It is estimated that a staggering $350 trillion in global assets are held and traded daily via the use of conventional fiat banking systems. These systems, while highly prevalent, are ridden with innate issues of poor liquidity, low transparency, and little accountability. This is because banks and other financial institutions are governed by central operators and thus are confined in terms of overall operability.

CommerceBlock is an all-new blockchain-based platform that has been designed to facilitate global economic trade in a secure, private, and efficient manner via public blockchains. All of the project’s technology is based on peer-reviewed research by experts from the open source and academic cryptocurrency communities.

One can also think of CommerceBlock as a public blockchain platform that allows anyone to build and use financial products and services that have otherwise been reserved for commercial banking customers. The system provides users with a framework that incorporates unique elements such as:

• Trust-minimized trade
• Decentralized contract execution
• On-chain derivatives
• Asset-backed token issuance

Overview of the platform

• CommerceBlock offers users with a fully-developed set of tools that can allow them to build and deploy smart contracts.
• The system is designed to help manage trade flows, engage in multiparty dispute management,
   issue monetary assets, etc.
• Owing to its unique digital framework, CommerceBlock is able to assist developers and end users in managing various aspects of business interaction and multi-party contracts.
• The platform employs a homomorphic address protocol that has been designed to streamline the way in which business logic, customer funds, and specific trade details are managed.
• CommerceBlock is secure and does not have access to customer funds or their private information.

Key Features

First and foremost, the APIs and SDKs employed by CommerceBlock provide users with a wide array of tools that have been tested and verified. To be even more specific, the exposed libraries can interact directly with base layer public blockchains, as well as with layered protocols such as the Lightning Network.

Overview of the platform’s architecture

According to the whitepaper, the native system API assists users in constructing zero-knowledge invoices as well as other activities such as:

• Facilitating multiparty escrow transactions
• Engaging in templated in-channel contracts on the Lightning Network
• Issuing unique monetary assets
• Utilizing and employing selectively devised smart contracts

CommerceBlock’s user interface

CommerceBlock makes use of the pay-to-contract protocol,

 which was first envisioned by Gerhardt and Hanke. It is a digital tool designed to mimic real-world payment interactions between merchants and customers. When using this protocol, only the merchant and customer possess cryptographic proof of who is being paid and for what.

How it Works

CommerceBlock comes with a web portal that provides users with the option of subscribing to the company’s prepaid or postpaid subscriptions. Once signed up, customers are granted access to the native toolkit that has been optimized for the construction of smart contracts and issuing/distributing assets.

Visual representation of how the system works

Other key points worth noting include:

• API users are required to pay per API call.
• SDKs are available for free download.

It should also be understood that the platform provides pre-packaged, paid-access trade flow templates to its clients. These templates clearly elucidate the intricacies and pitfalls of trade management, thereby optimizing the way in which companies can govern their internal processes.

Enterprise customers are given the option to use the company’s native APIs and SDKs. Pricing is determined on a case-by-case basis, and revenue shares/partnerships are also taken into consideration.

Lastly, according to the roadmap laid out by the CommerceBlock dev team, the company is working to integrate third-party standards in identity, storage, and security. That will make it easy for developers to integrate Ledger wallets into their product offerings.

Possible risks associated with the project

A product such as CommerceBlock is never free of uncertainties and business risks. For example, due to certain innate security vulnerabilities and bugs, the framework of this platform is not free from operational issues. While CommerceBlock’s source code is available for public peer review, additional measures such as third-party audits are also needed to ensure a high degree of safety and privacy.

About the team

Nicholas Gregory is the CEO of this project. According to his LinkedIn page, Nicholas specializes in various Java and blockchain-related digital technologies. Prior to founding CommerceBlock, he served as the CTO of circumvent.com.

Tom Trevethan is the Head of Backend Operations at CommerceBlock. Tom worked as a scientist and researcher in domains related to physics and chemistry before permanently switching over to blockchain technology some years back.

Token Performance History

Released into the crypto market on April 18, CBT tokens initially traded at a price of $0.036 per token.

CBT token lifetime performance history (courtesy of CoinMarketCap)

 

As can be seen on the chart above, the currency hit its value high on April 25 when the price of a single token scaled up to an impressive $0.122. Since then, the price has stabilized quite a bit, and as of May 3, a single CBT is trading at $0.055.

Final Thoughts

CommerceBlock promises to deliver a highly compelling service that could reshape the way in which enterprises work and conduct their daily business operations. The company’s roadmap envisions a future wherein CommerceBlock will be bolstered with a host of additional modules that will present financial engineers with a wide array of opportunities within the global economic engine.

However, as with any other business venture, it is advised that investors do a bit of research on their own before putting large amounts of money into the project.

If you would like to start investing in CommerceBlock, CBT pairs are being traded on OKEX and IDEX.