Title: "Solving the Last Mile of Blockchain: Why Nervos is Worth Looking Forward To"

Source: Runchen, TalkChain

Human imagination is actually very limited. But interestingly, humans with limited imagination continue to create things beyond imagination.

Ford once had a famous saying, which roughly means that when you ask someone what they need, they will say they want a faster horse. But when you put a car in front of them, they will accept it with enthusiasm and never look back.

When 4G first appeared, everyone thought it was just a faster horse. At that time, people were boasting about their download speeds while lamenting the rising communication costs. Back then, 4G, like autonomous driving and blockchain, was merely a plaything for geeks.

However, when 4G truly became widespread and the law of diminishing returns took effect, people realized that the development of new technologies was actually revolutionary. The popularization of 4G allowed China to overtake others in the mobile internet era, laying the foundation for the glorious internet decade that followed.

It is no exaggeration to say that the changes in human life brought about by 4G are no less significant than those brought by cars. Without the widespread adoption of 4G, we would not have seen the rise of live streaming, short videos, and mini-programs, and we might not even have industries like ride-hailing and O2O.

Back in 2013, when 4G first emerged, there were constant doubts, and even now some people claim that 4G base stations pose radiation hazards. But as Marx said, the development of things is a spiral ascent; the wheel of history rolls forward, and while there may be brief pauses, it will never stop.

The development of new technologies is always difficult, especially when people have become accustomed to old technologies. People instinctively doubt and resist, and only a small portion will actively accept or even embrace it. But the chariot of new technology will never stop.

The Logic of Innovation: Injecting New Variables into the System

I particularly like a term called "variable." Every technological innovation is essentially injecting a variable into the system of our lives, and each new variable will combine and collide with other elements. The results of countless variable collisions and overlaps are the significant changes we see in life.

We can see today's Didi because the underlying variables have matured. High-definition navigation maps, more accurate satellite positioning systems, and the popularity of mobile internet are the prerequisites for the development of ride-hailing.

After that, the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies helped Didi continuously optimize its matching and navigation systems. The push from capital, the improvement of urban laws and regulations, and even the generational changes are all variables that contributed to Didi's emergence and growth.

The birth of every new thing is the result of countless variable combinations. The beginning of every transformation is when we inject a new variable into the system.

The emergence of blockchain is equivalent to injecting the variable of "decentralization" into the system.

We discovered that there are "constants" that can be artificially set in this world, such as the total supply of Bitcoin not exceeding 21 million coins. We also found that many things in this world can be done without the need for trust.

Thus, we witnessed the vigorous development of decentralized finance (DeFi), where smart contracts on the blockchain operate faithfully according to pre-established rules. I no longer need to trust my counterpart or rely on a sufficiently credible third party to achieve asset transfer, exchange, and lending.

Next, we saw NFTs. This form of on-chain certification created a new consensus. The concept of the metaverse, which was proposed in science fiction works long ago, also became more feasible.

But this is still not enough, because we need to inject another variable: "low threshold."

What does low threshold mean? In the past, when you called Didi, the location was often inaccurate, and you had to tell the driver where you were. Often, after a long explanation, you would hear the driver say, "I think you don't understand your location."

Now, when you open Didi, it can accurately locate your position and even recommend nearby pick-up points.

This is low threshold. High-precision maps, more accurate satellite and base station-assisted positioning, and big data-optimized dispatch systems are what truly allow Didi to be used by the majority.

Technology will eventually enter thousands of households through commercial use, but there is a premise. Technology will eventually enter thousands of households through low thresholds or embedded commercial use.

So in 2021, I believe the most important variable for blockchain is "low threshold."

II. CKB Makes Low Threshold a New Variable

The threshold for blockchain is not low; on the contrary, it is absurdly high for the average person.

Even products recognized as high-quality in the industry, like Metamask and imToken, are incredibly difficult to understand for first-time users. Users need to understand mnemonic phrases, private keys, and miner fees, and more seriously, if you cannot grasp these concepts, you may lose all your assets.

For users outside the circle, I cannot perceive the advantages brought by blockchain but must first pay a huge learning cost. So, why should I do this?

Thus, today's blockchain users are basically composed of two types of people: one is the geeks who are inherently passionate about new things, and the other is speculators who come for the wealth effect. Many in the second group have a limited understanding of blockchain, only focusing on prices, candlestick charts, and centralized exchanges.

The development of technology ultimately needs to enter thousands of households through commercial use. But how to achieve this is a question worth exploring.

To lower the threshold, we need to solve the user's private key issue. Custody is one way, but if custody is involved, the essence of blockchain is weakened, and trust remains highly concentrated in centralized custodians.

To decentralize the custody of private keys, public chains need to optimize from the bottom up, which is why I have always been attentive to Nervos. Because Nervos has considered the idea of "entering thousands of households" in its foundational design from the very beginning.

Making Nervos the blockchain layer of the internet is easier said than done. To achieve this vision, Nervos has done three things:

• The simplest and longest chain principle;
• A unique cell model and complete account abstraction;
• Bottom layer support for open cryptographic primitives.

In the design of the entire network, Nervos has considered various situations, placing scalability and openness at the forefront of its design.

Among them, the open cryptographic primitives enable Nervos's layer one network, CKB, to parse various digital signatures. Digital signatures and asymmetric encryption are widely present in the internet world, such as in emails.

When A sends an email to B, how does B know that the email is from A? This involves DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) technology, which is a verification technique to prevent email fraud.

When A sends an email, it encrypts it using the domain's private key and generates a signature, which is fundamentally the same principle as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Then, when B receives the email, they verify the signature through a domain name resolver (DNS); if it matches, it can be considered as sent by A.

