All Questions
1,045
questions
55
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Why does IOTA use a ternary number system?
What are the benefits of the ternary number system over the more traditional binary number system? Are there drawbacks to ternary with respect to binary, aside from the obvious of less adoption?
- 1,112
38
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What are the prerequisites for shutting down the IOTA coordinator?
What conditions need to be met for the central coordinator to be shut down?
Is there a number of transactions per second, a number of full IRI nodes or an update to the algorithm necessary?
- 823
32
votes
1
answer
672
views
How does the system sustain regular low-effort "splitting attacks"?
The whitepaper focuses mainly on attacks in which an attacker tries to double-spend. So the section about the splitting attack examines the case that an attacker tries to effectively create two forks ...
- 1,087
30
votes
5
answers
5k
views
What is the total supply of IOTA?
In Bitcoin the total supply is capped at 21 million BTC. In Ethereum things are slightly looser. (I don't know what their total supply will be.)
What's the case for IOTA? Is there a cap, and if so, ...
- 1,185
28
votes
9
answers
2k
views
How to generate a seed safely?
I am sceptical about online generators. How could I generate a IOTA seed safely offline? Does it need to be on a specific format?
- 511
28
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What does the IOTA coordinator actually do?
We know that there is a coordinator, which helps to secure the network in order to prevent attacks in early stages of adoption. What does it do exactly, how does it work?
- 397
26
votes
1
answer
444
views
Estimation of network traffic for a Full Node
Background
Full nodes allow to get an complete view on the state of the Tangle (after a snapshot) in order to verify transactions, and to append new transactions to the Tangle.
Therefore, full nodes ...
- 439
25
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is it possible to send pictures to the Tangle? What is the data limit per transaction?
As we all know, it is easily possible to convert ASCII to trytes. See this converter in the IOTA github: Converter
If I now want to convert a whole picture like one of the Iota logo to trytes, how is ...
- 1,607
25
votes
2
answers
334
views
How do subtangles work?
I've read that IOTA would only be truly infinitely scaleable with subtangles because a full node can only process ~1000 transactions per second.
What are subtangles? When will they emerge? What ...
- 4,444
24
votes
1
answer
431
views
What happens to a MAM (Masked Authenticated Message) Stream during a Snapshot?
The Masked Authenticated Messaging Introduction doesn't talk about snapshotting as it relates to MAM data streams, so I am trying to work out in my head what happens during a snapshot. It's a forward ...
- 393
23
votes
1
answer
658
views
What can an attacker with 34% of total hash power do?
At the moment the coordinator protects the network from 34% attacks. What exactly can and can't such an attacker do when the coordinator is shut down?
- 651
22
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is an IOTA "bundle"?
The IOTASear.ch tangle explorer allows searching for addresses, transactions and bundles.
While the meaning of addresses and transactions seem clear to me, I am not aware of the purpose of bundles. ...
- 543
21
votes
3
answers
373
views
Consensus - what convergence properties does the tangle have when multiple conflicting transactions are built upon by different parts of the network
In traditional blockchains consensus is maintained by proof of work such that the valid chain containing the most cumulative work is agreed to be the consensus chain.
IOTA lacks blocks and ...
- 408
19
votes
2
answers
801
views
Without the Coordinator, how will the network decide which double-spend succeeds?
Since each double spend, from its perspective, is a valid transaction, they are equally likely to be selected as tips. How will multiple parties agree for certain which one has confirmed, in a timely ...
- 435
19
votes
2
answers
404
views
How can I safely store my IOTA seed?
I currently store my seed in a plain text file, backed up on a USB drive, which is a security risk. What is the safest way to store my seed since there is no IOTA hardware wallet available yet?
- 1,099
18
votes
2
answers
382
views
Consensus - how is a single, non-conflicting graph (tangle) maintained?
In traditional blockchains consensus is maintained by proof of work such that the valid chain containing the most cumulative work is agreed to be the consensus chain.
IOTA lacks blocks and ...
- 408
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why were 4-byte integers chosen as the best way of storing individual trits within IOTA software?
update: Since this was posted, on Jun 11, an issue was opened by one of the IOTA Foundation developers to look into how to make the storage of trits use less memory. Although moving to a byte[] is not ...
user1543
17
votes
2
answers
343
views
How do I know if a pending transaction will be successful?
