COTI network will have a fee.. Each node will be able to charge their own fee (minimum fee can be determined by each node). This is a common practice in current nodes for validating transactions so it is a well proven concept that can work. There is an additional parameter that the ceiling for the fee can not be defined by the node though. One should think is why there be a ceiling for the fee. Are we worried about all the nodes on the network being greedy and increasing the fee to such astronomical heights that the network stalls? If there is a significant probability that it might happen, then the fee is least of the worries for the network… So to me it sort of feels redundant. Anyway,…

Glossary:

Node : Any server on the network (but COTI nodes are weird) Cluster: All the nodes together in a DAG make up a cluster. For all intents and purposes in discussion further, a “network” in the regular blockchain and “cluster” in DAG are almost synonymous. Trust score: Its a score for how faithful your address/node is to the network (The calculation of trust has got some spicy details later which might explode some heads) All other terms are self explanatory

Lets dive deep in —

The trust chain Algorithm:

Trust score:

An awful lot of importance in the COTI network is given to a Trust Score. The accounts with higher trust score will be treated as premium and will be charged less fee as compared to accounts with low trust. So how is this trust calculated?

1) Your account information (KYC/AML)

2) Your historical behavior on the network

Yeah its a time to some exploded heads… BOOM.. You get higher trust if you are KYC/AMLed !! It has goods and bads…

The goods? Like every bank or financial institution, now your identity is easily attached to your blockchain activity on COTI. So in the matter of dispute, you might be able to benefit from proving your funds etc….

And Bads? (I see hands being raised from across the globe!!!) .. Who keeps the log of identities? how is this not a point of failure? So my account balance and my identity is directly visible on the network? Can I trust someone else to hide my identity on the server? What if tomorrow someone puts a gun to my temple and asks me the private key because you could not secure my identity.. ! Can you see what I am trying to say?? Such KYC AML server will create a centralized target for the destructive chain of actions … (My reaction..? The idea might work.. but just damn too risky… BIG NOPE)

Source Selection:

Each transaction requires first validating other two transactions on a DAG. These transactions are called sources.. The sources are selected from the same trust score group. So a trust score of 50 (our of range 0 -100) will be able to validated 2 transactions of similar trust score, before sending his/her own transaction on the network. This will create a soft segmentation of the network, trustless nodes with trustless nodes, higher trust nodes with higher trust nodes.. (To me it sounds like its a class system within the network.. but its not bad like that. Its simply like the game theory or a passage to be part of an exclusive group. You have to earn the trust in smaller league before entering the bigger league etc). This sort of concept has never been used before though.. so take it with a grain of salt.