Tierion: Utilizing the Bitcoin Blockchain to Verify Documents

What Is Tierion?

The Tierion project utilizes Bitcoin’s blockchain to verify documents. The platform accomplishes this task through a process known as anchoring. Anchoring links documents to exact blocks in Bitcoin’s blockchain. The anchored documents are then verifiable at any time without the need of a trusted third-party. Let’s take a moment to examine this unique platform and how it came to dominate the blockchain data verification sector.

Connecticut-based Tierion entered the market in 2015 and is led by Wayne Vaughan and Jason Bukowski. It’s exceptional growth was largely due to following a different strategy than its competition as well as a few key platform features.

Tierion’s developers didn’t enter the market attempting to convert businesses over to new blockchain-based systems. Instead, developers focused on enhancing the systems currently in place and making it as easy as possible for companies to utilize their services.

China’s Supreme Court recognizes ‘blockchain evidence’ as legally binding.

After working on @Tierion and @chainpnt for three years, it’s gratifying to see governments recognize the value of the tech we’re building.

Another step on the long road to replacing trust with @proof. https://t.co/OlLDRgsc1v

— Wayne Vaughan (@WayneVaughan) September 7, 2018

The Tierion platform provides you with a variety of verification systems. It offers services such as Chainpoint, which allows anyone to begin anchoring essential documents to the blockchain. This service time stamps all documents. A business-based version of the protocol called Proof is also in development. Developers boast that Proof anchors documents can’t be manipulated or altered. The current way of doing business lacks this simple, but important quality.

Features

When you receive a digital copy of a document, it doesn’t tell you if the material is in its original state, or even when the original creation date of the document occurred. Hackers and network administrators can change or backdate data without you knowing. The platform eliminates these risks with its Chainpoint service.

Documents that are time stamped with a digital proof of their original state are more secure than, say, a PDF. Tierion’s use of Bitcoin’s blockchain keeps accounting and auditing procedures more secure. Companies can create immutable histories of their business processes for later review.

Tierion’s platform also allows users to issue blockchain verifiable credentials. These credentials include professional licenses, educational credits, and even awards. The data helps to reduce fraudulent activity in the sector by providing businesses with an easy and affordable way to verify their employees’ credentials.

Tierion’s Services via Homepage

Partnerships

In February, Tierion raised eyebrows across the crypto community when they announced a partnership with computer giant Microsoft. The partnership’s goals revolve around securing sensitive pieces of information on the public blockchain. The partnered project’s main developer is Daniel Buchner. Buchner is well known for his role leading the Microsoft Azure Identity team.  

Microsoft executives hope to corner the financial, insurance, and healthcare sectors with their new blockchain-based platform. The protocol’s design matches the complex operational standards of these types of business systems. The team coined the term non-repudiation, the inability to deny something’s validity, to describe how their system benefits clients. Documents that utilize this system gain non-repudiation characteristics due to the trustless nature of the system.

In March 2018, Tierion announced a partnership with the data management firm Liaison. Liaison operates a substantial data verification network known as ALLOY. The connection allowed ALLOY users to begin utilizing Tierion’s services as part of their membership.

Liaison executives announced integration plans for additional blockchain functionality into their platform in the coming months. This comes as a result of the positive response members gave regarding Tierion’s services. Additional upgrades could include smart contracts and digital currency transactions, according to a Bloomberg report done on the company.

Bitcoin’s Blockchain

Tierion utilizes a dual blockchain protocol that allows users to integrate millions of data points into the Bitcoin blockchain with efficiency. Developers decided that Bitcoin’s blockchain would be the best network to use because it’s the world’s largest and most secure blockchain.

Developers looked into other options, such as Ethereum, but in the end, they decided that security and decentralization were more critical than transaction speed. Tierion manages to get around the Bitcoin scalability issues, such as delayed transaction times, by cryptographically linking millions of data points to a single transaction. This strategy enables Tierion’s users to anchor millions of documents a second without congestion.

Open Source

The Tierion’s development includes contributions from developers across the globe. The platforms code is open-source, and the development team invites programmers to help improve the coding. Open source projects, such as Bitcoin, gain considerable security advantages over private coded platforms. This added security is the result of more contributors examining the code.

IoT

One of Tierion’s most unique concepts is its ability to integrate into IoT (Internet of Things) systems. This integration takes data collected from IoT devices and anchors it to the blockchain. IoT device information will be critical in the not so distant future. The ability to verify the validity of this data could help to increase the adoption rate for this technology.

TNT Token

The Tierion (TNT) coin trades at multiple exchanges including Binance, HitBTC, Huobi, and Liqui. Binance is one of the largest exchanges globally. TNT tokens made headlines when they were successfully listed on Binance in November 2017. The news came via a tweet directly from Tierion’s developers.

You will need an ERC-20 compatible wallet to store TNT tokens. The company’s website specifically lists MyEtherWallet, Mist, Parity, and imToken as approved platforms.

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Looking Towards the Future

Tierion’s unique strategy allowed them to carve out a niche in the blockchain data verification sector. As this platform continues to develop, you can expect to see many more large partnerships in the making. For now, Tierion is on top of the blockchain data verification pyramid.