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MeshBox Is Trying To Connect 3.5 Billion People To The Internet

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MeshBox

Back on December 16, 2017, Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin weighed in on the Net Neutrality debate through a series of Tweets. The gist of Buterin’s argument was that VPNs wouldn’t help users overcome bandwidth restrictions because ISPs can just treat VPN traffic as unknown and throttle anything flagged as such.

The one solution to this situation, however, Buterin states, is the employing of and the full-scale adoption of mesh networks.

Here’s the Tweet:

 


For those not familiar with the concept of a mesh network, it’s a network comprised of nodes that connect directly to one another, allowing for the creation of a network that allows for data routing (between nodes) without the necessity for external input.

Right now, some people use a mesh network in their homes to expand Wi-Fi coverage. This is very much just one small part of the mesh network concept, however, and a number of companies are working to develop mesh networking into something that could change the way global networking is structured, in line with the end-game that Buterin describes in the above Tweet.

One of these companies is MeshBox.

But MeshBox isn’t just trying to build out the mesh network space – the company is taking the concept and combining it with another bleeding edge technology, the blockchain, to build a solution to the circa 3.5 billion individuals spread across the globe that have little or no internet access right now.

So how does it work?

There are two parts to this technology and MeshBox is one of them. It’s a physical device (shaped, unsurprisingly, like a box), that can be solar powered and that can serve as a central node in a mesh network. The MeshBox can be put anywhere a network is required and can connect to devices (smartphones, IoT hardware, that sort of thing) and act as a central gateway to internet connectivity for these devices.

The second part is called SmartMesh and it’s analogous to the TCP/IP type protocol that serves as the functional layer of today’s protocol/router type setup.

In other words, MeshBox is the equivalent of a router that runs a SmartMesh protocol as opposed to a TCP/IP type protocol.

All this is a bit jargony, but the concept isn’t that difficult to grasp. Say, for example, there’s an island in the Pacific Ocean that doesn’t have reliable communications infrastructure, meaning inhabitants can’t gain access to the internet. If the island gets one or more MeshBoxes, spreads them around and connects one of them to the internet, the boxes (and the network they create using the SmartMesh protocol) can be connected to by mobile devices or computers of the island’s inhabitants and, in turn, can serve as a gateway to the internet for said inhabitants. The same inhabitants can also use the boxes as a sort of private network, sharing content and data between one another without internet connectivity.

So where does blockchain come into it?

Well, this is what sets MeshBox apart – because the technology is rooted in blockchain tech, the hardware is able to employ token transfer and facilitate microtransactions, meaning users can be charged for their access, content creators (i.e. those who create and share content across the MeshBox network) can charge for their content, etc.

The key takeaway is this: there are hundreds of blockchain projects vying for investor capital and attention right now but very few, if any, have the potential to solve a problem as large as that which MeshBox is going after. The company has a top-tier leadership team behind it and an aggressive, but at the same time, achievable, roadmap and is about to raise capital through an initial coin offering (ICO) to help fund progress towards the above-outlined aim.

Check out the MeshBox White Paper here.


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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin Price Dumps Below $41,000 Amid Uncertainty

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Bitcoin price dumped hard on Monday, briefly slipping below $41,000, erasing gains recorded in the previous week. The premier cryptocurrency seems to have exhausted its recent rally propelled by industry vulnerabilities. At the time of writing, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading slightly lower at $41,385. Bitcoin’s total market cap has dipped by 2% over the past day, while the total volume of BTC tokens traded over the same period climbed by 58%.

Fundamentals

Bitcoin price has been facing retracements and a rollercoaster over the past few days after recently rocketing to a 20-month peak. On-chain data has suggested that many investors used the opportunity to take some profits, leading to a decline in the asset’s price.

Bitcoin’s price slump is mirrored in the wider crypto market, with the global crypto market cap decreasing by 1.85% over the past 24 hours to $1.55 trillion. The total crypto market volume has increased by 32% over the same period. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index has plunged from a level of extreme greed to a greed level of 70, suggesting a decline in risk appetite.

Ethereum, the largest altcoin by market capitalization, is currently trading at $2,167, down almost 3% for the day. Meme coins have been hit hard by the market slump, with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu down by more than 4% over the last day.

Last week on Thursday, cryptocurrency experts took notice of…

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Bitcoin Price is in Consolidation Mode Despite Market Optimism Post-Fed Decision

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Bitcoin price edged lower on Thursday despite optimism in wider markets on the back of the Fed’s interest rate decision. The flagship cryptocurrency has been consolidating above the critical level of $42,000 after briefly topping $44,000, its highest level in 20 months. Bitcoin was trading 0.71% lower at $42,569 at press time. BTC’s total market cap has increased by more than 3% over the last day to $832 billion, while the total volume of the asset traded over the same period jumped by 22%.

Economic Outlook

Bitcoin price has been trading sideways over the past few days, suggesting a pause in its recent rally towards $45,000. The premier cryptocurrency has decreased by 4% in the past week but remains 15.22% higher in the month to date. The digital asset has staged a significant recovery this year after a torrid 2022 in which a string of scandals, including the collapse of FTX, led to a market meltdown, undermining the credibility of the sector.

The crypto market has been buoyed by the Fed’s latest interest rate decision. The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its key interest rate unchanged for the third consecutive time, in line with market expectations. With the easing of the inflation rate, members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to keep the benchmark overnight borrowing rate in a targeted range between 5.25%-5.5%.

Additionally, the central bank indicated that three rate…

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Bitcoin Price Blasts $44K in Spectacular Surge as Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Looms Large

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Bitcoin price has been hovering above the $43,000 psychological level over the past two days amid anticipation about the potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF. The flagship cryptocurrency has climbed more than 16% in the past week and nearly 170% in the year to date. Bitcoin’s total market cap has increased by nearly 5% over the past 24 hours to $858.9 billion, while the total volume of the token traded rose by 43%. The Bitcoin price was trading at $43,914 at press time.

Fundamentals

Bitcoin price has posted significant gains over the past few days, climbing to its highest level since April 2022, before the crash of a stablecoin that started a litany of company failures, pummeling crypto prices. The world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly topped the crucial level of $44,000 on Wednesday amid rising momentum despite being massively overbought.

According to analysts, with no spot bitcoin ETF approvals yet and the halving event five to six months away, the market is riding on FOMO. Capital has been flowing in the Bitcoin market amid enthusiasm that the launches of spot ETF will bring in billions of dollars of new investment into the crypto sector.

Investors have already started providing capital as seed money for ETF products. Notably, a recent report by CoinDesk showed that the world’s largest fund manager, BlackRock, received $100,000 in capital from a seed investor for its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund…

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