For those of you following Carbon from the beginning and having read our whitepaper, you’re probably already familiar with exactly what Carbon is, how it works and have formed your own opinions on our chances of success.
I thought it would be a good time to put together a quick summary for those of you who may not already have all the info.
As you may be aware, recently some popular social platforms have made some controversial decisions to censor or ban users, creating a lot of questions surrounding free speech, data privacy and big tech control.
Carbon was intended to focus on cryptocurrency users, offering a great place to bring together a social feed for news, private and encrypted DMs, group chat, wallet, NFT gallery, leaderboards and much more. That’s all still going to happen, but we’re really having a closer look at the social feed in particular and how we can create an easy transition from other platforms, regardless of cryptocurrency knowledge. Our priority for the beta launch is centred around the social feed. There is an urgent, immediate need for the Carbon platform, and here’s why.
Carbon account creation requires no email registration, and no personal identifiable data whatsoever. None. No mobile number, no email, no name, no address, no connection to Facebook or other platforms. All you need to create a Carbon account is MetaMask installed and an available wallet connected. You can create a totally fresh wallet to link to your Carbon account. You choose a Carbon username, and you’re done. You can then choose your display name (or leave it as your username) and add a bio, if you wish. Carbon gives you complete control over your identifiable data and makes it very easy to remain completely anonymous.
The technical steps to create an account:
1. MetaMask will prompt to connect your desired wallet.
2. Once connected the user will be prompted to enter a unique username.
3. MetaMask will then request you sign a message, no gas fee required.
4. The platform then sends the signature from that signed message to the backend over https.
5. The backend will then verify that the message signature was in fact signed by your Ethereum account, proving that you own it.
6. The backend hashes the signature and stores it in a database.
7. Your account is now created and fully operational.To login to your existing account:
1. Each time you access the Carbon Platform, Metamask will prompt you to sign a message that the backend can re-verify that you own the account and log you in.
2. If you attempt to access your account after a period of inactivity greater than your Signing Timeout (defaulted to 60 mins and editable in your profile page) the backend will generate a new message for you to sign so that it can once again prove you do own your account.
The encrypted data on Carbon (DMs and any other private data tools we add) can be stored on the Ethereum chain, or centralised on a traditional server. The choice is yours. Given the data is fully encrypted, there isn’t a whole world of difference between storing it on chain or off, but the choice is still yours. On chain storage will cost gas. The unencrypted public data such as your public social feed data, will be stored on centralised servers for speed and cost reasons, as with other social platforms, however our user authentication system is far superior. Your Carbon account is basically as secure as your cryptocurrency is.
Major Advantages over other social platforms:
1. Fully encrypted DMs. Completely inaccessible to anyone not involved in the DM conversation. Inaccessible to our own team, governments and everyone else not in the conversation.
2. Superior user authentication system utilising MetaMask signing. No chosen passwords, no email, phone or identifiable data.
3. No censorship or account removal. If you don’t like what someone has to say, unfollow or block them. We will not moderate. We cannot access private data either, so cannot moderate that or provide it to any authorities.
4. Decentralised private data storage will be optional.
5. Easy access to sending and receiving cryptocurrency with your contacts.
6. Content creation earns rewards! Users are ranked by points every month. Get points for upvotes, comment likes, making contacts and other app usage. the top 300 users each month share in a potentially huge CRBN rewards pool.
So, Carbon is more secure, more private, doesn’t interfere with its users free speech and also rewards content creation and platform usage. Quite simply, it’s better.
Why do we believe Carbon will be a success?
We are very familiar with launching apps and building user bases. We know what works, and what doesn’t. We’ve been spending time approaching influencers inviting them to Carbon to claim their username, and had a tremendous response already. If influencers join, a share of their audience will follow. All users will have the opportunity to be rewarded with CRBN tokens, and also benefit from Carbon’s security and privacy features. We are also confident the crypto team tools such as integrated airdrops, will result in significant user growth and retention. We are focused on making sure Carbon is mainstream friendly, so that it’s not confusing or limited to only tech savvy users. We want everyone on Carbon, from all walks of life. In summary, Carbon will succeed because there’s a real need for it to exist, and the benefits of being a Carbon user are significant. User acquisition is one thing and can be bought, but retention is where the success and sustainability lies. We are building a platform that people will use by choice, and be likely to encourage others to join too.
I hope this article sums up the Carbon advantage. We’re getting very close to beta launch, schedule for January 31 (subject to change if we need to, we want to make sure it’s all done right!). We will look to hold an account creation event before beta launch, allowing you to secure your Carbon username and attach it to your chosen MetaMask wallet.
We’re also in talks with other tech services regarding potential integration, and will continue to grow and expand with the focus remaining on free speech, privacy, security and control of your data.
Now is the time to get on board. See crbn.io for details or follow us on Telegram or Twitter.
Daniel and Rob
Carbon founders
crbn.io
Telegram: t.me/crbnio
Twitter: twitter.com/crbnio
