What is MaidSafeCoin?
With the goal of bringing decentralization to the internet, MaidSafeCoin (MAID) describes itself as “the world’s first autonomous data network.” The words Maid and Safe are an acronym, standing for Massive Array of Internet Disks and Secure Access For Everyone. MaidSafeCoin is a bitcoin-based token that runs using the Master Protocol that is built on top of the bitcoin blockchain. Upon launch of the SAFE network, MAID will be redeemable for Safecoins.
History of MaidSafeCoin
An idea whose roots predate the launch of bitcoin, MaidSafeCoin was originated under the philosophy that personal data should not be able to be collected freely by 3rd party enterprises and without express permission of an internet user. The idea was developed in 2006 by Scottish engineer David Irvine, which makes MaidSafe one of the older blockchain-based ideas whose main product is still in development.
Funds for MaidSafe were raised in April 2014 during a crowdsale in which BTC or Mastercoin could be traded for MAID. The crowdsale raised 2,000 BTC in 5 minutes and finished with a total of $7 million, making it the most successful fundraiser for a coin ever, at the time. Three years later, in April 2017, MaidSafeCoin surpassed a market capitalization of $100 million and briefly passed the $500 million mark in January 2018.
How MaidSafeCoin Works
In an effort to decentralize the internet, MaidSafe has been developing a special browser and network communications protocol, which they call the SAFE network. Upon launch, the SAFE network will take all internet services currently available and decentralize them, removing servers and other central points of weakness to better enable privacy, security, and anonymity for all internet users. The forthcoming Safecoin (for which MaidSafeCoin will be redeemed) will act as a fair and transparent way of giving end users, developers, and backers the opportunity to get involved with SAFE network.
A total cap of 4.3 billion Safecoins will be generated. In order to secure decentralized server space, Safecoins will be awarded via Proof of Resource coin generation, in that participants can effectively loan out portions of disk space in return for Safecoins. This will serve as an incentive for individual servers to act as web servers on which the SAFE network will run.
Why MaidSafeCoin?
After its official launch, the SAFE network will provide something that as of now has yet to be accomplished by a cryptocurrency: a complete decentralization of the internet. In doing so, the project will offer several advantages of normal internet processes, enabled through use of Safecoin. Some of these features are currently available in alpha release form. They include:
- SAFE Browser: the main browser used to access a decentralized version of the internet, also known as the SAFE network.
- The Authenticator: a secure mechanism for modulating levels of network access that is bundled with the SAFE Browser.
- Web Hosting Manager: allows users to create and publish SAFE network-compatible websites
- SAFE Mail: applies decentralization to email, providing an end-to-end encrypted desktop mail service.