Coincast‘s Goal Is To Make Cryptocurrency As Simple As Texting

<p>Consider transmitting cryptocurrency in the same way that you would send a text message to a buddy. That is precisely what new startup Coincast was founded to accomplish, and at the perfect time: Facebook is just beginning to integrate its Novi digital wallet technology into WhatsApp in the United States, enabling simple crypto transactions using the USDP stablecoin with no fees.</p> <p>However, this is not limited to stablecoins.</p> <p>Coincast enables you to send major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to those who do not yet possess a digital wallet.</p> <p>"We're making it as simple as sending a text message," CEO Albert Renshaw, who recently closed a series of transactions, said. A funding round, as I learned in a recent TechFirst episode. "You can send Bitcoin or Ethereum to the phone number of another person. And even if they don't have a wallet or any prior familiarity with cryptocurrency, the funds will be sent to this on-chain intermediary wallet that only they or you, the sender, will have access to."</p> <p>This is straightforward for users.</p> <p>However, Coincast performs a great deal of difficult arithmetic on the backend to enable this "intermediary wallet," as it does not assume possession of the cryptocurrency while it is in transit. Rather than that, Coincast deletes a portion of the private key that protects cryptocurrencies in non-custodial wallets and then brute-forces that portion when money are received. (For those who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, non-custodial wallets are cryptocurrency wallets that you — and only you — control or possess. They are protected by lengthy and complex "private keys," which are effectively passwords. If you lose that password, you risk losing access to the Bitcoin for good.)</p> <p>"What's good is that the user is entirely unaware of any of this... they simply receive a withdrawal PIN and enter it, and then it says 'loading,' and they have their money," Renshaw explains. "They are unaware that this is a part of a brute forcing o