Of course, if we trace this chain back, we find that everything is centralized. First, A's signature is not signed by A itself but by its email provider, such as QQ Mail or Gmail. And DNS is centralized; tracing back further, we have the concept of "root certificates."

A centralized and sufficiently credible institution issues root certificates, then issues certificates and signatures to different institutions layer by layer. This root certificate institution can be a national government, a non-profit organization, or even a grassroots organization.

CKB can read this certificate and its signature, thus determining the authenticity of this email (or other encrypted information) in a decentralized manner.

All centralized institutions have the capacity for wrongdoing, but we have reason to believe that large companies like Google and Tencent will not typically act maliciously against an ordinary person, as the consequences of being discovered far outweigh the benefits.

Based on this, we can consider that Nervos can, to some extent, leverage the centralized brand credit and reputation of the internet world. The ability to recover passwords via email can be achieved not only in the internet world but also on the decentralized Nervos.

Blockchain is like the Peach Blossom Spring described by Tao Yuanming, "Initially extremely narrow, it only allows one person to pass. After walking a few dozen steps, it opens up to a broad view." The charm of Nervos lies in its construction of a pathway for ordinary users to enter the blockchain world.

The broad and open blockchain world is right in front of us.

III. Unipass: Connecting the Last Mile of Blockchain

If Nervos has opened a pathway for internet users to enter the blockchain world, then what Unipass aims to do is connect the last mile of blockchain, allowing users to better enter this new world.

Leveraging the characteristics of open cryptographic primitives, Unipass has created an identity authentication system based on email and mobile phones. Just like all traditional internet accounts, users log in using their email and password. The user's private key is generated through the browser's underlying (SubtleCrypto) and encrypted with a password.

The email is used to recover the account. As mentioned earlier, CKB can verify DKIM signatures, so Unipass can achieve account recovery by verifying and interpreting email content.

In simple terms, when registering for Unipass, after the private key is generated, an authorization is issued for the email address, which we can understand as an encrypted will. This encrypted will ensures the right to unlock the private key via the email, allowing users to prove their identity through the DKIM signature of the email, thus unlocking and managing their account assets.

Based on this system, Unipass can be seamlessly integrated into various internet scenarios. Imagine that in the future, users will be able to view their owned NFTs through mini-programs and easily complete blockchain account injections on any webpage.

Unipass creates an open, decentralized identity authentication system that can be easily integrated into various scenarios. This is a huge variable because, in this process, no one can prevent others from accessing this open system.

Imagine a scenario where the NFTs held by users can serve as admission criteria for commenting on a certain website. Assets accepted in software A can be freely viewed and called in software B. Throughout this process, users do not need to understand what blockchain is; they only need to remember their account and password.

Unipass solves the last mile problem of blockchain applications.

IV. When Low-Threshold Decentralized Domains Become Possible

From the very beginning, Nervos has been playing a big game; it hopes to become the blockchain layer of the internet, building a decentralized and secure foundation. On this foundation, it injects more variables into the blockchain and internet worlds, anticipating interesting chemical reactions.

While other public chains are trying to replicate Ethereum, only Nervos is steadfastly following its own path. Fortunately, the value of Nervos is increasingly recognized by developers.

I previously wrote about Yang Min in an article ("Yang Min: A Long-Termist Who Has Crossed Bull and Bear Markets Twice | Crypto Industry Talk"), a product manager from a major company and the founder of EOSPARK. They have developed a decentralized domain system called DAS (Decentralized Account Systems) based on the Nervos system.

DAS is not the first player to focus on domains and account systems; Ethereum has ENS, and there are other players in the blockchain world like Handshake and Unstoppable Domain. But as mentioned earlier, the biggest difference of DAS is that it injects the new variable of "low threshold" into the product.

DAS accounts can be held by any address from any public chain, and even ordinary users without blockchain accounts can use Unipass. Because DAS is based on the CKB foundation, and CKB natively supports open cryptographic primitives, DAS can actually be held by Ethereum, Bitcoin, and even Tron addresses.

This brings great scalability to DAS. Combined with the previously mentioned Unipass, DAS users no longer need to understand what blockchain is or what private keys are; they only need to log in using their account password as they did in the old days to purchase, hold, and set up a DAS.

To obtain an ENS, users must first hold ETH and learn to use Wallet Connect or Metamask. Then they must go through a lengthy registration process, step by step setting up resolution and addresses, which has a very high threshold. In contrast, DAS only requires users to log in using their email and password and make payments via WeChat.

A truly low-threshold decentralized domain system will lay the foundation for more future application scenarios, such as more thorough end-to-end encrypted communication, decentralized personal homepages, and unified passwordless login credentials.

Currently, DAS is still in the testnet phase, with the official version expected to launch in July.

V. Will Blockchain Change the World?

Blockchain once had a grand narrative, as if a new king was rising to challenge the old king in a creation myth. When the myth shattered, those grand narratives turned to dust, and many began to lose faith in this industry.

After several cycles, many seem to have forgotten the original intention behind the birth of this industry. But fortunately, more and more outstanding individuals have remained in this industry, working diligently despite doubts and insults.

The construction of infrastructure has never been completed in a day; change occurs gradually every day. Most people only realize how different we are from ten years ago after the change has long since happened.

All innovations and technological evolutions will inevitably be accompanied by controversy and misunderstanding. But the wheel of history will always roll forward, and those who keep their heads down and work will surely drive the development of the industry.

Blockchain will change the world, no matter how incredible this may seem; I have no doubt about it.