BlockMesh is on a mission to connect the unconnected through a decentralized, cost-free communications network. In so doing, many have been asking why we have a Mesh Token and are planning on developing our own blockchain. These are valid questions, and as a company that prides itself on transparency, we’d like to shed some light on our future plans for the BlockMesh blockchain. Also seen below is a quick update on our hardware development. If you’re unfamiliar with what we do, have a look at our monthly roundup for April.

BlockMesh is focused on two very important things, namely, free communication and decentralized payments. For the past few years, and even more so since our ICO in March ’18, we’ve prioritized the cost-free communication side of things as we feel this is the necessary first step to giving people more autonomy, connection and education, while keeping some of their hard earned cash in their pockets (in Africa, and especially in South Africa, we have some of the world’s highest data costs).

So, as we’ve successfully released our alpha version chat app on Android and are in the final stages of our MeshEx Keyring Booster development, we can now begin turning our attention to our blockchain development as well.

Why do we need our own blockchain? Well, because we’re busy building custom hardware and software, we need a blockchain that is built to fit the needs of our network and future tokenization system. We’d prefer to build this from the ground-up, instead of retrofitting it to existing blockchains.

The plan to develop a custom blockchain has been in the pipeline for months and we have partnered with PACS Blockchain developers. We’ve agreed on the goals, and can now move forward with the next phase of development.

The first stage is that each device that’s connected to the Mesh Network will need to be verified by our Proof of Network (PoN) algorithm. This will ‘prove’ that said devices support the network and can begin ‘mining’ Mesh Tokens.

Some of the basic parameters are:

Data transfer rate

Data transferred

Uptime

Signal strength in distance

The video below demonstrates how two of our devices can automatically detect each other and bind together. This is important for the integrity of the Mesh Network as it allows our devices to search for and connect to each other automatically, when in range.

The hardware seen here has a built-in 900MHz Radio with transmission capabilities of 15kms. This particular frequency penetrates buildings and structures very well, so, our devices are able to connect in urban areas, from anywhere between 2 to 5kms.

Our MeshEx Keyring Booster prototype is nearly ready and we’re in the final stages of finishing our software used to link these devices together as one. Once this is complete, our test network will be ready for us to start building the proof of concept for our own blockchain.

It’s important to remember that our project wants to develop a unique approach to how the blockchain works. Our algorithm will work primarily on our network and not rely on the internet, hence our infrastructure will be independent of the internet. This is important to achieve cost-free, decentralized payments and communication that does not require existing, controlled infrastructure that’s vulnerable and that can be shut down at any time.

It can be argued that other blockchains are still centralized if they rely on the internet to operate. If BlockMesh achieves a second layer of connectivity, other blockchains will see this as a true mechanism for decentralized transacting and data-transfer.

We’re looking forward to this chapter of the BlockMesh development story and appreciate your support in helping us to achieve these goals. As always, find out more on our website and by joining our Telegram group and send any questions or comments to us on Twitter.