The MonoChain Project

The MonoChain is a decentralized network built upon the proof of trust consensus protocol, designed and built by Alfie Ranstead, a computer scientist with a strong interest in complex problems and their solutions. Blockchain technology is just a natural part of this group of technology, but it is far from perfect, and that is why the proof of trust protocol - and this project - exist.

What is the Proof of Trust Protocol?

The proof of trust protocol is a custom built consensus protocol built in order to define how nodes [computers that contribute to the network] decide how to trust or not trust other nodes. It uses a system of parameters used to store both grudges and appreciations for other nodes, alongside a few other values, which help decide whether or not to re-process whatever information other nodes have sent to it. A key addition here is that nodes will also choose to randomly reprocess data that they have received, in order to make sure that the seemingly 'trustworthy' nodes are still actually trustworthy and haven't been tampered with.

Why is the Proof of Trust Protocol important?

The two most used consensus protocols are currently 'proof of work' and 'proof of stake', both of these protocols are fundamentally flawed, and as such are not suitable for use in a widely adopted, decentralised system.
The 'proof of work' protocol requires nearly all the nodes on the network to calculate the same data, only to reward a singular node for it per block, which is not only heavily favouring nodes comprised of more expensive hardware, but is also terrible for the environment by wasting massive amounts of energy.
The 'proof of stake' protocol requires the nodes to put forward a large amount of money to be able to stake, which is more energy efficient, but extremely favouring of nodes that have large backings which defeats part of the reasoning for a decentralised system, as it just gives power to those who have money - which is against a lot of the ideas of the decentralised system.
This is where proof of trust comes in, as it is a consensus protocol that is more energy efficient than 'proof of work', and although it is not as energy efficient as 'proof of stake', it does allow anyone to use and operate a node, removing the need for a large amount of money to be staked.

So Why the MonoChain?

The MonoChain is being developed as proof that behind all the hype, buzzwords and roller-coaster like evaluations of decentralised technologies, the technology can still be used for some cool stuff. This project is not aiming to be the newest trend in the tech world, but rather to be a proof of concept of how a new technology can still be useful and that it shouldn't be thrown away as just some get rich quick scheme.
Oh also because I needed an A-Level Project and I thought it would be fun to do.