Hub
Contents
Hub for Byteball network
This is a node for the Byteball network that serves as a relay, plus it facilitates the exchange of messages among devices connected to the Byteball network. Since all messages are encrypted with the recipient's key, the hub cannot read them. The hub does not hold any private keys and cannot send payments itself.
The messages are used for the following purposes:[1]
Private-payment information
Conveying private-payment (such as blackbytes) information from payer to payee.
Multisig adddress
Exchanging partially-signed transactions when sending from a multisig address. One of the devices initiates a transaction and signs it with its private key, then it sends the partially-signed transaction to the other devices that participate on the multisig address. The user(s) confirm the transaction on the other devices, they sign and return the signatures to the initiator.
Multilateral signing
Multilateral signing, when several addresses sign the same unit, e.g. when exchanging one asset for another, or when signing a contract. The exchange of messages is similar to the multisig scenario above.
Chat between users
Plain text chat between users; in particular, users can send each other the newly generated addresses to receive payments to.
Chat with bots
Plain text chat with bots that offer a service and can receive or send payments. Faucet is an example of such a bot. The hub helps deliver such messages when the recipient is temporarily offline or is behind NAT. If the recipient is connected, the message is delivered immediately, otherwise it is stored and delivered as soon as the recipient connects to the hub. As soon as delivered, the message is deleted from the hub.
Hub address
Users set their hub address in their wallet settings. The default hub is wss://byteball.org/bb but users can change it.
List of hubs
Wallet user: to use one of these hubs in the wallet, change it in main menu > settings > hub.
| Hub | Notes |
|---|---|
| byteball.org/bb | default hub, operated by @tonych |
| relay.papabyte.com/bb | operated by betting bot owner |
| byteball.fr/bb | operated with a partner by @seb486 |
| byteball-hub.com/bb | operated by Tsonko Mirchev |
| hub.byteball.ee | operated by somebody in Estonia (Eesti Krüptoraha Liit) |
| hub.byteballtalk.cn/bb | set up by @punqtured |
Incentives
From Slack #tech channel:
tonych [2018-08-24 12:26 AM]
regarding incentives to run a hub, there is one that is based on internal economy: a hub is usually combined with a light vendor, and light vendor is first to see new transactions submitted by light clients connected to it, and has the best chance to snatch the header commissions paid by them. This works only when the network is big of course.
tonych [2018-08-24 12:33 AM]
another incentive, and i think it is more powerful, is that hub has access to large number of users and users is the most valuable asset in the modern internet economy. There are various ways to monetize large userbases, for example the hub controls the bot store, most bots are for-profit apps and won't mind paying a fee for access to large number of potential customers (for example, a "promoted" app).
External links
- https://byteball.fr/byteballworldmap.php World map showing hubs
