By Jamie Redman,
Back in March Bitcoin.com reported the Walt Disney company was searching for blockchain talent at its Seattle, Washington headquarters. Now the firm has released its own public/private hybrid blockchain, called Dragonchain.
Meet Dragonchain, a Blockchain Created by Disney
Disney’s Dragonchain platform claims it will simplify real business applications onto a hybrid blockchain. The project allows for easy integration, business data security, multi-currency features, fixed 5-second blocks and more. The platform was released publicly on October 2 and was developed by a “small but very cool team of Blockchain technology advocates.”
Documentation for Dragonchain on GitHub is roughly 15 pages long, with a first draft description of its capabilities. This includes development services for those unfamiliar with distributed ledger technology, default data protection, interoperability with other blockchains both public and private, and agnostic currency support.
Bitcoin uses “Proof of Work” (PoW) as its consensus mechanism to build a trusteless environment. With Dragonchain the “proof” will be absent, and users will have different choices on the matter. The Dragonchain document explains:
In this architecture, “proof” will be abstracted and may be implemented in one or more ways for a given blockchain. For some uses, one may desire to use a trust based system, for instance, in a fully private blockchain system. One may also find value in a hybrid proof configuration that would see trust applied alongside limited Proof of Work to add additional security against attack.
Similar Frameworks and Interoperability Are Key
Disney released the blockchain protocol with a modified Apache 2 open source license. The framework is similar to many blockchain prototypes with features such as timestamping, block ID, hashing prior blocks, PoW/ PoS capabilities, and digital signatures. Dragonchain gives various definitions for business verification, enterprise validation, network diversity, notarization, and public and proprietary checkpoints.
The application could do a number of procedures including trading Disney issued assets, partnered services issuing tokens, and accepting existing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. There isn’t a clear and definitive application for Dragonchain’s possibilities yet, though, except for general business use cases.
Dragonchain’s multi-currency directive is probably the most interesting aspect. It’s quite possible the firm could issue “Mickey Mouse” tokens, with additional interoperability with assets like Bitcoin.
Additionally, the corporation could create loyalty points for patrons visiting Walt Disney resorts and theme parks. Or Disney could create blockchain-based programs for its fast lane feature within Disney theme parks. The platform could monitor ride times and the length of lines in order to create a more efficient process.
Mickey Mouse Coin Could Happen, With Bitcoin Compatibility
For now, Bitcoin interoperability is a must for Dragonchain as the documentation reveals it is the default base implementation. The paper explains that it makes sense at the moment to leverage the “ever growing external Bitcoin ecosystem.”
“Bitcoin cryptography in a private currency will enable the transparent use of hardware signing wallets for internal use (e.g. KeepKey, Trezor, Ledger). Another example is that of tokenization, whereby one may directly integrate Bitcoin tokenization provider technology for use with an internal blockchain (e.g. Counterparty or Tokenly),” Dragonchain’s GitHub description details.
Dragonchain’s primary goal is ease of integration for those who understand blockchain technology, and for users who have yet to grasp the technology. It seems the platform is keeping its software protocol open to adopting different criteria as time progresses. Dragonchain will adopt standards down the line, and follow the W3C Blockchain Community Group blockchain standardization process as well.
What Disney has in mind for this blockchain at the moment is anyone’s guess, but it’s pretty apparent the company is ready for the future of this technology.