[Editor's note: This article has been edited to more accurately reflect the relationship between Storj and Opal. The writer apologizes for misrepresentations.]
Opal, an anonymity- and ease-of-use-centric 2.0 coin app, is working with Storj and the SuperNET to bring to the mainstream a blockchain-secure, anonymous information network.
Opal gemstones transmit no light, and therefore reflect, scatter, or absorb it. These qualities lead to opacity. This is the soul of OpalCoin.
With the goal of creating the privacy-centric technology, the seasoned and verified team of developers has been building on top of cutting edge 2.0 technologies for the past months. The result is a layer on top of some of the most innovative platforms available today. However, its greatest innovation and focus is to make this technology available to everyone, not just tech-savvy individuals.
Users can download the application here and begin to take advantage of the developing Opal suite.
Through the use of opaque addresses, an implementation of Peter Todd’s stealth addresses, Opal’s suite allows for an easy-to-use, anonymous deposit addresses that can receive funds, while making the amounts and details of transactions invisible. This is especially useful to anyone concerned with the increasing revelations of Bitcoin’s weak anonymity, which makes it less private than cash itself.
To further improve information privacy, Opal has joined the SuperNET core. The SuperNET is a conglomeration of the most innovative blockchain technologies, bringing them together under one application, and allowing users frictionless flow between them, on a decentralized platform.
The most relevant side of Opal’s integration with the SuperNET is its merging with Teleport and Telepathy. These complementary technologies allow anonymous transfer of information and cryptocurrencies. They do this by blurring the associations between IPs, and senders and receivers of information. In other words, they fill in security where Bitcoin failed.
Whit Jack, lead developer of Opal, has told Cointelegraph that SuperNET has officially acquired 10% of OpalCoins, to be added to the SuperNET asset, as a kind of ETF of core SuperNET technologies. Jack also goes by "Bassguitarman" on a variety of cryptocurrency forums.
Opal has also integrated Bittrex’s API to allow trading on its exchange directly from the Opal Qt software. The developers are also looking into integrating Cryptsy to provide a similar service, offering anonymity and relief to cryptocurrency traders worldwide.
However, implementing opaque addresses and joining the SuperNET core are just the beginning. Opal is also building on top of Storj a decentralized and private cloud-storage solution, built on top of Counterparty. Storj has received much praise and recognition from community leaders.
Shawn, lead developer of Storj has confirmed to have offered guidance to the Opal team as they leverage the platform's decentralized storage API.
Users of the soon-to-be-released Opal Drive will be able to store and send messages and other data encrypted end to end, using blockchain technology to do away with single points of failure. This comes at a time when concerns about information security and privacy are at an all-time high, as the team explains in their white paper.
Decentralized storage offers many times the security of centralized cloud storage companies such as Dropbox and Google Drive. This is particularly relevant to companies and individuals that deal with sensitive information. Not only would the information be distributed among hundreds, if not thousands, of Storj contributors, but it could also be encrypted with a multisig address instead of a single-signature one, further decentralizing and securing access to those files from the client side.
OpalCoin, the cryptocurrency that enables secure blockchain technology, has been trading on exchanges for a while. As news of its relationship with Storj spread, the value of the coin went up by over 150%. This is before announcements of its SuperNET integration.
Unlike many altcoins, OpalCoin has met every standard of reputation the community has, from partnership with leading organizations, to verification on Coins Source and proof of developer.
To learn more, visit their website at OpalCoin.
[Full disclosure: The author owns a stake in a variety of SuperNET assets.]
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