The Internet of Trusted Things is what IoTeX is calling the ability for all physical and virtual “things” — (humans, machines, businesses, digital applications) — to securely exchange data and value at a global scale…
Phew, that is a mouthful!
Before we even discuss what and why trust is so important for these devices, we will need to discuss — what is an IoT Device?
Internet of Things | Physical Devices on the Internet
The Internet of things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects - a.k.a. “things” - that have sensors, software, and other technologies with the purpose of connecting and exchanging data between other devices and systems over the Internet.
Consider these devices when you ride a Lime Bike or when you change the temperature on your smart thermostat. You should even consider this software when you are at the doctor’s office as many healthcare devices are a part of IoT. The Internet of Things plays a huge role in healthcare! IOTX blockchain will be home to HealthNet from Consensus Networks who recently signed a $1.5m deal with the US Navy to create a blockchain-based system for medical supply chain. All of this would be impossible without the IOTX Network and its scalability for IoT devices to live and on the network.
This brief description of IoT hopefully raises considerations when interacting with small devices that communicate remotely. Trust is very important and eliminating the middle-man is what IoTeX is focused on. Removing the human variable and replacing it with code.
IoTeX Ecosystem
IoTeX’s mission is to enable a borderless ecosystem where humans and machines can interact with guaranteed trust, free will, and privacy.
Taken from the “About” page of IoTeX.
You can track the progress of IoTeX’s mission HERE — the main network page for IoTeX. This website provides real-time data displaying all the devices currently running on the IOTX network. Here you can explore all transactions on the network and look up information about your Pebble or UCam device.
First, let’s dive into the part of IoTeX that is (in my opinion) confusing, disjointed and fragmented in a way that makes accessing and understanding the products and services cumbersome and overwhelming.
Honestly, just looking at that infographic gives me a headache! Thankfully, in this article we are only going to focus on two areas of the ecosystem: “Applications & Hardware”.
Hardware
There are two main pieces of hardware offered which rely on the IoTeX ecosystem: UCam and Pebble Tracker. Both of these devices are real-world technologies that rely on the blockchain to encrypt data for the end-user. The UCam device is a stand-alone surveillance camera that costs $49.99 and is even available on Amazon. This camera gives the user a random identity on the blockchain and can only be accessed by the person given the credentials. If you forget your secret code you will no longer be able to access stored data from the device and will need to reset it.
The Pebble Tracker is a completely different bag of worms to unfold. Using the power of blockchain this device captures physical world data to give you trusted information about real-world events in real-time.
How does this apply to me?
The first use-case for this device will be PebbleGo. Think about PebbleGo as the Pokémon GO of IoTeX. Instead of catching virtual Pokémon on your phone, you can use the Pebble Tracker and collect NFT’s of real-world locations like the Taj Mahal or the Tesla factory in Silicon Valley. After reading through the website it seems like it will work similarly to Geocaching with limited quantities and the ability to resell the NFT’s you mint when you visit real-world locations using what PebbleGO calls: “Proof of Presence”.
Now, let’s check out some of the digital products that IoTeX and their partners have curated to bring this hardware to life.
Applications
Below we will discuss the DApps (Decentralized Applications) on the IOTX chain. There are a few different core DApps that are directly supported by the IoTeX team such as:
Mimo Exchange — A Dex (Decentralized Exchange) built by the FinTech gurus at CapitalMu & IoTeX. CapitalMu is a research-based team, that focuses on development of decentralized financial products on the IoTeX blockchain. They have released two main versions with huge improvements each time. Version 1 | Version 2
ioTube — A Bridge created by the IoTeX team to enable the bidirectional exchange of crypto-assets between IoTeX and other blockchain networks. This product is extremely important for the IoTeX ecosystem as it allows for the interaction with other blockchains that go as far as acting as an oracle for other chains like Polygon. A guide if you need help using the bridge can be found HERE.
VITA — Vitality (VITA) is a decentralized token for the IoTeX community, which places community governance/incentives on the IoTeX blockchain and serves as an important step in creating an autonomous and decentralized community. VITA is distributed to all active IoTeX community members and VITA will be usable in future community-facing IoTeX DApps.
Taken from the IoTeX community blog.
VITA tokens can be claimed by the user every 25 hours, if you miss a claim window your token is partially saved and redistributed as such: 25% will be added to the following day’s Staking Pool (meaning you retain 25%), 50% will go to Community Pool to grow the community, 25% will be added to the following day’s Bidding Pool. This promotes constant user interaction and also gives the user the ability to vote and make decisions for the IOTX protocol.
IoTeX even has an open-source Wallet App, called ioPay, available on iOS, Android, Desktop & Ledger Wallet. When you install the app you will be asked to either import a wallet or create a new one. Once you have created the wallet you will receive a secret key that needs to be saved somewhere or you can lose access to all funds in the wallet.
One of the nicest parts of setting up an ioPay wallet is that you receive .01 IOTX to use for your first transaction.
This application mainly serves as a mobile way to view your XRC-20 tokens and NFT’s on the IOTX chain. Think of it like TrustWallet for IoTeX!
Use-Case of the IOTX Token
All right, you’ve convinced me! What can I do with these IOTX tokens now that I have aped in with my college fund?
The two direct uses for the IOTX token are participating in Burn Events & Airdrops and Staking Your IOTX. Both of these uses have proven to provide massive returns for IOTX stakeholders in the past couple of years. Staking your IOTX tokens gives you the ability to “Delegate” through a “Validator” on the IOTX network. You may choose the validator you wish to stake with and provide your tokens to them.
Check out this guide for an in-depth walkthrough for staking IOTX tokens from the IoTeX team.
Staking your IOTX tokens is the best way for you to get directly involved in shaping the future of IoTeX. You can view the past voting results HERE and get a taste of the kind of thing you could be involved with by becoming an IOTX stakeholder.
Thank you for reading my comprehensive write-up on something I consider to have huge growth potential in the coming future. Please look out for my future guides and editorials on projects I consider unique in crypto.
Compendium of Links
Applications
Mimo: https://mimo.exchange/#/swap
ioTube: https://tube-v5.iotex.io/
PebbleGO: https://pebblego.io/
Hardware
UCam: https://ucam.iotex.io/
Pebble Tracker: https://www.crowdsupply.com/iotex/pebble-tracker
Governance
VITA Governance Token Info: https://community.iotex.io/t/vitality-vita-token-launch-faqs/162
Staking Guide: https://community.iotex.io/t/how-to-stake-on-iotex-mainnet-ga/1245
IOTX Token
Wallet: https://iopay-wallet.iotex.io/
Staking: https://member.iotex.io/
Burn-Drop: https://burndrop.iotex.io/
Partners Mentioned in this Article
Consensus Networks: https://consensusnetworks.com/
Ledger Wallet (IoTeX Wallet Compatible Device): https://www.ledger.com/
