Blockchain News

Deeper Network: A Gateway to Web3

Deeper Network provides a hardware-based decentralized private network while opening the door to Web3.

Decentralized Private Networks

BSC News spoke to Eric Ma, Deeper Network Chief Evangelist and current CEO of Tidex Global on all things Deeper Network, Web3 and decentralized private networks. 

Virtual Private Networks

In a world where remote work is the new normal, Virtual Private Networks (VPN) have become more important than ever before. A VPN is a trusted gateway by which you can access certain information with the added security layers you won’t get while generally browsing the internet. But VPNs come with their own risks, and in the world of crypto and blockchain technology, VPNs are centralized, hackable and subject to the whims of boards of directors. 

The Deeper Network

Enter the Deeper Network, a Web3 project offering a decentralized private network (DPN). They seek to combine blockchain, network security and a sharing economy, with the goal of creating a global peer-to-peer network. Users can do this through use of a physical hardware device that also comes with its own crypto mining component.

Ma said, Deeper is “a Web3 project, which on a macro level, bridges the chasm between Web2 and Web3.” 

Why does any of this matter? Well, let’s start with breaking down the issues associated with a traditional VPN. Firstly, there’s the centralized aspect. All data is housed in a central server(s) typically owned by the parent company of the service provider. That means a hack to the parent company could result in your data being compromised. Secondly, the corporate entity is governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which it operates. So if the country decides to ban all VPN services, the company must abide by these rules. Finally, there’s the subscription factor. You are paying a monthly subscription, which can be quite expensive, yet still have zero control over your data. On the other hand, Deeper involves a one-time purchase of the device.

With the Deeper Network, Ma said, “We have over 70,000 servers around the world. Each device is its own server. As the network grows, the network becomes more efficient and robust which is opposite to centralized VPNs where growth equals costs that are passed onto the consumer.” Regarding data protection, Ma adds, “Centralized VPNs own your data, they know your browsing history. Isn’t the point of a VPN supposed to be privacy?”

Helium Fallout

Helium is large-scale crypto project that provides open-source technology with the aim of creating a decentralized and trust-less model for building wireless infrastructure.

According to its whitepaper, “The Helium network is a decentralized wireless network that enables devices anywhere in the world to wirelessly connect to the Internet and geolocate themselves without the need for power-hungry satellite location hardware or expensive cellular plans.”

Deeper Network was approved as a third-party manufacturer of Helium hotspots. The contract includes a clause that holds Deeper responsible for how their Helium miners are being used. Unlike traditional miners, Helium miners accrue more value when geo-pinned to certain areas.

But the technology isn’t without issues.

Ma said, “Helium has struggled with geo-spoofing issues: It’s a cat-and-mouse game as people have been spoofing the network for years. Helium has no solution for that still.” 

After spending time and resources developing the device, Deeper struck a deal to sell 10,000 devices to a single buyer. From a business perspective, that made financial sense.

The buyer, whose identity Ma did not disclose to BSC News, was “well known in the industry and carried a good reputation so we made the deal before we released the devices to the retail market. This gave us the capital we needed to continue building more units.”

Ma said, unbeknownst to Deeper, the buyer distributed the devices to a mining farm. This of course renders the miners ineffective unless they were using geo-spoofing. Hindsight is 20/20.

Ma said, “It was a mistake. We should have made sure those units were available to the retail market.” 

Ultimately, the Deeper Network was stripped of their onboarding license, preventing them from onboarding more hotspots.

“It hurt our community, this would have been an opportunity for our community to have dual crypto-mining capability,” Ma said.

Deeper moved quickly to offer recourse options to the community to mitigate the loss.

On the Horizon

Deeper Network has been busy building out its Web3 ecosystem. On the horizon are new features like decentralized advertising, content distribution networks and decentralized cloud storage. There’s also development into a software version of their decentralized private network. 

“We are currently developing Android and iOS apps. This may be a subscription-based service but we are focused on creating a social impact. So it’s possible we explore a free solution to this,” Ma said.

For business consumers, many of whom need network security and to pay thousands of dollars for hardware and maintenance, Ma notes the devices are enterprise level. Also on the horizon is the Deeper Connect Pro, a cloud storage device that will have all the features of the Deeper Connect Mini but will be more powerful because it has decentralized cloud storage.

“Apple Cloud, Dropbox, all these cloud storages are expensive, centralized and limited. If they got hacked all your files will disappear. That’s not secure at all,” Ma said.

The Pro is expected to be launched near the end of 2022 or early in 2023.

Where to find the Deeper Network:

Website | Twitter | Telegram

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