Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S12W3 - The Mimblewimble protocol

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Hi friends, this is my first participation here since the commencement of this season, and did wish to make my entry in line with the topic given. I want to especially welcome everyone as you relax and get entertained. It is all about blockchain technology and the advancement that draws from it. The Mimblewimble is a product of an advanced blockchain technology created for the user giving more to its users. Let's discuss more

Just as the author briefly gave us a hint of why the Mimblewimble protocol was developed, it is important to know that they are all advancements in blockchain technology. The privacy, scalability, and speed of transaction which is the tripod in which the decentralization was created, has been criticized due to the inefficiency observed over time.

The mimblewimble protocol runs on the Distributed Ledger Technology which is a deviant from the cryptocurrency path. An anonymous developer known as Tom Elvis Jedusor created this protocol which was launched in 2016 and later in 2018. This developer's name, when it is translated into French means Arch-Nemesis and who is the Voldermort in the Harry Porter movie series.

We all know that the introduction of blockchain technology was a pure deviation from the traditional system which erupted after the then economic meltdown that hit the world economy. Having known the tripod concept and all it brought to the table, users of the blockchain space still needed more in scalability and privacy, hence the Mimblewimble protocol.

Therefore the Mimblewimble protocol was created to handle concerns bothering users' quest for more privacy and scalability while interfacing with the blockchain interface. Lovers of Harry Potter would be familiar with the term mimblewimble as it was a term that symbolizes selling casting that hypnotizes people from disclosing information to others. If this is the case, the developers used the same name concept for this protocol to symbolize the secrecy of transactions.

The mimblewimble protocol is a creation that takes the concerns bothering on privacy and scalability moe further than what is ordinarily obtained from the bitcoin blockchain protocol. It does not allow non-participants of a given transaction to have access to transaction details. This means that third parties will definitely not have information on a transaction process in which they are not participating given that the participants are using the mimblewimble protocol.

We have also seen the adoption of this protocol by Litecoin whose aim of adoption is to improve the privacy and scalability of their ecosystem.

The Mimblewimble protocol adoption gives more privacy features to any ecosystem it is introduced into and hence uses the Discrete Based Logarithm known as Elliptic Curve Cryptography. We also know that logarithms are the opposite of our usual mathematical multiplication. For example, in a situation where we do not need to start writing some cumbersome tenses during multiplication like multiplying 2 into 15 times (2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2), 2(15) which is 32,768, we can say Log2(32,768) = 15.

The protocol uses this discrete curve logarithm which presents non-predefined values drawn from probability and set theory indices to enable it to generate private keys for each transaction initiated. While this is done, the sender's token is then encrypted with the Blinders Factor which it chooses at that very transaction, and hence the receiver is also expected to respond with a similar value in other to validate the transaction.

The Blinding Factor or Discrete Curve Logarithm may be synonymous with that of the private key allowing the receiver to spend the coin. The cryptographic protocol combination is seen to guarantee a higher security module for the entire system protocol. The information and data used in the entire process are left in the privacy path void of third-party interference.

Let me give a practical example of this scenario if Joseph receives 50 MWC from Kenneth and 40 MWC from Caleb which sums up to 90 MWC and sends 60 MWC to Fred. Joseph and Fred would need verifying details to spend the coin which takes consonance of the blinding factor that generates the value that serves as the private key. Remember, only Joseph and Fred would know of these details of the transaction without Kenneth and Caleb knowing how the 60 MWC was spent. Therefore each of them only knows the single transaction line that they carried out with the recipient.

Yes, I do believe that the Mimblewible protocol could be used in the steem blockchain to improve the scalability and privacy of the entire ecosystem. It is clear that the mimblewimble protocol is an advancement in the blockchain space and its adoption in the Steem blockchain would be an advantage to the entire system.

The Steem blockchain is one that runs on a protocol that stores all transaction details onchain which are entirely documented and made open to the public domain for third-party access. However, this does not disclose the identity of the sender or receiver in this case. However, the application of the Mimblewimble protocol would do justice to this feature by providing more privacy to the entire process. This protocol would shield the redundant details and hence still leave in privacy the sender and receiver's details. It goes further in ensuring more privacy by making sure details like the wallet address and amounts stay between both parties.

Just as mentioned above where the mimblewimble protocol sheds off redundant data in its offline chain during the transaction, this helps to reduce the volume of data stored in its onchain path and hence increase its scalability. This is basically done by removing the scripting protocol that allows all information to be stored in the Steem blockchain. This at all times would remove the data overload hanging on the Steem blockchain and hence the speed of transaction observed.

