THEKEY — Summary of the Key Questions Raised during the AMA for the Progress Report on 20th April TheKey Follow Apr 23, 2018 · 7 min read

Catherine Li, Chairwoman and CEO of THEKEY, held a global AMA on Reddit on Apr 20th, 5 days after THEKEY released the first progress report 3 months after the completion of its crowdsale. For a better understanding, here is a summary of some typical questions which concerned the community members.

1. China’s government and some major Chinese companies such as Tencent (www.tencent.com) are researching and developing blockchain technology, including blockchain technology with regards to ID verification. Is there any connection here with THEKEY and how does THEKEY stand out?

It is true that some of the government institutions in China are doing research on IDV (Identity Verification), like the Ministry of Public Security and the China People’s Bank. But none of them are using BDMI (Blockchain-based Dynamic Multi-dimensional Identity) technology due to institutional and technical reasons. Firstly, they are using an EA-4 Level IDV solution which does not require dynamic, cross-checking and data audit, and therefore the IDV results are deniable.



Secondly, IDV service normally has a purpose, which is in need of PII (Personal Identity Information). Due to institutional reasons, different government agencies play different roles. For instance, the interest of the Ministry of Public Security is to capture criminals only, nothing else. Therefore, the Ministry has no motivation whatsoever to use this identification technology for purposes such as smart social insurance pay etc. BDMI is in different position right from the beginning. As indicated in our whitepaper, after proving “you are you”, we start to collect the relevant PII, like medical records, to help the service provider to achieve its purpose of initiating the IDV service, such as smart social insurance pay.

In short, we are doing and focusing on a completely different IDV solution compared to the different Chinese government agencies.

2. Is the biometric data used as a source of entropy to generate keypairs? If yes, then those generated keys are not secure enough because the biometric data is unreliable without the use of fuzzy extractors, at which point the data is not random enough to generate secure keypairs.

Yes, the biometric data is used as one of the four sources of entropy to generate keypairs, but it is not the sole source. The biometric data is not reliable enough to generate secure keypairs. Therefore, instead of one source, we use 5 sources simultaneously:

1) Unique biometric data serves as the base of BDMI

2) Government ID data is always used as a reference

3) Cross-checking is always done between the government validated ID data other data such as behavioral data, scene data and location data of the given user

4) Newly updated data including criminal data, fertility database as well as the wanted list from legal enforcement agencies

5) Data audit



This private key management solution is more reliable and easy to use, since you will never leave your fingerprint, eyeball iris, digital vein or face at home.

3. What information is THEKEY planning to securely manage for people now and in the future?

As indicated from the White Paper (https://www.thekey.vip/sites/default/files/pdf/THEKEY_Whitepaper_171112.pdf), in order to complete the IDV process, two databases are required, namely the individual database (ID data, healthcare records, driving license, diploma degree, fertility data, etc.) and supporting data (Ontology [https://ont.io/], fact database, knowledge database, policy database and product, service database, etc.). Data collection is one of our core competencies.

4. Is the TKY token being used at any point of the running of current products in Heilongjiang, Jiaxing, etc., or is it planned to be used?

We deployed DMI (Dynamic Multi-dimensional Identification) technology in the Heilongjiang and Jiaxing provinces (https://themerkle.com/thekey-cornerstone-to-the-jiaxing-smart-city-solution/), but TKY is currently not in use. The deployment of DMI is the the first step in creating the foundation for the use of TKY in the future. We are planning to shift the current DMI system to BDMI gradually after Mainnet is launched (Currently scheduled for December 2018 as indicated in our White Paper — https://www.thekey.vip/sites/default/files/pdf/THEKEY_Whitepaper_171112.pdf).

But as I also pointed out in my Progress Report (https://medium.com/@thekeyvip/progress-report-of-thekey-from-january-15th-2018-to-april-15th-2018-the-first-3-months-7ead41079ec8), “We believe blockchain technology is still in its infancy stage and has a long road ahead before it can be fully and securely commercialized with stability. It is promising that many teams and projects are working enthusiastically as we work toward getting closer to that goal.”

