What Is Beam Privacy Coin?

Beam (BEAM) is a scalable and “confidential” cryptocurrency that gives users full control over their financial privacy. All transactions conducted on the Beam network are private by default, and Beam’s blockchain does not store users’ addresses or other private data.

Beam’s creators claim that the privacy coin platform provides “superior” scalability – as its blockchain only requires a limited amount of storage space. Notably, Beam transactions can be performed while users are online and offline.

Beam Protocol Features Opt-In Auditability

Additionally, the Beam platform supports atomic swaps and allows for easy hardware wallet integration. The Beam Wallet App is currently available for both mobile and desktop PC users (for iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS, and Linux operating systems)

The Beam protocol features opt-in auditability – meaning users may share financial information in order to comply with regulatory requirements or for tax collection purposes.  

Beam Launched Without ICO and Premine

According to its official website, the Beam cryptocurrency in circulation is backed by a treasury, and no initial coin offering (ICO) or premine was performed by the coin’s developers. A non-profit foundation will be responsible for governing the Beam protocol, the cryptocurrency’s website notes.

The Beam protocol works by creating new transactions through wallets that support the privacy-oriented coin. These transactions may occur online or offline, and both the sender and recipient of Beam transfers are required to sign the transaction using the Schnorr protocol.

Using Non-Interactive Zero Knowledge Range Proofs

All Beam transactions contain a set of inputs and outputs that are “represented by Pedersen Commitments,” a type of secret messaging system. Beam-based transactions also require “explicit” fees and kernels (used to ensure the irreversibility of transactions).

In order to verify that the output value of Beam transactions is positive, the protocol requires all transactions to contain a non-interactive zero knowledge range proof. These are a type of zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) that do not require provers and verifiers to have any kind of “interaction.” Provers and verifiers need only share a “common reference string” to prove something about a particular transaction (without disclosing details). 

“Periodically Creating Compacted Transaction History”

A Merkle tree data structure is used to store the blockchain state on the Beam network, and all transactions are verified based on the present state of the ledger. As explained by Beam’s developers, the root hash of the Merkle tree is stored in the block header, in addition to the proof of work computation required to complete the transaction. 

Beam network nodes (both old and new) are able to achieve fast sync times – as the network’s protocol “periodically creates compacted [transaction] history.” A new block is mined on the Beam network every minute, and validators are required to verify and distribute the block.

New Nodes Can Join Without Requiring Complete Transaction History

A valid block that is “extending the longest chain” becomes a new “Tip” in the Beam network, and it is propagated across the network until consensus is achieved.

When new nodes join the Beam platform, they may request the compacted transaction history of the network – which only contains blockchain header information and the state of the ledger. 

New nodes can participate on the Beam network without having to download the platform’s complete transaction history.

Supporting Time-Locked and Escrow Transactions

Notably, an anonymous computer programmer with the alias “Tom Elvis Jedusor” had first proposed the MimbleWimble protocol (used by Beam and Grin, another privacy coin). On July 18, 2018, the developers of Beam presented their version of the MimbleWimble protocol, which aims to improve scalability and enhance financial privacy.

The Beam network aims to support time-locked transactions, escrow transfers, and atomic swaps. Beam’s developers are also working on various other initiatives, which involve making the privacy coin a good store-of-value (SoV).

10 Full-Time Software Engineers Working on Beam Protocol

The company behind the Beam cryptocurrency has employed 10 full-time software engineers (as of May 2019) to work on the protocol’s ongoing development. Beam’s software development team is led by Alex Romanov, the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of the privacy-focused project.

A non-profit Foundation has been established to maintain the Beam protocol. The Foundation  and the cryptocurrency’s core team members are compensated via a “block reward mechanism”, which releases a “certain percentage” of Beam coins through every new block mined on the network. 

Blocks Are Mined Using Equihash Proof of Work Algorithm

Based on the MimbleWimble protocol, all intermediate outputs on the Beam network are “merged within a single block” and also across other blocks, a process which only requires storing the present UTXO state. This approach significantly reduces the size of Beam’s blockchain while enhancing privacy.

As noted in Beam’s Crunchbase profile, the protocol does not require a trusted setup, and blocks are mined using the Equihash PoW algorithm. The Beam cryptocurrency follows a “limited emission” schedule and uses “periodic halving” – with the total supply of coins capped at around 250 million. 

Implemented “from Scratch” in C++

As explained, the Beam network does not store users’ addresses on its blockchain, and information about the senders and recipients of transactions is also not recorded on the cryptocurrency’s ledger.

Notably, the Beam crypto platform was implemented “from scratch” using the C++ programming language.

Beam Updates Focused on Improving User Experience

According to a blog post published on June 3, 2019 by Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of the Beam project, the protocol’s developers released several updates to the mainnet – including payment confirmation (proof) features for desktop users (in April 2019).

Biometrics and proof of payment features have also been released for iOS and Android users.

As noted by Zaidelson, Beam protocol’s latest updates were focused on improving user experience (UI).

Integrating Beam with CoinPayments

In addition to integrating biometrics (on some operating systems) and improved payment features, Beam’s developers are now connected to CoinPayments, a globally accessible crypto payment gateway. At present, there are around 20 merchants that accept Beam payments.

Upgrades to the Beam network have also included the launch of several APIs that let users establish links between the cryptocurrency’s wallet addresses and user IDs created on external platforms. Referred to as “Beam Anywhere”, this feature allows users to receive payment requests from external services.