Authentication System

The same method that is utilized to create transactions by a specific account can be utilized as ‘authentication’ for any other application as well (if built to do so). This leads to the potential for Qortal to remove the need for multiple username/password combinations for the multitude of different services online.

A user’s Qortal account is the only account needed if a service is built to utilize Qortal as authentication. Plugins to the Qortal UI for example like Q-Chat utilize the user’s Qortal account as authentication for sending messages. Any other plugin could be built to do the same thing, making use of the already-existing decentralized authentication mechanism, to power any other plugin.

The end result of multiple applications utilizing Qortal’s blockchain as authentication would be one where there is no longer a need to remember multiple username/password combinations to access various services (email, banks, games, etc) as those services would instead simply verify the user on the Qortal blockchain. This also removes the ability for hackers to hack those centralized databases and gain access to those username/password combinations (which a lot of the time are the same as other services and can be used to access those as well). A blockchain by nature is unhackable. Any hack that has been seen in the news is a result of a centralized service provider getting hacked, not the blockchain itself. Bitcoin has never been hacked and never will be. Same can be said for Qortal.

If application creators decided to use Qortal as authentication instead of a centralized user database, every Qortal user would have access to the service by default with their existing Qortal account, and no need for any further ‘registration’ with vastly improved security. Both ease of use and security dramatically improved by a single decision. This is the decision the Qortal development team and community believe is the future: a world where there are no more ‘hacks’ of centralized databases because centralized databases simply no longer exist. No more need to remember or store countless combinations of usernames and passwords for your services. Instead, simply access your Qortal account and you’re authenticated.