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Comment by iSnow

8 days ago

I like the idea, I just don't know how to implement a robust micropayment system that does not require a lot of messages back and forth for a transaction. Given the intended use-case, that would not work.

I can design such a system in a couple of minutes. As the adjacent commenter said it can be done with a blockchain, using smart contacts. 1. Sender deposits fee 2. Message includes unlocking code that itself only can be unlocked by the recipient 3. Message getting wrapped with details of forwarders while it moves between peers 4. Recipient unlocks the message via the smart contract thereby releasing the micropayments to the forwarders

  • I'd like to better understand steps 3 and 4.

    The sender deposits a fee into a smart contract.

    The message is encrypted in layers, with each forwarder only able to decrypt their part (like an onion).

    As the message is forwarded peer-to-peer, each forwarder appends some kind of proof-of-forwarding.

    When the recipient finally receives and decrypts the message, they unlock the contract using a code embedded in the message. This triggers micropayments to all the forwarders.

    Do forwarders need to interact with the blockchain (i.e., create/update a smart contract) when forwarding?

    If so, wouldn’t that require each forwarder to have internet access at the time of forwarding—which breaks the idea of fully offline Bluetooth relaying?

    Or is all the blockchain interaction deferred to the recipient, who proves the path the message took and triggers all payments at once?

it's a real life application where a Blockchain based solution does actually make sense, believe it or not.