A replication of the Lightening Network adoption of the Bitcoin blockchain which helps improve the scalability of Bitcoin transactions through this route could be the mimblewimble protocol to the Steem blockchain. This protocol ensures both sender and receiver spend the coin in a private mood that allows all information used for the transaction to remain with them alone. Some of the transaction information is wallet address and amounts transacted. This also maintains the speed it delivers to the ecosystem.

I believe that the mimblewimble could be deployed on the Steem blockchain but there are difficulties in doing so, it could come as a side chain that could be triggered for use. The Cut-through feature of the mimblewimble protocol could be harnessed relative to the Pedersen Committement to give the Steem blockchain an edge in all fonts. The Pedersen Commitment is a scheme that allows a summation of all commitments from the blinding keys which upholds the secrecy of data in its entirety.

At present, we have some adoptions of this protocol (Mimblewimble protocol) and they include

• Grin Coin
• Litecoin
• Mimblewimble Coin
• Beam Coin

The Grin Coin

Having said that the mimblewimble protocol was launched in 2016 and later in 2018 on a full scale, the Grin Coin adopted this protocol in January 2019 after the full protocol had been released. It got started without the usual ICOs that characterized the launch of projects of this nature but rather through donations from investors who believed in the upcoming project. The adoption of the Mimblewimble protocol into Grin Coin made it a private open source and highly scalable cryptocurrency to match in the blockchain space.

After the Launch of its genesis block, it only took less than one minute to mine the second block using the PoW consensus algorithm. The Grin Coin was deliberate about its project as it was designed in such a way that it advances the scalability and privacy of the Bitcoin blockchain while using the RUST programming language.

Transacting in Grin

The concept of Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) in the Bitcoin blockchain is advanced at this time but with the same workability. The concept features of having the availability of liquidity, Signature, and nonexistential of same fun funds transaction are all implored. While the Bitcoin blockchain sees that there are many signatures required to spend a coin in any individual transaction, the Grin network only creates a multi-signature that allows all transactions to be done at once without individualizing them.

The use of the blinding factor is the game changer here which allows both parties to know the transaction details in use including the amount transacted and private key values created. The Blinding factor works in such a way that it encrypts all input and output values cryptographically and hence generates the private which is shared between both parties for the required transaction.

The Grin Network anchors on the fact that the sum of input to output in a given transaction should be zero. This is the concept of "Verification of Zero Sum". Secondly, it also allows validation to be consummated using the ownership of a private key for access during the transaction.

Present Value of Grin Coin and Exchange Listing

As of the time of posting, the value of the Grin Coin stands at about $0.02684 with a Market Cap of $2,636,727.
Circulating supply of 98,212,860 GRIN and Total supply of 98,212,860 GRIN.

All-time high (Jan 28, 2019) which was 5 years ago with a market value of $14.87.
All-time low (Aug 26, 2023) which is just barely a month ago with a market value of $0.02505

_{Source image from coinmarketcap}

The Grin coin is listed on several exchanges. They include; Gate.io, ViteX, BitForex, Bibox, BitBTC, and CoinW. It has pairs with USDT, ETH, and BTC.

Advantages of mimblewimble Protocol:

• It is highly scalable compared to other existing blockchains created in the space. The concept of offloading redundant data during the transaction process makes the difference for this high scalability.

• Offers an improved Privacy done using its adoption. transaction details are only limited between the sender and receiver without having to disclose transaction details to a third party.

• It improves the fungibility status of coins as their origin may not be traced and invalidated.

• Under its standard settings, there are minimal occurrences of theft concerns. This is to bare the additional security layer it offers to protocol users.

• During inflationary periods, it has a largess protocol that is divergent from inflation. We all know the negative impact of inflation on coins and the depreciative value it brings.

Disadvantages of mimblewimble Protocol:

• Its over-dependency on digital signatures may bring about vulnerability through the quantum device malware.
• It has a lower longer transaction throughput most likely due to the enhanced privacy transaction it comes with from the offloading of redundant data during the transaction.

The Mimblewimble protocol was real, a thought-through project that was created to bring about solutions and advancement on the age-long difficulties of the previous or existing blockchain privacy and scalability concerns. It was able to move the issue of privacy a step ahead by limiting the exposure to third parties. Offloading redundant data would also ensure scalability is assured.