Use-case examples

Cryptosim showcases some of the use-cases where a user may want to use Cryptosat services. The common theme to all of them is using Cryptosat satellites as a tamper-proof, trustworthy, and secure cryptographic root-of-trust that can be trusted to operate correctly and provide cryptographic integrity due to them being physically out of reach of even the most sophisticated adversaries.

The current version of Cryptosim includes examples for:

• Public randomness (Random Beacon)

• Private Randomness — where a user can request random bits to be encrypted to a public key they provide in the request.

• Retrieving a signed timestamp — which can be used by applications that require a trusted source of time or smart contracts that need to ensure a certain amount of time has passed in the real world.

• Signing any data in space

• Delay Encryption — where a satellite generates a cryptographic key-pair and publishes the public key. The private key is not released before a specified amount of time has passed, preventing premature decryption of any data encrypted to the published public key. This could be used, for example, in auctions, voting schemes, and more (send us a use-case YOU are excited about!).

• Sealed-bid auctions — shows how to use the delay-encryption feature to run a sealed-bid auction, where an auctioneer collects encrypted bids, that are revealed only at the conclusion of the auction.

As we keep adding functionality and expanding the Cryptosat API, we’ll keep updating the simulator with new tutorials and examples.