Decentralized Internet Project MaidSafe to Raise Funds via 'Safecoin' Sale

Starting tomorrow, decentralized Internet platform builder MaidSafe will hold a crowd sale of currency-like tokens called 'safecoins' to support its enabling software.

MaidSafe, over seven years in development, aims to create no less than a fully peer-to-peer and decentralised Internet platform, in which all data is 'shredded', encrypted and distributed to an extensive network of computers around the world.

These are recorded on the bitcoin block chain and available from buysafecoins.com at a price of 17,000 for 1 BTC, or 3,400 for 1 MSC. Initially this will raise funds for the project, but the safecoin tokens themselves are a kind of altcoin for developers and users to 'buy' access to network resources.

Once the MaidSafe network itself goes live, holders of MaidSafeCoins can swap them for 'regular' safecoin tokens at a 1:1 ratio.

MaidSafe, which stands for "Massive Array of Internet Disks, Secure Access For Everyone" is a 100% open-source project aiming at keeping all data free from malicious intruders and eavesdroppers, at the same time increasing access speed and protecting against hardware failure.

"What bitcoin is doing for decentralizing money, safecoin will do for decentralizing all Internet services, including enterprise data centers."

Since MaidSafe is a platform, use of its protocols is all based on a voluntary 'contract' between self-authenticating users and the network itself, without the participation of other humans or the need for passwords to be transmitted across any part of the network.

MaidSafe's architecture features 'intelligent caching', which actually increases speed and network performance to the most-accessed data as more users join, rather than slowing it down due to server pressure on the existing Internet.

MaidSafe sees its system being used for any communications requiring this level of security and privacy, and suggests it for sharing scientific research data, whistleblowing activism, and more prosaic uses such as personal data storage, social networking, and simple communications like messaging, email and video/voice chat.

Once the MaidSafe network is live, users can still earn the remaining safecoins through the system's 'proof of resource' system known as 'farming', by contributing part of their computers' resources as a node on the network and using fewer resources than they contribute.