Particl (cryptocurrency)

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Particl
logo
symbol PART
Publishing year 2017
developer crz, tecnovert
Mining PPoS / SHA256

Block reward: 2% pa Block interval: approx. 2 min. Block size: 2 MB

Website particl.io

Particl ( abbreviation : PART ) is a blockchain-based open source project in the field of cryptocurrencies . Particl was the first project to eliminate the weaknesses in the Bitcoin system described by CryptoNote . In July 2019, the compliance of Particl's expanded Bitcoin code base with the MLSAG and bulletproof protocols described by S. Noether and B. Bünz was described for the first time by an independent security audit. On July 16, 2019, Particl was the first crypto project to introduce the privacy technology from CryptoNote and Monero on its Bitcoin-based blockchain . Particl is considered a technological pioneer in the implementation of privacy technologies. Particl, and the ShadowCash project on which it is based, serve as a template for numerous other crypto projects in the area of ​​the growing number of privacy coins, such as B. Verge, Ghost, Divi, DarkPay, Veil, etc. a.

From 2014 to 2018, Particl and ShadowCash were among the fifty most important crypto projects with a market capitalization of up to 200 million euros . Particl is actively supported and continuously developed by a Swiss foundation . Particl published on August 12, 2019 its first locally built up peer-to-peer - marketplace . The Particl marketplace uses the proprietary crypto currency PART as the sole means of payment for the processing of all trading activities according to the game theory MAD - escrow principle. An exchange and exchange service integrated in the marketplace application enables non-proprietary crypto currencies to be exchanged in PART at external trading venues. This made it possible for the first time to conduct online trading without having to pass traceable personal data to “middlemen”, e.g. B. payment service providers or trading platforms to disclose.

history

Particl
Basic data

Current  version Core 0.19.1.1
(Apr 23, 2020)
operating system Win / macOS / Linux / Android / iOS
programming language C ++, typescript
License WITH
particl.io

Particl is from the predecessor project Shadow cash for a token - Exchange emerged (Coin swap) as an independent project. Owners of SDC tokens (ShadowCash cryptocurrency) were exclusively entitled to exchange SDC tokens for PART tokens at a ratio of 1: 1 for a certain period of time (4 weeks). The exchange period began on March 18, 2017 and ended on April 15, 2017. The 1658 participants in the token exchange were also able to receive “discounted” PART for 1 USD / PART through a one-time donation in Bitcoin (BTC token).

The Particl Genesis block was generated on July 17, 2017 and has been continued decentrally based on a specific Proof-of-Stake consensus procedure (PPoS) since then . The goal of the Particl blockchain project is to provide a privacy-conscious and censorship-resistant distributed ledger platform (DLT). The Particl blockchain supports smart contracts as well as the connection of alternative crypto tokens to the anonymized transaction process of the PART token.

The development of the first decentralized Particl application ( dApp ) is largely supported by the Particl Foundation, a foundation founded on June 29, 2017 in Zug (Switzerland) . The foundation received the financial means on the one hand from the SDC / Particl-Token-Exchange, approx. 590 Bitcoin, which at the time corresponded to about 750,000 USD, a second fundraising (996,000 PART) and on the other hand the Particl-Foundation is financed through 10% income from ongoing PART staking rewards. The foundation reports quarterly on the liquid funds and assets available to it.

technology

Particle Core Releases
Bitcoin Core Particl Core
version Release date version Release date
0.14.2 17th Jun. 2017 0.14..2 17th July 2017

(Genesis Block)

0.15.0 Sep 14 2017 0.15.0.2 29 Sep 2017
0.15.0.1 19 Sep 2017
0.15.1 Nov 11, 2017 0.15.1 Nov 17, 2017
0.16.0 Feb. 26, 2018 0.16.0.1 26th Mar 2018
0.16.2 Jun 15, 2018 0.16.2.0 Jun 15, 2018
0.17.0 Oct 3, 2018 0.17.0 Oct 13, 2018
0.17.0.1 Oct. 30, 2018 0.17.0.1 Nov 1, 2018
0.17.1 Dec 25, 2018 0.17.1.0 Jan. 1, 2019
0.18.0 2.May. 2019 0.18.0.7 May 9. 2019
0.18.1 9 Aug 2019 0.18.1.2 12 Aug 2019
0.19.0.1 Nov 24, 2019 0.19.0.1 3rd Dec 2019
0.19.1 9 Mar 2020 0.19.1.1 23 Apr 2019
0.20.0 3rd Jun. 2020 0.20.0

Blockchain

The Particl blockchain with its native PART token is technologically a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. In order to be able to participate in the security and technological advancement of Bitcoins in the future (e.g. Lightning , Atomic Swaps ...), the Particl Code base is continuously adapted to the Bitcoin Code base.

