Beam Coin puts privacy in your hands

One of the main features that sets the Beam coin apart from competitors is the control it gives you over how private or public you want different transactions to be. If you want, you can be completely anonymous with all of your transactions and their values. It reminds me of Venmo in a way. With the Venmo app, you exchange money with friends. For each transaction, you can choose if you want it to be private or displayed publicly. The difference is that Venmo defaults to public, while Beam assumes you want your exchanges private unless directed to be more transparent. Your addresses and amounts are concealed automatically.

Another feature that Beam prides itself on is its scalability. It has smaller blocks than all other blockchains, which increases speed and efficiency. They use fewer transaction details for each transaction and can tie multiple transactions into one.

Beam is creating their network from scratch in C++ using Mimblewimble. The Mimblewimble protocal was published anonymously. It uses hiding and binding to keep transactions confidential. Similar to Bitcoin, it utilizes transaction cuts to allow using only current transactions rather than a full transaction history. This allows for a more efficient blockchain architecture with less pressure on the system. Blockchains are currently being tested through computing, data storage, automotive markets, and medicine.

Bitcoin and other blockchains are vulnerable to having people track data in a way could result in transactions becoming publicly viewable. This is a problem if you have a large sum of money and don't want that information public or if you have a company where you are required to keep users' information private. If privacy and scalability are two of your top priorities, then it's worth looking more into Beam.

You can find more information on their website here

To learn about their @originalworks contest, click here

beam2018