The OPEN State

A Proof of Ownership receipt that can be accessed from anywhere

Introduction

If you don’t already know what OPEN is check out our introduction to the amazing system here. There is a also brief overview below for those of you unwilling to open a new tab.

The main points about OPEN

• It is a platform that connects blockchain and centralized systems
• It contains two types of smart contracts
• Scaffolds which are like verification gateways that create OPEN States
• OPEN States which are created by Scaffolds and act like on-chain receipts

How can we view the OPEN State?

Normally, when you purchase something, there is some type of proof of purchase like a receipt of ownership. But you can lose that in your pocket, have it washed, what if you want to return something or prove that you bought it?

Enter the OPEN State. The OPEN State can be viewed as a receipt on a decentralized system and it fixes the issues that arise from verifying ownership.

What is the OPEN State?

The OPEN State is the creation of the Scaffold, it serves as a proof-of-ownership. It can be made uniquely tied to an individual to save a state granted by a central entity.

The OPEN State is a new type of token interface that can be:

• Used to carry encrypted data
• Be transferred to different addresses

Since each Scaffold can have a unique implementation of the OPEN State, it makes sense for OPEN States to have different attributes and functionalities. This gives a larger amount of flexibility in terms of what the OPEN State can do and represent.

The OPEN State on the blockchain

Once an OPEN State is created by a Scaffold, it is forever published to the blockchain. The encrypted data that ties an individual address and a specific state in a database. The blockchain is an immutable decentralized ledger that is very, very resistant to tampering which means that:

• Every OPEN State is easily accessible for any application
• Every OPEN State cannot be manipulated
• Every OPEN State can have its data made private through public-private key encryption

How does the OPEN State interact with central systems?

Central systems can use an application controller and the OPEN API to monitor the blockchain for newly created OPEN States. This can be checked by checking the creator address of the OPEN States.

The application controller can:

• Find the OPEN State on the blockchain
• Decrypt the OPEN State
• Use the decrypted data to find the user
• Propagate the changes that is dictated by the OPEN State.

An OPEN State in Action

The OPEN State has many different use cases:

• Software Licensing
• Identity
• Land titles
• Many more

Clearly there exist quite a few use cases for the OPEN State, but let’s take a look at a simple example — subscriptions.

OPEN States and Video Streaming

Say I own an online video streaming service, and I want to use the OPEN platform and the OPEN State.

1. First, I create a Scaffold that contains a pricing schema
2. Next, I structure the OPEN State to contain the data in a username, password combination as well as a desired state (isSubscriber).
3. The OPEN State created by the Scaffold will then be created to have this data, that is encrypted using the public key of the individual it is tied to.

Future considerations for the OPEN State

It is easy to think of the OPEN State as a simple receipt, but that is just the beginning of what the OPEN State can do. There exist many more implementations and possibilities because OPEN State is a smart contract. We will go further into these, but for now try to think about how actions could be implemented in OPEN States.