What is Humanode human powered blockchain?
Humanode is a project that elegantly combines various technological stacks, including blockchain and biometrics.
The Humanode technology comprises a bunch of layers, such as a blockchain layer represented by a Substrate module: a biometric authorization module based on cryptographically secure neural networks for private classification of three-dimensional (3D) templates of users’ faces, a private vitality detection mechanism for identifying real people, a Vortex Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and a monetary algorithm called Fath, where the money supply responds to real value growth and emissions are proportional.
Let’s look at them in more detail.
Underlayment frame
Humanode is a layer-1 blockchain whose architecture rests on the Substrate open source framework that allows rapid development of highly customized blockchains. Substrate, the brainchild of the Parity team, provides interoperability within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems as well as an environment for the creation and deployment of general or specialized blockchain networks with remarkably varied parameters and sound properties. As a substrate-based chain, Humanode benefits from that and the high throughput and scalability inherent to the Polkadot ecosystem.
Consensus agnostic protocol
One of the interesting features of Humanode is consensus agnosticism, which is the ability to change the network’s consensus mechanism if the Humanode DAO approves. It stems from the necessity of constant research on the most appropriate consensus for a leaderless system with equal validating power to nodes. Different consensus mechanisms have many advantages and disadvantages that are constantly changing. A replaceable consensus mechanism allows the system to evolve and not be constrained by a single immutable framework.
EVM compatible smart-contract layer
On top of that, Humanode is Ethereum compatible. Due to an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) platform, Humanode can use existing Ethereum development tools and take advantage of smart contract development, supported by several popular languages, including Solidity and WebAssembly. On the other hand, Humanode can provide private biometric processing and Sybil resistance to a variety of Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps) including decentralized finance (DeFi) and play-to-earn (GameFi) projects, NFT solutions, DAOs , metaverses and others.
Private biometric search and matching
In the case of Humanode’s biometric stack, it appears that the privacy and security of biometric data have been among the most critical aspects of the project.
Due to the private classification of images of users’ faces, the system guarantees the images’ privacy, performing all operations without the users’ biometric data having to leave the device. The only device needed to pass biometric authentication is a smartphone with a camera. When users scan their faces, they become human nodes. The entire process is private and secure. All the Humanode system cares about is whether the user is a unique human, whether they are registered and whether they are alive.
Decentralized liveness detection
A technique that ensures that the biometric sample is sent from a real live person, a significant security feature that reduces the vulnerability of biometric systems to fake attacks, is called liveness detection. Biometric liveness refers to the use of computer vision technology to detect the actual presence of a live user rather than a representation such as a photograph or a mask, video or screen, a fake silicon fingerprint, or other counterfeit artifacts.
Biometric accuracy has grown tremendously over the past decade. Currently, the chance of a match between two different people is 1 in 125,000,000, and the chance of faking an identity without a real human being in front of the camera is 1 in 80,000. And these numbers keep getting better.
For its first version of the cryptobiometric identification solution, which uses secure enclaves for some parts of the process, Humanode is integrating FaceTec’s facial biometrics and liveness detection. Humanode’s first testnet was launched in January 2021 and the official testnet 1 with liveness detection and the updated technical stack was launched in September 2021. Since then, there have been several testnets deployed with more than 10,000 people becoming human nodes.
Vortex DAO
Currently, there are three types of nodes in the Humanode ecosystem. First, human nodes that have passed biometric authentication and received a fraction of the network transaction fees. Then there are delegators: nodes that choose to delegate their voting rights to so-called governors. Governors are nodes that participate in Humanode’s management and must meet certain management requirements.
Each of these node types forms an important part of Humanode’s management DAO called Vortex. Unlike other projects, which allow nodes to accumulate voting power based on how much capital they have or delegate, the Humanode platform ensures that all nodes are equal in terms of validation and voting power, providing true equality between peers in a decentralized environment.
Fath monetary algorithm and rebalancing system
Humanode implements the Fath hypothesis as the basis for the circulation of the HMND Humanode token (HMND). Fath is a monetary algorithm with a proportional distribution of issued tokens. It is an alternative to modern fiat credit cycle financial networks and capital-based public blockchains.