The Particl blockchain relied on a proof-of-stake consensus procedure (PPoS) with native SegWit support right from the start. For this purpose, PoSv3 was expanded to a so-called Particl Proof-of-Stake Consensus (PPoS) through cold staking. Cold staking pools enable holders of PART tokens to have continuous staking income credited to them (from July 2020 approx. 2% p. A.) Without losing control of the PART tokens they have used.

Particl would like to offer extended options for protecting individual privacy , based as closely as possible on the Bitcoin Code basis . In addition, the traceability of individual tokens is made more difficult by anonymization techniques such as confidential transactions (CT) or ring signatures (RingCT). The implementation of bulletproofs minimizes the storage requirements on the blockchain for RingCT transactions.

Besides the well known of Bitcoin public token status " public " Particl has two additional token status. If the status is " blind ", the amount of the respective token transaction is concealed by means of CT. With the status " anon ", RingCT + Bulletproofs hide the sender and recipient addresses in addition to the amount. Due to the native integration of all three token statuses on a blockchain, PART tokens can be converted between the three token statuses using a normal token transaction.

Applications

Purses / wallets

The Particl token is stored decentrally on a blockchain. Access to the respective token is only granted by the private key belonging to the public token address . The private keys are stored on so-called purses or wallets . The following Particl applications are available for download to manage the private keys:

  • Particl Desktop (for Win / Mac / Linux )
  • Particl Core Qt (for Win / Mac / Linux) supports Ledger Nano S
  • Particl Copay (Mobile App for Android / iOS )

Marketplace

The Particl marketplace consists of a generally accessible marketplace, the so-called Open Marketplace , as well as numerous individually accessible private marketplaces, the so-called storefronts . Each marketplace has a unique key (marketplace key) that grants access to the respective marketplace (available from desktop release 2.4.0). All Particl marketplaces are set up as P2P marketplaces . They bring buyers and sellers into a trading relationship with one another directly and without a middleman or intermediary. Purchase and sale conditions can be freely negotiated (e.g. handover of the object of purchase). The marketplace application can optionally be operated via the Tor network . The application has an integrated, distributed storage network (DSN) on which all marketplace advertisements are encrypted and stored free of meta-data for a limited period of time. The seller has to pay listing fees for the use of the DSN , which are paid back to the stakers as additional staking rewards as part of the proof-of-stake.

Payment is processed between buyer and seller using a game theory MAD - Escrow method. Both contractual partners must deposit a sufficiently high deposit in a multisigniture smart contract, whereby the PART tokens to be deposited as deposit will only be refunded after a complete and mutually satisfactory fulfillment transaction. Only anonymized PART tokens, so-called anon-coins , are used for payment processing . The compulsory use of anon-coins (private-by-default) is intended to avoid undermining the protection of privacy. The Particl community decides on the legality of the advertisements listed on the marketplace in the form of a collective self-administration using public coins . The need to introduce a third coin status, the blind coins , is based on the use of smart contracts.

Schematic payment process at the Particl marketplace
Schematic payment process at the Particl marketplace

Audits and Reviews

In May 2019, a security audit was commissioned from Quarkslab SAS with regard to the Ring Signature Protocol (MLSAG) and the Bulletproof Protocol. No security holes were found that could weaken the security of the protocols. Furthermore, a code review at WeSecureApp (WSA) and a traceability and linkability analysis of Particl's RingCT implementation at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) were commissioned.

outlook

In addition to the functional expansion of the Particl marketplace, side chain applications, such as B. Lightning, are supported. The integration of additional crypto tokens in the marketplace application is to be simplified by atomic swaps. A software development kit (SDK) to support third-party providers who want to set up their own applications on the Particl blockchain is also planned in the future.

previous Particl Achievements - (Milestones)
date date date
17 Jul 2017 Particl Blockchain starts with Genesis Block 31. May. 2018 Particl Marketplace (Alpha) is used for the

Testnet environment released

May 9. 2019 Particl Copay with Cold Staking support
Sep 24 2017 Particl Mainnet enables atomic swaps 7 Aug 2018 Cold staking is now also possible with Ledger Nano S.

