For those people who can’t get enough Bitcoins in their life, a new option is emerging. Known as Bitcoin Incognito, it is another attempt at fixing some of the glaring issues which Bitcoin presents. Whether or not this new fork will succeed is unclear, but more competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Anonymity and Bitcoin in one Package
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about Bitcoin is that it is anonymous. That is anything but the case, though, as Bitcoin has neither anonymity nor privacy features. The currency allows one to be pseudonymous – similar to an online nickname – but not anonymous. Some projects are trying to address this lack of anonymity through various means.
In the case of Bitcoin Incognito, there isn’t much information to go by at this time, as the project was only announced Friday afternoon. From what little information has been made public, it’s evident Bitcoin Incognito will primarily focus on proof-of-stake and masternode solutions.
Anyone who has paid close attention to the various altcoins on the market will have noticed that masternodes are quickly becoming more popular. It is a system that many currencies are embracing, although it is not something one would ever see as being part of Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin Incognito thinks it is a good time to take the plunge in this regard, although it remains to be seen how this will pan out when combined with proof-of-stake capabilities.
Additionally, the new project will make use of the Zerocoin protocol to provide anonymity features. It will convert publicly visible BTCi into fully anonymous zBTCi. Sending the anonymous version will appear as normal BTCi to the recipient, but there will be no traceable route indicating where the money came from exactly. It is somewhat similar to how other currencies using the Zerocoin protocol operate. Furthermore, it seems Bitcoin Incognito will make use of a feature known as SwiftTX. This is not a unique feature, as it is found in a fair few altcoins. Even so, it will allow Bitcoin Incognito’s users to send transactions faster and cheaper compared to Bitcoin and most altcoins.
It is evident that the project has some interesting ideas, although it remains to be seen whether this particular altcoin will gain any major traction. Various newer versions of Bitcoin have popped up in recent months, yet none have made any lasting impact other than Bitcoin Cash. Changing this situation will not be all that easy, but that doesn’t mean launching new projects is no longer worth it.
