The BPSAA Vision

What Is BPSAA?

The Blockchain Privacy, Security & Adoption Alliance (BPSAA) aims to educate the public on privacy and security issues and solutions in blockchain and to facilitate a common forum for developers to create open-source privacy and security technologies for public use.

These three topics are crucial pillars of our vision at BPSAA.

Privacy

Privacy equals freedom. Blockchain technology, specifically the Bitcoin network, is only pseudonymous. So while this is better than traditional financial systems that don’t offer privacy, the future of blockchain technology depends upon new technologies that provide users with privacy as the default. Privacy is often portrayed as a negative thing in mainstream society, and that shouldn’t be the case. Privacy isn’t about hiding in the shadows. It’s about protecting user data in a time when people’s decisions are being bought and sold by corporations that value profit over people.

Robinhood has made nearly $700 million by selling user data to hedge funds. And what do the people get in return? They have no say in the future of the platform and can’t hold Robinhood accountable for its actions. That’s why decentralized ledger technology (DLT) like blockchain and privacy technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs are critical solutions for giving users the freedom to regain control of their own data and preserve their privacy.

Security

When we think about blockchain, the term “unhackable” is sometimes thrown around. The problem is that blockchain technology is actually highly insecure in many regards. With a market cap of over $1 trillion and growing, it’s so important to address the myriad of security challenges facing blockchain today. Yes, unless quantum computers break asymmetric encryption, blockchain networks that are costly to attack are highly secure, but there are plenty of security issues that haven’t been solved.

Double spending is possible through 51% attacks. In DeFi, rug pulls are happening on a daily basis, which is ultimately counter-intuitive to the narrative of decentralization. If you’re deep in the blockchain space, it’s often easy to take for granted things like keeping a seed phrase secure or avoiding a phishing attack. We have to realize that most people in the world still don’t have exposure to cryptocurrencies - with the leading crypto nation (Nigeria) having only 32% of its population who own/use crypto. Most nations are well below 10%. What this means is that there are many potential security issues caused by the learning curve that newcomers experience. Unfortunately, many people often learn the hard way that being your own custodian isn’t always easy. This is why BPSAA aims to provide educational resources for people to keep their funds and data secure.

Adoption

Before blockchain can eat the world, there’s still a lot of work to be done. The technology isn’t super easy for most people to get involved with. Wallets and dApps are becoming easier to use as more developers are focusing on improving user experience, but the vast majority of people haven’t fully embraced the true vision of blockchain. For real adoption to take place, we need to stop viewing crypto as a speculative asset class.

“Number goes up” is a saying that is often used to describe the mentality of people involved in crypto. This phrase is used in jest but largely based on reality. Most people don’t realize that the true value of blockchain isn’t the price action of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It’s about the disruptive nature of the technology itself. Users can send money around the globe 24/7 in seconds for less than a penny. That’s just the beginning, of course. Decentralized finance, for example, is making it easier to borrow and lend money or trade assets without a third party. What’s so fascinating is that the technology has existed for a few years now, although it wasn’t really widely known about outside crypto inner circles.

With more attention focused on blockchain in the media, there is more awareness around the technology. Awareness doesn’t necessarily equal adoption. More people are starting to get excited about crypto, but it’s important that hype around a bull market doesn’t fade. This all goes back to education. For people who are already all-in on blockchain, it should be our mission to ensure that everyone entering the space has at least a basic understanding of how the technology works and a clear route to using it. We need to recognize this as a prerequisite for adoption.

Komodo & BPSAA

BPSAA is so excited to be hosting the Spring 2021 BPSAA Webinar along with Komodo. As one of the founding members of BPSAA, Komodo has always been a strong advocate of blockchain privacy, security, and adoption. This event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the brilliant minds of the participating BPSAA member projects. At BPSAA, we’re looking forward to running more events in the future.

If you’re interested in the topics above, please be sure to check out the BPSAA website for more info! We’re accepting applications for new members, partners/sponsors, and developers.