5. Are there plans to use TKY in other sectors than healthcare?

Yes, IDV services are not only limited to the healthcare industry. As indicated in the whitepaper, IDV is fundamental in all fields. For instance, it’s also applied in insurance, statuary social insurance, credit services with banks, retirement pension claims. Please find the news related with DMI being applied in pension claims below: http://www.newschannel10.com/story/37962631/thekey-announces-their-platform-for-identity-verification-and-pension-claims-laying-the-foundations-for-real-world-cryptocurrencies-use-cases

6. What’s the status of the patents applied by THEKEY and what are the future plans?

Please find more information on the patents over at: https://www.thekey.vip/#/FAQ

THEKEY has already applied 15 patents for the technologies of entity recognition, terminology standardization, and intelligent Question-Answer system, which are all applied towards Chinese healthcare data. 2 patents are granted and other 13 patents are under the attestation process. Entity recognition can identify 18 kinds of medical terminologies, such as disease, diagnosis, surgery, inspection, medicine and consumable material, etc. from structured or unstructured data. Based on the domestic and foreign standard systems, the terminology standardization can realize the international classification and coding of five categories of terminology, including: disease, diagnosis, surgery, inspection, and medicine. Furthermore, the intelligent Question-Answer system can realize the Q&A as well as the retrieval of the semantic reasoning. This year, I am expecting my tech team to obtain more patents and copyrights in the relevant areas.

7. What are the connections between THEKEY and NEO and Ontology? Is TKY a real value for NEO team?

Neo is one of the early investors of THEKEY, and THEKEY is a dapp running on NEO. NEO Smart Economy = Digital Asset +Smart Contract +Digital Identity, wherein digital identity is also an indispensable element.

As such, THEKEY is naturally a partner of the Ontology network. Ontology focuses on cross chain solutions but THEKEY will focuses on IDV and serve as the underlying layer of Ontology. We will together serve the same objective, which is to develop bilateral or multi-lateral trust in the digital world.

8. When THEKEY Mainnet is launched in December and TKYs are transferred to the standalone blockchain, how is THEKEY going to remain an active member of NEO’s Smart Economy?

The Mainnet of THEKEY will be launched in Dec 2018 as indicated in whitepaper. We are going to transfer to the standalone blockchain by then. There are many well proven technical solutions on the table such as cross-chain communication or mapping between THEKEY and the NEO blockchain to help us remain an active member of the NEO Smart Economy.

9. Are there plans to spread the technology globally, not only in China but other countries as well?

Yes, we are expanding the business globally. As this point we are in discussion with several governments outside China.

10. What’s the status of the partnership with Ant Financial (Alibaba)?

We entered into a contract with Ant Financial, formerly known as Alipay and is under the Alibaba Group (https://www.antfin.com/index.htm?locale=en_US) on Apr 21st 2017. The contract is mainly about the application of IDV in different business scenarios, such as smart social insurance pay, medical loan application, factoring business and commercialization of human resources and social security data. It is not common business practice to report the progress with a certain business partner regularly. When there is substantial progress, we will share it with the community, so please stay tuned.

11. Will THEKEY be inquiring about forming partnerships with one of the facial recognition companies in China, for example Sense Time?

Thanks for your question. We are currently working with several facial recognition companies such as Sugon and Guomin Renzheng as appointed by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China.

12. Why THEKEY is partnering with Argon?

The Argon Group (https://argongroup.com/) was engaged to conduct a full audit of the concluded ICO. The initial assessment will include an in-depth review of the sale economics, terms, participant data and key jurisdiction requirements to ensure the sale was compliant and met purchaser requirements.

Token management is a brand new area for us in the following fields: Compliance; Value management; PR strategy; Tech support; Digital currency management and Fund raising. In order to better meet the requirements of post-ICO management, we started the cooperation with Argon with regards to the relevant areas.

13. Does THEKEY plan on creating a “cost per use” model or something closer to a subscription model? Essentially, how are the institutional users of the platform going to purchase TKY in China?

Most likely both, but we will start from cost per use model. It is still under discussion about how to transfer from Fiat to TKY. This is also a fundamental issue for all ICO projects, in that institutions and individuals face difficulty in obtaining utility tokens, especially in China which has legally banned institutions and individuals are banned from acquiring TKY or any other cryptocurrency in the open market. Currently, we are in discussion with Chinese government including the Central Bank regarding this issue. I am pretty sure we will be able to work out a solution with the government in the not so distant future.

14. Regarding the lockup tokens, could you clarify which tranches are left and when they will be released?

We got tranche I & III left; the total amount of tranche I TKY tokens will be 255,045,000. They will be released on 18th July 2018.

For tranche III, the total amount of TKY tokens are 300,000,000; 100,000,000 will be released on 18th May 2018, 100,000,000 will be released on 18th Jun 2018, and 100,000,000 will be released on 18th July.