Ontology (ONT): Blockchain Solutions for Data and Identity

VBFT: Ontology’s Answer to Proof of Stake

Ontology’s backend systems run on its next-generation Ontorand Consensus Engine (OCE), which in turn relies on a customized consensus mechanism called Verifiable Byzantine Fault Tolerance (VBFT) — a combination of Proof of Stake (PoS), Verifiable Random Function (VRF), and Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT).

• PoS: Proof of Stake is a scalable approach to blockchain consensus that can help encourage a greater degree of token-holder participation on the network, and can save computational resources when compared to energy intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanisms. However, adhering to a traditional PoS consensus mechanism can mean that well-funded network participants may be able to take control of the network by obtaining the majority of the network’s issued currency. This threat is essentially equivalent to a hostile takeover in a traditional corporation, in which an entity buys up the majority of the company to take control of the board. Such moves can lead to a degree of centralization even if the underlying consensus mechanism of the network was originally designed to function in a decentralized manner. As a result, many new blockchain projects which incorporate a PoS consensus mechanism have embedded additional algorithmic features that attempt to mitigate the degree to which a handful of large token-holders can unilaterally spearhead network decisions. This is the approach Ontology has taken.

• VRF: In a Verifiable Byzantine Fault Tolerance system, the Verifiable Random Function is used to generate a random value that selects participating nodes for each new round of block confirmations. This random value also helps look up corresponding nodes from a PoS table, which is a dynamic record of the PoS information for each network node owner as well as the governance strategy of the entire consensus network. Each round of block confirmations updates the network’s PoS table and triggers the generation of a new random value from which the next round of participating nodes will be selected. As a result, the specific verification pathway changes during every iteration and keeps the randomization process verifiable, which makes the entire process more difficult to predict and thus also harder to attack.

• BFT: VRF randomly selects participating nodes from a subset of staked nodes, which have staked the network’s native cryptocurrency in order to serve as potential nodes. The Byzantine Fault Tolerance component of VBFT allows for only two-thirds of nodes to be required to reach consensus via a two-thirds fault-tolerant verification method. As a result, BFT ensures that not every node in the network needs to play a role in confirming each new block, which ensures that block consensus can be reached more quickly.

In short, VBFT adds an impressive level of scalability to the underlying PoS model, providing additional security and verifiable randomness through the VRF node selection process, and delivering shorter finality rates with BFT — combining the advantages of each component into a complex and dynamic framework.

ONT ID: The Ontology Blockchain’s Identity Management Solution

While the potential use cases for Ontology are virtually unlimited from a client perspective, one of the platform’s primary user advantages centers on ONT ID (a tamper-resistant, decentralized identity framework), which can efficiently identify and connect entities, assets, devices, and data events to enable a variety of operations. Traditional internet-based identity systems suffer from a variety of deficiencies, including fragmented sources of trust, difficulty assessing user reputation, and issues with tracking content copyrights. With ONT ID, businesses and individuals can bypass many of these issues by:

• Using the verifiable results from multiple trusted sources to exert full control over personal credential-sharing, thereby ensuring that users only divulge as much information as they wish in a given situation.

• Making anonymous claims which can be approved via a subset of multiple claim verifiers, thus bypassing reliance on a single validator or trust model. 

• Binding their ONT ID to multiple cryptographic keys of different types, in accordance with the varying requirements of specific use cases.

• Assigning a trusted third party to execute management rights associated with the ONT ID in response to certain trigger events, such as modifying specific attributes of the ONT ID and replacing keys if they are lost.

• Supporting certain Internet of Things (IoT) identification protocols via their ONT ID protocol.

• Authenticating data and providing a system of distributed token management.

ONT ID is made possible through a network of trust anchors, which are qualified third-party verifiers such as government agencies, financial service providers, or universities. These trust anchors record the hashes of authentication behavior and results on the Ontology ledger in a standardized manner without being able to access or manipulate the underlying data. In short, ONT ID provides users with improved control over their own identity and personal data, helping ensure their own privacy and data security with the help of advanced technologies and a trusted partnership network.

ONT’s Distributed Data Exchange Framework (DDXF) 

DDXF, another main use case for the platform, is Ontology’s distributed data exchange and management framework that enables data tokenization, thereby ensuring that data can be effectively transferred and traced across multiple interconnected systems. Data on DDXF is embedded on the blockchain, and is therefore tamper-proof while also granting users the ability to flexibly divulge specific aspects of their personal data on an as-needed basis.

DDXF’s trust and data interoperability capabilities were designed to serve a vast spectrum of business needs and scenarios. The technology is capable of playing a central role in many data exchange scenarios ranging from copyright protection and tracing to vendor management and ranking systems.

In sum, Ontology has created a flexible, multi-network friendly platform which is geared towards providing increased levels of scalability and security, and the project’s unique consensus mechanism reflects the complexity of the modern day challenges it was designed to address. As Ontology continues to expand its ecosystem, it is also becoming increasingly well-equipped to find new and improved ways of creating value for enterprises and consumers alike.