MobileCoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency focusing on transactional anonymity (fungibility), ease of use, transaction speed, low environmental impact and low fees such that the use case of buying a cup of coffee with cryptocurrency and a mobile phone is no different than paying with cash (digital cash).[3] It is developed by the MobileCoin Foundation with the involvement of technologist Joshua Goldbard and cryptographer Moxie Marlinspike.[4]
MobileCoin's mechanics are build on Stellar (for consensus) and Monero (for privacy), using CryptoNote alongside zero-knowledge proofs to hide details of users' transactions.[2]
Technology overview
MobileCoin is a cryptocurrency focusing on privacy, ease of use, transaction speed and throughput, enabling decentralized payments for everyday transactions.[5] Transactions from mobile devices are possible without the need to store a copy of the blockchain that still preserve user privacy (i.e. no participant of the network can know the identity of the transaction partners, the transacted amount or the blockheight of funds in the blockchain), using a technology called fog.
In technical terms, MobileCoin is a standard one dimensional directed acyclic graph cryptocurrency blockchain, where blocks are consensuated with an implementation of the Stellar Consensus Protocol, transactions are validated in SGX secure enclaves and are based on elliptic curve cryptography using the Ristretto abstraction (a construction of a prime-order group using a non-prime-order on curve Ed25519),[6] transaction inputs are shown to exist in the blockchain with Merkle proofs of membership and are signed with Schnorr-style multilayered linkable spontaneous anonymous group signatures, and output amounts (communicated to recipients via ECDH) are concealed with Pedersen commitments and proven in a legitimate range with Bulletproofs.[7]
Much of MobileCoin's technology comes from previous privacy focused cryptocurrencies like Monero and has been re-written in Rust for MobileCoin. [7][8][non-primary source needed]
Fog
MobileCoin Fog enables use of the MobileCoin Payments Network in resource-constrained environments such as mobile devices: Fog assumes the task of searching the blockchain for a user's tokens while preserving anonymity, i.e. "the service operator is not able to learn more than approximately how many outputs its users own".[7][9][non-primary source needed]
History
MobileCoin Foundation, the entity behind MobileCoin, was first revealed in 2017. The coin is developed by Joshua Goldbard and Moxie Marlinspike, creator of encrypted messaging app Signal, and is intended to be an accessible form of cryptocurrency with a focus on fast transactions.[4] In May 2018, MobileCoin secured $29.7 million in a funding round led by Binance Labs, in exchange for 37.5 million tokens.[10][11] The foundation raised $11.35 million in venture funding in March 2021[12] and $66 million in Series B funding in August 2021.[13]
Payment and Trading
In-app payments via Signal and Mixin Messenger support MobileCoin for peer-to-peer payments worldwide.[14] Cryptocurrency exchanges FTX and Bitfinex list MobileCoin for trading.[12]
Criticism
MobileCoin has been accused of a pump and dump scheme.[15] The integration of MobileCoin wallets into the popular security messager app Signal received criticism from security expert Bruce Schneier, who previously praised the app. Schneier stated that this would bloat the app and attract unwanted attention from the financial authorities.
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