No CommentsWhat is Open Bazaar?
Open Bazaar is a Dark Market spin-off acknowledged by the Dark Market team. It uses Bitcoin and cryptographic security to become the natural development of sites such as eBay, enabling direct peer-to-peer transactions. The team does not manipulate the market scheme entirely to their benefit the way that other online marketplace middle-men do. Open Bazaar allows for the exchange of agree amounts of wealth as opposed to the funds directly, allowing for a greater level for security in an otherwise unparoled platform. The market uses proven identities, user based seller rating systems, third party nodes, and functions through Bitcoin addresses to avoid scamming. It allows for an utterly universal international market based on Bitcoin whilst removing the fees often associated with online selling or buying. Open Bazaar opens the door to a cheap, instantaneous, safe, and extra-legal marketplace for the entirety of the online community.
Currently, it is being adapted to run through Tor. Usage alongside Dark Wallet would make for a highly anonymous economy. Open Bazaar is not centralized, meaning that taking down the developers or central servers cannot bring the system down. Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took down Silk Road 2.0 due to failures on the part of the site owner to encrypt his data. This took down the entire marketplace. Unlike the Silk Road, Agora, or other such online black markets, Open Bazaar is decentralized. Open Bazaar cannot be removed from the internet as the interactions take place directly between individuals with only security barriers, meaning, to shut it down, they would need to shut down everyone who uses it.
Open Bazaar 3.0 is Here
The newest update is stated as requiring a large effort on the part of the development team. Some of the notable upgrades are:
- The ability to run on Windows in an .exe file, which is the biggest leap forward of this version. This opens it up to a much larger userbase. It is capable of running on Windows 7 and up, along with Mac OS X and Linux, whose versions saw minor updates as well.
- Experimental Tor instructions were added to Open Bazaar as the team works to get it running through the proxy system.
- The user interface saw reworking, to optimize performance and usability.
- In terms of security, better sender anonymity was achieved through delaying encryption after key signing, as opposed to simultaneous encryption alongside key signing as was done in previous versions.
- Finally, there were several bug fixes, along with network and code updates.
For a full list of changes, take a look at the the changelog available via Open Bazaar’s github, or visit Open Bazaar’s home page.
Tabriz – The Start of an Open Bazaar Tradition
In a recent blog post, the OpenBazaar team announced a new method, and tradition, for naming releases of the platform:
“The third OpenBazaar beta release is now available. With this release, we’re starting the tradition of naming our releases after great bazaars from all around the world, with the first being Tabriz, a market in Iran which is one of the oldest bazaars in the Middle East.”
The Bazaar of Tabriz is a historical market in Iran. It is one of the oldest bazaars in the world, and has played a significant role throughout history. It symbolizes Open Bazaar’s role as a platform for unfiltered cultural exchange. The original Tabriz bazaar was one of the most important commercial locations on the historic Silk Road, no doubt an intentional parallel with today’s online dark markets. The historic bazaar contained several smaller markets for specific goods, similar to how Open Bazaar shops are directly peer-to-peer as opposed to a centralized super-mall.
Ramifications of Open Bazaar’s Advancement
Markets like the Silk Road have demonstrated the desire for extra-legal online platforms, at a time where government agencies have become increasingly adept at shutting them down. Bitcoin is at the forefront of these platforms: funding them, and creating entire online economies.
The advent of wallets, such as Dark Wallet, and alternative cryptocurrencies designed towards anonymity, alongside Open Bazaar opens the floodgate for a sense of security. This, with the upcoming Tor integration, would create a medium by which anything could be sold or bought. Illicit materials, services, rare goods, or totally legal services conducted free from taxation and website fees.
Government regulations, laws and taxes, could not only be avoided, but through choosing who to deal with, users could agree on their own law systems. Niche ideological communities could conduct economic experiments, individuals being totally free to use their buying power to determine what they accept morally, and impromptu trade laws are all likely precipitants from upcoming innovations in the technology. More freedom and self determination than ever imagined to be possible is being achieved, not at the hands of suited politicians, but at the hands of keyboards and proxy services.
