Advice on browsing Edgecase Datafeed:
How to use Edgecase Datafeed


Edgecase Datafeed is a secure publishing system. No one, not even Edgecase, can alter previously published articles.


Edgecase Datafeed is essentially a private blockchain that timestamps its state in the Bitcoin blockchain.
- Articles are transactions.
- Checkpoints are block headers.
- Author identities are public keys.
- A collection of articles plus the final checkpoint comprises a block.
- This website is a block explorer.


Datafeed structure in more detail:
- All articles are digitally signed by Edgecase Datafeed. This proves that they all come from the same source.
- Article 0 is the initial checkpoint article.
- Checkpoint articles are hashed into a Bitcoin private key. We derive the corresponding address and transfer a small amount of Bitcoin to it. The Bitcoin transaction proves the existence of the checkpoint article at the block timestamp.
- Each normal article contains the details of the previous checkpoint, among which is the Bitcoin transaction id. This proves that the article was published after the previous checkpoint's timestamp.
- To see the previous checkpoint's transaction id within an article, and the various other data that is not usually displayed in the block explorer website, click the "Download this article" link in the Navigation Menu. This will download the original plaintext article.
- Author can choose to sign their article, using their own private key. This proves the author's identity to any third party, without the need to rely on any assertion by Edgecase Datafeed.
- Each new checkpoint contains the details of all the articles published after the previous checkpoint, including their hashes. This proves that the articles were published before the new checkpoint's timestamp.
- So: This checkpoint approach, in which each checkpoint is timestamped in the Bitcoin blockchain, allows any third party to be satisfied that a specific author identity published a specific article in a specific timestamp range.


Ideally, the article verification process becomes increasingly automated, so that, in a hypothetical datafeed-driven future, you could rely on your viewer application (block explorer ? wallet ?) to only show you information that is protected by the method described here.


Edgecase offers various services related to secure publishing. Please see the following page for details:
Edgecase services


If you would like to know how to store bitcoin, please go to the following page:
How to store bitcoin


If you would like to learn how to access the paywalled items published on Edgecase Datafeed, please go to the following page:
How to subscribe to Edgecase Datafeed


If you would like to learn how to comment on an article, please go to the following page:
How to comment on Edgecase Datafeed


Please see the following pages to find out how to verify an article or an asset. These recipes will allow you to be certain that items downloaded from Edgecase Datafeed have not been altered since their publication.
- How to verify a datafeed article
- How to verify a checkpoint article
- How to verify a signed article
- How to verify an article
- How to verify an asset