What is Humanode human-powered blockchain?

Humanode is a project that gracefully combines different technological stacks including blockchain and biometrics. 

Humanode tech encompasses a bunch of layers such as a blockchain layer represented by a Substrate module: a biometric authorization module based on cryptographically secure neural networks for the private classification of three-dimensional (3D) templates of users’ faces, a private liveness detection mechanism for identifying real human beings, a Vortex decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and a monetary algorithm named Fath, where monetary supply reacts to real value growth and emission is proportional.

Let’s look at them in more detail.

Substrate framework

Humanode is a layer-1 blockchain whose architecture lies on the Substrate open-source framework that allows the quick development of highly customized blockchains. Substrate, the brainchild of the Parity team, provides interoperability within the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems as well as an environment for the creation and deployment of general-purpose or specialized blockchain networks with remarkably varied parameters and sound capabilities. Being a Substrate-based chain, Humanode benefits from it and from the high throughput and scalability inherent to the Polkadot ecosystem. 

Consensus agnostic protocol 

One of the interesting features of Humanode is consensus agnosticism, which is the ability to change the network’s consensus mechanism if the Humanode DAO approves it. It derives from the necessity for constant research on the most suitable consensus for a leaderless system with equal validation power of nodes. Different consensus mechanisms have numerous pros and cons which constantly change. A swappable consensus mechanism allows the system to evolve and not be limited by a single unchangeable framework. 

EVM-compatible smart-contract layer

On top of that, Humanode is Ethereum-compatible. Due to an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) pallet, Humanode can use existing Ethereum development tools and take advantage of smart contracts development, supported by several popular languages including Solidity and WebAssembly. On the other hand, Humanode can provide private biometric processing and Sybil-resistance to numerous Ethereum-based decentralized applications (DApps) including decentralized finance (DeFi) and play-to-earn (GameFi) projects, NFT solutions, DAOs, metaverses and others.

Private biometric search and matching 

As for Humanode’s biometrics stack, it seems like the privacy and security of biometric data have been among the most critical aspects of the project. 

Due to the private classification of images of users’ faces, the system guarantees the images’ privacy, performing all operations without the users’ biometrics data having to leave the device. The only device needed to pass biometric authentication is a smartphone with a camera. Once users scan their faces, they become human nodes. The whole process is private and secure. All the Humanode system cares about is if the user is a unique human being, if they are registered and if they are alive. 

Decentralized liveness detection

A technique that ensures that the biometric sample is submitted from a real live person, a substantial security feature that mitigates the vulnerability of biometric systems to spoofing attacks, is called liveness detection. Biometric liveness refers to the use of computer vision technology to detect the actual presence of a living user rather than a representation such as a photograph or a mask, video or screen, a fake silicon fingerprint or other spoof artifacts. 

Biometrics accuracy grew tremendously in the last decade. Currently, the possibility of a match between two different people is 1 to 125,000,000, and the possibility of spoofing an identity without a real human in front of the camera is 1 to 80,000. And, these numbers are constantly improving.

For its first version of the crypto-biometric identification solution, which utilizes secure enclaves for some portions of the process, Humanode integrates FaceTec’s face biometrics and liveness detection. Humanode’s first testnet was launched in January 2021 and the official testnet 1 with liveness detection and the updated technical stack was launched in September 2021. Since then, there have been additional testnets deployed with more than 10,000 people becoming human nodes.

Vortex DAO

Currently, there are three types of nodes in the Humanode ecosystem. First, human nodes who have passed biometric authentication and received a fraction of the network transaction fees. Then, there are delegators: nodes that opt to delegate their voting power to so-called governors. Governors are nodes that participate in Humanode’s governance and must meet certain governing requirements. 

Each of these node types forms an important part of Humanode’s governance DAO named Vortex. Unlike other projects, which allow nodes to accumulate voting power based on how much capital they have or delegate, the Humanode platform ensures that all nodes are equal in terms of validation and voting power, bringing true equality between peers in a decentralized environment.

Fath monetary algorithm and rebalancing system

Humanode implements the Fath hypothesis as the basis for the circulation of HMND Humanode token (HMND). Fath is a monetary algorithm with a proportional distribution of issued tokens. It is an alternative to modern fiat credit-cycle financial networks and capital-based public blockchains.