Does This Crypto Solve an Important and Unique Gap in Blockchain?

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

Time is the foundational way in which we order our lives. The sequence in which events happen, one leading to another, gives shape to our world.  We order our days according to when things happen and move about our lives accordingly.

In the same way, time is absolutely fundamental to the operations of most businesses, from the traditional to the cutting edge of crypto. Logistic companies, smart contract platforms, stock markets, airlines, construction, healthcare and so much more revolve around precise timing.

Until now, all of these industries, and the individual companies that make them up, have all used their own systems to keep track of time. The computer systems designed to track the companies’ time data use disparate formatting. This presents huge challenges when 2 entities wish to share their data with each other or 2 proprietary systems try to communicate with each other. They speak different languages.

Enter Analog (ANLOG).

Analog is a proof-of-time network that has created a time-based blockchain, or Timechain. The Timechain is designed to be an immutable, public, indexible, and searchable record of time and events. This creates a standardized time record that allows companies and organizations to communicate critical time information while continuing to use their internal systems. Think of it like the infrastructure of a city — the plumbing, roads, and electricity, that allows businesses to operate and interact.

Users on the network act as nodes, submitting time data. That data is validated and added to the blockchain by other nodes nearby. The validating nodes are selected based on their relevance to the event and their algorithmically determined value and reputability. When nodes participate in the network, they are rewarded with Analog’s token ANLOG. This incentivizes participation and drives the functioning of the network.

Critically, Analog is based on something called a zero-proof trigger, distinctly different from the protocol used by Bitcoin (BTC) or Dogecoin (DOGE). This means that users’ identities and private data are protected. When one entity shares its data, it happens cryptographically using a protocol called zero knowledge succinct noninteractive argument of knowledge (zk-SNARK) that allows the data to be exchanged and communicated without another user having access to that data.

Analog says that a great example of a real-world application for its solution is the delivery of an important package to someone’s front door. Say this person has an electronic gate. Traditionally the person receiving the package would have to wait around all day in order to open the gate and receive the package from FedEx FDX or UPS UPS. Using Analog’s network, the delivery could be precisely timed and communicated to the gate so that it unlocks when the driver shows up. The package could be delivered while the person is out running errands. It is safe behind the gate, the driver doesn’t need to know any private information like the access code to the gate and is not delayed in their next delivery by having to wait for the homeowner.

Analog is the first of its kind — a time-based blockchain. Only time will tell the breadth of what this Timechain can be used for and how it could change the industry.