof is with a facial image.
An "anonymous" proof would look like this:

Code:

{
    "success": "true",
    "dscID": "81fd9c80a1c40f2fbde419ee928318013fe714ff",
    "currencyID": "42",
    "expiration": "1568278666",
    "passportHash": "35715d1ae2c2b67e17815c3d53b12406833a0b294cc9bc40a37473111d32deb9",
    "challenge": "www.utopia.org/?kyc-request=1462517"
}

[Ubiubi18]

wow, gj! will there be a whitepaper update explaining it in detail, which we can share with people?

[Ubiubi18]

I did digg once more into anti sybil projects and it is fascinating that there seems to be still no other competitor yet providing a automated and/or decentralizable solution for sybil resistance beside maybe duniter. I think brightID will face slow growth too for different reasons, it is unlikely that everyone convinces their real peergroup to join at the beginning and local seedgroups may be only at a close distance attractive to join. As long as web of trust doesnt grow into mainstream something like kyc with government IDs seems to be initially needed as kickstart nearly everywhere.

[uboid]

I am currently working on implementing the KYC functionality to the android app and it would be very useful to have am API endpoint that for a given passport hash returns if it already receives UBI or not.
EDIT: It turns out I don't need it.

[Ubiubi18]

Ubic stands for "Universal Basic Income" Currency, but a additional meaning like "Unique Blockchain Identity" Currency could be correct too?

[uboid]

Ubic stands for "Universal Basic Income" Currency, but a additional meaning like "Unique Blockchain Identity" Currency could be correct too?

i like "Unique Blockchain Identity Currency"

However I think that we should speed up because we now have some direct competitors. Take a look at https://q.org they are planing to use the E-Passport too.
Quote from q.org:

PROOF OF PERSON
E-passports
RFID-chipped travel passports are the most widely circulated document in the world. Adoption rates became especially high in recent years. The USA is near 50%, and European countries are near 70-80% or higher. Worldwide, RFID-chipped passports are in the vicinity of 1 billion.
RFID-chipped passports support NFC (Near Field Communication). This allows us to create a Proof Of Person by verifying the passport authenticity with the signing authority. Through a mobile phone app, this can be done in a user friendly way and without anyone needing to receive your passport details, ensuring your privacy.
To prevent passport abuse by third parties, we can add an additional decentralized video verification system. This will ensure that the person in possession of the passport matches the passport picture.

They intend to launch in 2019, there are no information about who is behind the project.

[uboid]

Wow, they paid between 150 and 500k$ for their domain name and bought it in Feb 2018, source: https://www.namepros.com/blog/braden-pollock-sold-q-org-for-500-000.1106227
They also bought the https://twitter.com/Q account, so they seem BIG to me.

[Ubiubi18]

another hint that people believe in your concept

[uboid]

This is probably either USV, Y Combinator or a16z crypto. Not sure which one, but the website looks similar to the one of a16z crypto.