(Hardware wallet) possible

4th Jul. 2019 Particl Desktop 1.4.0 - Preparation for RingCT

+ Bulletproofs Hardfork + New Look / Logo

Oct 2, 2017 Particl Copay - Launch of the mobile app for Android Jan. 17, 2019 Integration of additional cryptocurrencies in

Particl Copay 5.4.1 (mobile wallet)

16 Jul 2019 Hard fork for the mainnet release of RingCT and

Bulletproofs

Nov 10, 2017 Hard fork to support cold staking and

Protection against quantum computer attacks

1st Mar 2019 Hard fork to enable voting

(Network governance) and multisignature cold staking

12 Aug 2019 Desktop 2.0.0 - Release from Particl Open Marketplace
Jan. 5, 2018 Cold Staking, the improved Proof of Stake (PoSv3)

to protect against Meltdown and Specter Exploit

March 8 2019 Particl gets a new logo 17 Sep 2019 Private cold staking
17 Feb 2018 Particl Desktop 1.1 is released 21 Mar 2019 Particl Desktop supports multi-wallets

(multiple purses)

Nov 25, 2019 Desktop 2.3.0 with BTC in-wallet exchange module

criticism

SDC / PART coin swap

The Particl project, which is linked to the former ShadowCash project, has long been criticized by the shadow and crypto community, especially because of its unfortunate and not very professional token exchange. Although the Shadow or Particl team probably with the best of intentions wanted to win the community for a continuation of the cooperation in the Particl project, stringent token exchange specifications that were not communicated to the community in advance in advance have to make major price-relevant adjustments during the Token Exchange led. The resulting market distortions initially led to accusations of scam, which ultimately turned out to be incorrect.

The subsequent adjustments or additions to the SDC / PART Token Exchange conditions were as follows:
originally New use
BTC donation (max. 15%)

with a reduced PART subscription price

(1 PART = 1 USD)

2 days deadline 5 days deadline approx. 590 donated BTC (1st financing round)

To support the Particl project by the Particl Foundation. Funding of the project until May 29, 2019 (originally planned until November 30, 2017).

Allocation of not exchanged PART tokens 100% Particl Foundation 80% Particl Community

20% Particl Foundation

Voluntary contribution to "Community Initiative"
Further project financing through PART tokens little or poor communication 15% of the total number of all PART tokens

(996.000 PART)

996,000 PART tokens (2nd financing round)

To support the Particl project after May 29, 2019

(originally planned after Nov. 30, 2017)

Voluntary "Community Initiative"

Subsequent exchange of SDC tokens for PART tokens (regardless of the Particl team)

not provided Exchange ratio 2: 1 for SDC tokens in possession since April 18, 2017.

For SDC tokens in possession from April 19, 2017, unclear exchange rates because depending on community decision (exchange possible until the end of 2017)

Approx. 122,182.36 PART were subsequently exchanged for SDC tokens by the community

33,817.64 PART tokens that were not accessed remained under the control of the Particl community

(As of June 2020: 25,818.98 PART still available)


"Initially diverged from Bitcoin, Particl has been greatly developed and improved upon by their engineering team" - John McAfee

Proximity to the darknet

With the conclusion of the SDC / Particl Coin-Swap, the further development of the P2P marketplace “Umbra”, which was planned based on the former Darknet marketplace “ Silk Road ”, was virtually discontinued. Shadow project quasi discontinued. The fact that a large part of the former ShadowCash developers are now actively involved in the further development of the Particl project suggests that the Particl marketplace also has a certain proximity to potential Darknet marketplaces.

Forks from Particl

In June 2020, the American entrepreneur and developer of computer security software, John McAfee , published a white paper in which he confirmed to the Particl project that the Particl marketplace kept its promise to offer complete privacy in transactions. For this reason, it was a unanimous decision for the development team of his Ghost project to use the Particl code base as the basis (hard fork) for his Ghost project, which was to be optimized for privacy.

