Since the Internet’s inception, it has grown to become one of the most important aspects of our society. Speaking on behalf of the United States, we have been able to use this service for free and with a variety of different browsers. However, with the possible repeal of Net Neutrality, that could change how things currently operate; that’s where Shift comes in.
Originally created on the Ethereum platform, and forked (converted) to the Lisk Blockchain, Shift aims to become “the next Internet”, by offering a decentralized browser to users.
The benefits from a decentralized browser are there will be no censorship, it will be more secure, and it will offer distributed hosting which will make it more difficult to execute online attacks.
Shift will differ from normal browsers because it will use a user a protocol called “IPFS”. Think of this as a new and improved “https://” (the script name that loads before a website’s name). IPFS is faster, safer, and more open than HTTPS. Along with that, this type of application will make it easier to integrate Blockchain than existing browsers.
While the idea of IPFS is good in theory, there are currently no hosts for these types of browsers. However, this is not stopping Shift. To get around this, Shift uses DNS (think of this as google translate) which understands the IPFS protocol and translates it into a usable form.
While this is all great, you may be asking yourself, “What is the purpose of the token?”
That’s a great question. Shift’s website defines the token’s utility as follows:
“The Shift token is useful because it can be used to pay for hosting services and other services on our dApp platform. Our token can, therefore, be defined as a utility coin. As the total value of services rendered on the Shift network increases, the value of the Shift token also correspondingly increases since it is the medium of exchange whereby those services are rendered.”
Essentially what this is saying is that the Shift Token will be used to compensate computer power that is used by computers that are helping to power the decentralized network. Along with that, as the system grows and more power is required, the value of the token will become higher in order to compensate all who are hosting.
If you would like to learn more about Shift you can visit their website: https://www.shiftnrg.org.
