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RIF Labs Launches RIF OS on top of the Bitcoin based RSK Network to bring the Internet of Value one step closer to realization

There are more than three billion people in the world with little or no access to the basic financial services required to participate and thrive in our society. Bitcoin was created to provide individuals with economic freedom, and, in our vision, to set the foundation for the construction of a new Internet for the transfer of value. RIF OS and RSK, the Smart Contract Network on top of which it’s being built, share the same vision, which, once realized, will bring prosperity and equality to the world.

One of the main obstacles to achieving this vision is the significant gap between the core protocol-level technologies and the developers who want to build on top of the still-emerging blockchain ecosystem. Even experienced developers may need to go through a steep learning curve to create distributed applications (“dApps”), and those who are already familiar with the technology may end up frustrated by the long development times and complexity of integrating multiple tokens and protocols.

As announced today, RIF OS (Root Infrastructure Framework Open Standard) aims to bridge the gap. It is a full-stack solution that will make deploying distributed, cross-network blockchain applications much easier, faster, and more scalable, bringing the Internet of Value a step closer to its realization.

The three principal components to the RIF OS announcement include the integration of RIF Labs and RSK Labs, the publication of RIF OS Protocols and the launch of the first implementation of the RIF Identity Protocol (the Name Services component of RIF OS).

RIF AND RSK JOIN TO PROVIDE A SECURE, FLEXIBLE AND UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

RIF Labs has signed an agreement to acquire RSK Labs. With this acquisition, RIF Labs will take on the development and community support of both the RSK Smart Contract Network and RIF OS Protocols.

RSK is based on the premises that 1) Bitcoin is and will most likely remain the most secure and widely adopted network and currency, 2) Ethereum created the most mature and active smart contracts ecosystem both in terms of amount of applications and developers, and 3) RSK combined them to bring together the best of both worlds. The result is an Ethereum-compatible virtual machine secured by the most secure network there is.

Continuing this strategy, RIF OS services has been deployed on top of RSK (aka Rootstock).

RIF OS Protocols add value and extend the functionality of the entire ecosystem by providing access to a variety of decentralized p2p infrastructure services, like payments and storage, and by dramatically speeding up time to market.

Learn more about RSK here https://rootstock.io/https://docs.rsk.rifos.org/

RIF OS PROTOCOLS

Sitting atop RSK, RIF OS Protocol allow engineers to build better dApps more quickly, through APIs and language libraries that expand the range of what is possible.

Some notable features of RIF OS include support for decentralized, third-party, off-chain payment networks; a set of APIs for seamless and secure communications between decentralized applications; and easy-to-use interfaces for developers.

Access and payment for these network services will be based on the RIF Token, which will allow developers to access the suite of services built into RIF OS. This builds on top of RSK’s business logic execution via smart contracts to enable the following protocols:

  • RIF Identity: Easy-to-read aliases for cryptocurrency and token accounts, eliminating complex Blockchain addresses sharing.
  • RIF Payments: Access to high speed, low cost, off-chain payment processing networks.
  • RIF Data Feeds: Marketplace enablement for third-party oracling providers
  • RIF Storage: Access to secure, decentralized and trustless storage networks.
  • RIF Communications Channels: Standards to secure and establish secure communication channels.

All these services facilitate access to the blockchain infrastructure for developers and businesses, and, consequently, to the users and communities using their applications, creating a path to mass adoption.

For more information on RIF OS Architecture click here:

Identity specs

RIF IDENTITY AND NAME SERVICE

The first service using the RIF Identity Protocol is ready at launch, named RIF Name Service (or “RNS”).

We believe that for the decentralized ecosystems to be useful for everyone, access needs to be simplified. When creating more inclusive systems (e.g., micropayments, etc.), we cannot expect the everyday user to understand and share conventional network addresses. After all, cutting-and-pasting long hexadecimal wallet addresses is cumbersome, not to mention the error-prone task of writing them out. Just as the domain name system replaces cumbersome Internet Protocol numbers with easy-to-remember names, so should blockchain-based services be named with roll-off-the-tongue convenience. It’s the difference between “0x656e72792073726169676d616e” and “maryswallet.rsk”.

This is what RNS will provide: An easy way to point others to the myriad of services that RIF OS will deliver. This has the additional benefit of fault tolerance and decentralization: no registrars or name-service managers to coerce.

In sum, the acceleration and maturation of the crypto-economy largely depends on ensuring that 1) developers have a full-service resource for building powerful blockchain applications quickly, and 2) those applications are but an inch away from wide adoption. RIF OS will provide this answer. We look forward to developing this future with you.

More details about RIF Identity Protocol and RIF Name Services can be found here:

Identity specs

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