Bug Bounty Program

On January 22, 2019, a group of students published a security vulnerability in the PoSv3 protocol. After the group had contacted us in advance, the security vulnerability was fixed with Particl Core Release 0.17.01 in October 2018. On June 29, 2019, art_of_bug published a similar attack vector on the Particl network and complained that Particl did not have a defined bug bounty program . Particl then introduced a corresponding bug bounty program .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Security Audit of Particle Bulletproof and MLSAG. In: Quarkslab's blog. July 5, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c John McAfee: Ghost - A privacy coin by John McAfee (white paper). (PDF) In: ghostbymcafee.com. June 2020, pp. 19–21 , accessed on June 11, 2020 (English).
  3. ↑ Particl Foundation, Zug (CH). Particl Foundation, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Particl: Concept, technical features and trade. In: Kryptopedia.org. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  5. ↑ What is ShadowCash Coin? In: Krypto-Magazin.de. February 2, 2018, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  6. ↑ What is shadow cash. In: WeUseCoins.com. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Token holders next steps. Particl News, April 10, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  8. ^ Post launch update. Particl News, July 24, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Can you walk me through the process (Token Exchange). reddit r / Particl, March 18, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Particl successfully closes out its seed funding round. Particl News, April 18, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  11. ↑ a b Particl Proof-of-Stake. In: Particl Project Wiki. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  12. ↑ BTC Studios: Yes, Bitcoin Can Do Smart Contracts And Particl Demonstrates How. In: Bitcoin Magazine. October 13, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Particl - Währungsagnostizismus. In: BitcoinWiki. March 29, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Particl Foundation is Approved. Particl News, July 8, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Particl Foundation Financial Reports. Particl Foundation, accessed on June 5, 2020 .
  16. ↑ a b Particl Foundation. In: Particl Project Wiki. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  17. ↑ a b Particl-Core on GitHub. In: GitHub.com. Particl Project, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  18. ↑ The missing explanation of Proof of Stake Version 3. In: Earlz.net. November 19, 2018, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Primer: Cold Staking on Particl. Particl News, November 9, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  20. ^ Confidential Transactions. In: Elementsproject.org. Blockstream, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  21. ^ Adam Gibson: An investigation into Confidential Transactions. (PDF) July 12, 2018, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Ring signature. In: Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Shen Noether: Ring Confidential Transactions (White Paper). (PDF) Monero Research Labs, 2015, accessed June 5, 2020 .
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  25. ↑ Bünz, Bootle, et al .: Bulletproofs: Short Proofs for Confidential Transactions and More (White Paper). (PDF) Stanford University, University College London, Blockstream, 2017, accessed on June 5, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Multi-state privacy. In: Particl Project Wiki. Retrieved June 5, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Particl Downloads. In: particl.io. Particl Project, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  28. ^ How to Run the Open Marketplace Through Tor. In: Particl News. September 9, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  29. ↑ Particl - Data Storage Network. In: Bitcoin Wiki. March 29, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Particl Explained - Dual Deposit MAD Escrow. In: Particl News. February 17, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  31. ^ Introducing Investigation and Compliance Support for Dash and Zcash. In: blog.chainalysis.com. Chainalysis Inc., June 8, 2020, accessed June 9, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Particl Explained - Decentralized Marketplace Moderation. Particl News, August 6, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  33. ↑ Woody Part: A report on the fascination of Particl. In: medium.com. April 29, 2020, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  34. ↑ L. Barthelemy, M. Peterlin: Evaluation of Bulletproofs and MLSAG. (PDF) Quarkslab SAS, June 24, 2019, accessed on June 5, 2020 .
  35. ↑ Particl Genesis Anniversary - Audits and Peer Reviews. Particl News, July 17, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  36. ↑ Particl's Second Anniversary - Security Audits & Academic Reviews. Particl News, July 17, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  37. ^ Qiang Tang - Assistant Professor at NJIT. New Jersey Institute of Technology, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  38. ^ J. Poon, T. Dryja: The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments. (PDF) In: Lightning.Network. January 14, 2016, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  39. ↑ Particl Added on Flare Wallet. Atomic swaps. Particl News, April 4, 2020, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  40. ↑ Timeline of the Particl project. In: particl.io. Particl Project, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  41. ^ New Development Roadmap Released. Particl News, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  42. ↑ Emil Sandstedt (@bezantdenier): Particl - Leaving the Shadows. BD Ratings, April 11, 2018, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  43. ↑ Woody Part: Particl - what's the point? In: medium.com. June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017 .
  44. ↑ a b A community driven initiative! Particl News, March 20, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  45. ^ Foundation Fund Update. Particl Foundation, May 29, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  46. ^ Decentralized Project Governance Update. Particl News, August 8, 2018, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  47. ↑ Particl Community Fund. In: CryptoID. Particl Blockchain Explorer, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  48. ^ J. Cox: The Race for a Decentralized Silk Road Is On. In: vice.com. March 23, 2015, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  49. ↑ [SDC] ShadowCash | Welcome to the UMBRA. In: bitcointalk.org. Bitcoin Forum, August 18, 2014, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  50. ↑ J. Valenzuela: ShadowCash and Umbra Are Dead, Reborn as P2P Marketplace Particl. In: cointelegraph.com. March 25, 2017, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  51. ^ Ghost website - by McAfee. John McAfee, accessed June 12, 2020 .
  52. ↑ S. Kanjalkar, Y. Li, et al .: “Fake Stake” attacks on chain-based Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrencies. In: medium.com. Decentralized Systems Lab, January 22, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  53. ↑ art_of_bug: Particl - Using Spent Kernel To Split the Network. In: Publish0x.com. June 29, 2019, accessed June 5, 2020 .
  54. ^ Bug Bounty Program. In: particl.io. Particl Project, accessed June 5, 2020 .