This is a sample: a placeholder until Shyam’s own write-up replaces it.
A Beckn of our own, without the centre
tl;dr Why a protocol for buying and selling should belong to the people using it, and how two kinds of chain could make that work.
you'll learn
- What a protocol really is, and why it can drift from its purpose
- What "truly decentralised" means for the people in a network
- How identity chains and network chains split the work
Beckn is an open protocol for discovering and exchanging goods and services. The project asks a simple question: what would it look like if nobody sat in the middle of it at all?
What is a protocol, anyway?
Protocols are how we coordinate. Driving on one side of the road, standing in a queue, saying please and thank you: some are enforced by a government, some are just customs, some appear in an emergency and fade when it passes.
Every protocol does two things at once. It enables some behaviour (traffic flows) and restrains the rest (nobody drives wherever they like). And it lives in time: it changes as people use it and give feedback.
What “truly decentralised” means
A decentralised application isn’t one that merely runs on many machines. It’s one where people control their own data and understand their power within the networks they belong to. Compare that with today’s centralised marketplaces, where a few platforms hold the data and set the terms.
Two kinds of chain
The design splits the work between two kinds of blockchain, built with the Substrate SDK:
- An identity chain for each person: their attributes and verifiable credentials, the things they choose to make discoverable.
- A network chain for each network, maintained by its participants: the contracts they make with each other, the terms, the fulfilment, and the feedback and ratings that follow.
deep dive Where the data lives
Data management is planned on the Willow protocol, with networks using it to manage what participants share. Posting to your identity chain works a bit like posting on social media: it’s how you choose what the public can discover. The network defines the schema and rules for transacting with peers.
quick check Where would the record of a completed order and its rating live?
What’s next
The front end will be dApps that people run against their own chains, with a React UI. The interesting part, as always, is whether the network moves towards the goal it was built for, and the ratings on the network chain are how you’d know.
so, in short
- A protocol enables some behaviour and restrains the rest, and it changes over time.
- Decentralised means people own their data and understand their power in the network.
- Identity lives on your own chain; agreements live on the network's chain.
still curious?
Ask the librarian
Soon you'll be able to ask questions about this post and get answers that point back to the exact paragraph. Until then, ask me directly.
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