Oh, Trippy! A parallel internet. Now THIS is really getting above my tiny brain container head. But, no matter what, Blockstack raised $52 million to launch this concept AND you know how they raised that large sum? An ICO. So, not only are the Blockstack folks innovative, they are using the newest way to raise capital as well, in addition to previously securing venture capital from top tier VCs including Union Squares Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and Digital Currency Group, amongst others. Very exciting times.
(Bill Taylor/CEO)
"Blockchain startup Blockstack says it raised $52.8 million in its ICO, finalized Friday. The company is building a sort of parallel to the internet that users access via the Blockstack browser and that features a wide variety of apps. The Blockstack ecosystem promises to benefit both users and app makers. It gives users control over their own data via a personal API. Meanwhile, it allows developers to launch apps without having to host user data or worry about related storage costs and data privacy.
Instead of having all your data stored centrally (for example, having your email stored by Google, your photos by Instagram, your social messaging stored by Facebook), you would have your data stored locally on your laptop, with copies in one or more cloud services of your own choosing. Blockstack apps would have pointers to the part of your data relevant to their app, but they wouldn’t own or store that data. “It’s like Facebook Connect — you bring your identity with you” to various apps, Blockstack cofounder Ryan Shea told VentureBeat...
...Performance questions aside, the Blockstack approach means users can control the level of security for their data and who it gets shared with. And developers can build and deploy apps without worrying about scalability and any legal obligations they have to protect user data...
...There are currently about eight applications available to anyone who runs the browser (at least on a Mac; Windows and Linux are not yet fully supported). Over 10 more apps listed in the browser are under development. And thanks to the company’s three-month old “Signature Fund” — a $25 million fund pooled together by a group of VC firms backing Blockstack — a number of app makers are now getting funding to build for the platform..."
Full Story at VentureBeat.com