(Aurora, CO) – The Korean Academy of Taekwondo has become (as far as we can see) the world’s first martial arts school to use the power of the Ethereum blockchain to secure their black belt records. KAT Headmaster Bill Pottle explains: “The motto of our school is ‘a mind in the future and a heart in the past‘ so we are always looking at how new technology can benefit either our training or operations.”
Ethereum’s blockchain basically forms an ‘unhackable’ world computer, where transactions are verified by miners solving complex mathematical equations. The system is generally considered secure because of the expense in generating enough power to control 51% of the network – recent estimates suggest that such an attack would cost over $900 million, most of which would be lost. In the near future they will transition to Proof of Stake, making such attacks even more difficult.
Basically, the records are stored and the code is run from so many different computers distributed all around the world, it is unlikely anyone could stop it before the next block comes and the system resets. Also, in the unlikely event that the school were to burn down or go out of business, the records can never be lost.
Blockchains have future applications in all sorts of fields such as storage of medical records, voting systems, resume and degree data, and more.
How to access KAT black belt records.
You can access them directly through KAT’s Website.
Accessing the records is ‘easy’, once you are on the chain. (See below for instructions on this) Simply interact with
Contract: 0x4B39691Aa835473078F40140509De6FfeC6ba500
(in the future this will be at katblackbelts.eth)
ABI : Copy From Text File
How to Use:
Use the function getBBDate with the certificate number to get the dan number and date that it was awarded. Use function getBBName with the certificate number to get the black belt’s name. The function getHash() provides the hash of the full records, not just the ones used in this pilot program. This is to check that the full records file is correct.
Reading any of the records is free.
Records 197, 212, and 214 are currently filled in.
How to Get on Block Chain
There are several methods. The following is the easiest.
- Download the Chrome extension MetaMask. (Explanation Video – Ignore Wordcoin info)
- Go to MyEtherWallet.com and read through the popups and the click on the ‘contracts’ tab and enter the info above.