[v0.9.0] First proof-of-concept release

Nodes
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Here we are! The first version of uCoin software gathering all the required core features.

GitHub link: v0.9.0

You will find below a “log” of changes introduced with this version.

Quick overview

This release is a proof-of-concept and gathers all required features to build a free currency. However, software still requires lots of tests, and lacks several useful tools to use it efficiently.

Use it for testing and demos purposes only!

New features

  • time reference and UD amount are now written in the blockchain
  • transactions (both Dividend and Transfer) are now handled and written in the blockchain
  • it is now possible to create a network of nodes
  • it is now possible to synchronize the blockchain from an existing node to a new/unsynced node

Changes

Certifications & Memberships

This kind of data is now tied to a given blockchain. It means that a certification or membership made for a given blockchain cannot be used for another blockchain, even if the currency name is the same for the 2 blockchains.

This link is materialized by the writing of the number + fingerprint from an existing block in the blockchain into the Certification & Membership documents.

This change was made for 2 reasons:

  1. We do not want signed documents to be reused in a context it was meant for.
  2. We do not want the possibility to sign documents dated in the future.

Thus, blockchain time (tblock = block number + fingerprint) reference has the required property for our two goals: it targets without ambiguity the blockchain state at a given t time, and tblock has the property to be unpredictable.

Proof-of-work difficulty

Difficulty rules has changed, and I hope it is really both easier to understand, and covers more use cases to counter potential spam attacks.

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