Blockchain Integration

Why Blockchain is Essential

Blockchain integration is essential for making the Extended Web globally discoverable, verifiable, and auditable while preserving privacy.

The Four Essential Capabilities

Global Discovery

Currently, connecting requires out-of-band device key exchange (QR codes, text messages). Blockchain enables:

• Human-readable names - Register @alice or myblog.sthalam instead of sharing device key strings
• Public directories - Decentralized directory anyone can read
• Multi-device updates - Change nodes, update once on-chain, everyone finds you automatically

Your content stays local and encrypted. Only identity and ownership metadata goes on-chain.

Verifiability

Blockchain provides cryptographic proof of ownership for resources. Nobody can impersonate you or claim a resource is theirs:

• Identity verification - Your DID recorded on-chain, nobody can impersonate you
• Resource ownership - Prove you created a resource, nobody can claim it’s theirs
• Permit authenticity - Verify Permits haven’t been tampered with

Anyone can verify ownership without trusting intermediaries. Actual content stays local/encrypted.

Auditability

Transparent permission chains prevent misuse while preserving privacy:

• Delegation history - See how Permits were delegated
• Public audit trails - Anyone can verify permission flows
• Tamper-proof history - Can’t modify past records
• Accountability without surveillance - See permission flows without seeing content

The Extended Web gives individuals powerful sovereignty. Blockchain provides accountability while maintaining privacy.

Traceability

Track authorization flows without surveilling content:

• Verify trust chains - Confirm Permits chain back to legitimate root authority
• Detect suspicious patterns - Identify unusual permission grants
• Revocation propagation - Ensure revoked Permits are globally marked invalid

Track permission flows, not content or behavior.

On-Chain vs Off-Chain

On-Chain (Public, Verifiable):

• Your DID (identity)
• Device keys (for discovery)
• Resource ownership
• Permit hashes
• Delegation history

Off-Chain (Local, Private, Encrypted):

• All content
• Collaboration data
• CRDT operations
• Private connections
• Usage patterns

The blockchain provides the trust layer. Your content stays sovereign.

Privacy Preservation

Blockchain enhances privacy, not reduces it:

Traditional Web:

• Platforms surveil everything
• Behavior tracking for advertising
• No control over your data

Extended Web + Blockchain:

• Content stays local and encrypted
• Only ownership/authorization recorded on-chain
• No behavior tracking
• You choose what to publish publicly

Why Not Optional?

The Extended Web needs these capabilities to function globally:

Without Discovery - Limited to people you know personally

Without Verifiability - No way to prove ownership of resources, anyone could impersonate you or claim your resources are theirs

Without Auditability - Misuse could happen without accountability

Without Traceability - Can’t verify Permit chains or detect fraud

Blockchain provides the trust and discovery layer that makes decentralized systems viable at global scale.

Summary

Blockchain integration provides:

1. Global Discovery - Find people and content without centralized directories
2. Verifiability - Cryptographic proof of ownership and identity
3. Auditability - Transparent permission chains prevent misuse
4. Traceability - Track delegation flows without surveilling content

All while preserving privacy - only identity and ownership metadata goes on-chain, all content stays local and encrypted.

The Extended Web gives you sovereignty. Blockchain makes that sovereignty globally discoverable and verifiable.

Essential. Not optional. Privacy-preserving by design.