NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Apr 8, 2014) - Developers of the Master Protocol (http://www.mastercoin.org/), a programmable money layer created by J.R. Willett on the Bitcoin blockchain, today announced at the Inside Bitcoin conference in New York the launch of the Master Protocol Distributed Exchange and Wallets in beta (http://www.mastercoinwallets.org/). The distributed exchange is a new model that is totally trustless and lets users keep complete control over their own tokens using Bitcoin private keys.
The ability to trade Mastercoins was unlocked on Saturday, March 15, upon the generation of block 290630, which occurred at 00:05 GMT. In order to make use of the exchange, users must have either a Windows wallet or a Web wallet (Mac or Android). No log-ins or accounts are required. The transaction and account data are stored on the Bitcoin blockchain, providing total security.
Using Master Protocol, organizations and individuals will be able to create virtual tokens for a particular decentralized application project. Leveraging the security of Bitcoin, these new virtual tokens are intended to provide a completely open-book system for resource allocation in novel and innovative decentralized applications.
The Master Protocol Distributed Exchange is an example of a decentralized application, a new development explained in the white paper, "The General Theory of Decentralized Applications (DApps)," by David Johnston. Some requirements of decentralized applications are that they:
- Must be completely open source;
- Must operate autonomously;
- Must store their data and records in a public, decentralized blockchain;
- Must generate or distribute tokens to reward predefined user behavior.
About Master Protocol and Mastercoin - The Bitcoin Commerce Layer
Master Protocol is a crowdfunded, Bitcoin blockchain currency layer that allows for a plethora of new digital currencies and property sales to be created through the Bitcoin blockchain. The Master Protocol removes the typical broker level (and fees) from financial transactions, restoring trust as the keystone element in trade. The principles of Mastercoin, the first coin created with the Master Protocol, were first developed in J.R. Willett's Jan. 6, 2012, white paper, "The Second Bitcoin Whitepaper." To learn more about Mastercoin and Master Protocol, please visit http://www.mastercoin.org.
About the Mastercoin Foundation
The Mastercoin Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to enable and accelerate innovation worldwide by building a technological crowd-sourcing platform for community projects, coupled with a rich financial-exchange system and liquidity layer. Members use the Mastercoin Open Source Project and Protocol precedents as benchmarks for their enforcement standards. For more information, please visit http://www.mastercoinfoundation.org.