

Ask HN: Clever uses of cryptocurrency - MichaelAza

I&#x27;ve seen several clever uses of cryptocurrency, that is, uses outside buying stuff.<p>For example, using the bitcoin blockchain as a proof of existence mechanism[1] and using namecoin as a replacement for SSL[2].<p>What clever uses of cryptocurrency have you seen?<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.proofofexistence.com&#x2F;<p>[2] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.mediocregopher.com&#x2F;namecoind-ssl.html
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From an earlier Hacker News post: The money is in the Bitcoin protocol
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6823394](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6823394)

pasted below: Alternative chain examples

1\. Peer-to-peer, social trading of “normal” (government-backed) currencies
without the need of a centralised clearing house. Called a ripple exchange, it
is based on a design loosely inspired by the Ripple monetary system.

2\. A decentralised, open DNS (Domain Name System) using the .bit Top Level
Domain. This is an alternative DNS root based on Namecoin and outside the
official DNS root administered by ICANN. Early work in this area included
discussion on BitDNS.

3\. A service called Proof of Existence which is a sort of notary public
service on the Internet. It easily and cheaply (0.005 BTC) allows people to
verify ownership, integrity, and that a document existed at a certain point in
time.

Building on the Bitcoin protocol examples

1\. Bitmessage for encrypted peer-to-peer communications, including hiding
metadata like the identity of the sender and receiver, from eavesdroppers. The
message transfer mechanism is similar to Bitcoin’s transaction and block
transfer system, requiring a ‘proof of work’ for each message.

2\. Zerocoin that augments the Bitcoin protocol to allow for fully anonymous
currency transactions by placing anonymity technology into the Bitcoin network
itself. Zerocoin uses Bitcoin as a “distributed, online, append-only
transaction store.”

3\. Gliph adds secure mobile communications to the Bitcoin landscape. It edges
into controlling digital identity “that shares as many (or as few) facets of
yourself as you want to.”