When I send or receive IOTA, I first see the transaction in my wallet as in pending. As the time pass, the transaction is still in pending. I have to wait half an hour minimum to do the reattach. And ...
- 590
16
votes
2
answers
559
views
How to set up an IOTA Sensor for Data Marketplace?
I own a Raspberry Pi and many sensors. I already had some Sensor projects. How can I set up my own Raspberry Pi sensor to contribute to the data marketplace? Are there any Tutorials yet?
RuuviLab's ...
- 1,607
16
votes
1
answer
162
views
How can I set up a cold storage?
I have heard something about cold storage. What is the best way to set up a cold storage for IOTA and why is it safer?
- 453
16
votes
1
answer
279
views
What kind of "invalid" transactions are transported by the network (and appear on tangle explorers?)
When looking at transactions on a tangle explorer, I often see "Unconfirmed" transactions that (when taking a closer look) can not get confirmed, but the tangle explorer does not show it to me.
So I ...
mihi♦
- 7,269
15
votes
4
answers
303
views
Will outsourcing POW ever be an issue?
If you want to send a transaction you have to do some proof of work.
Are all IoT devices (e.g. small sensors) really capable of doing the proof of work?
Will there ever be a necessity of services that ...
- 4,444
15
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How does IOTA make itself resistant to quantum computing based attacks?
IOTA has been described as "quantum resistant" (not "quantum secure"). What steps did the developers take to make the protocol resistant, and are there further steps that need to be taken in the ...
- 1,112
15
votes
1
answer
158
views
Why do some of my transactions have Weight Magnitude 16, although I have set it to 14?
When looking at transactions in a tangle explorer website, some transactions like this (not mine) show up as Weight Magnitude 16.
This also happens for my transactions where I am sure that I had set ...
mihi♦
- 7,269
15
votes
1
answer
210
views
What is the distinction between a full node and a full public node?
Further, are there a different set of system requirements between the two, and if so, what is it?
- 3,135
15
votes
1
answer
453
views
What would an attacker have to pay per transaction in a large-scale spam attack?
It is claimed that transactions are effectively free. However, they require a proof of work. This PoW is supposed to make spam attacks infeasible. So given an attacker renting hardware from a cloud ...
- 1,087
15
votes
1
answer
299
views
Technical documentation of the IOTA protocol
To properly understand technology like this, I need to sit down and crunch the numbers, program it up, and learn from that.
I can't find any technical, low-level documentation on the IOTA protocol.
...
- 304
15
votes
3
answers
571
views
Is it possible to cancel a transaction?
I made a transaction from Android wallet to Exchange A of 10Gi. The transaction is in pending. I tried a few times to reattach, but the transaction is still in pending.
I made a second transaction ...
- 590
14
votes
2
answers
195
views
Can a node steal my seed?
Could someone theoretically set up a node to siphon seeds from people who connect to it? Or is the seed always safe? How is it handled internally?
- 908
14
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What is the IOTA transaction data structure?
I'm vaguely familiar with Bitcoin's UTXO-based transaction structure and Ethereum's account-based/gas-including transaction structure.
What does an IOTA transaction contain?
- 1,185
14
votes
5
answers
3k
views
What is the average transaction time in IOTA?
In other blockchains, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, the transaction time is limited by the block time. Even then, there's no guarantee your transaction will be incorporated into the next block. (I'll ...
- 1,185
14
votes
2
answers
385
views
What are timestamps and how are they connected to smart contracts?
What exactly are timestamps? When do we see them in IOTA? And what is the correlation between timestamps and smart contracts?
- 1,946
14
votes
1
answer
287
views
How does address reuse prevention affect scalability?
Address reuse is currently being prevented by a list of all addresses which have already sent a transaction (previousEpochsSpentAddresses.txt) and this list is checked by the full node (or remote node)...
- 321
14
votes
0
answers
401
views
How to determine how quickly the network detects double-spends?
In the question "How does the system sustain regular low-effort "splitting attacks"?" a scenario about the ability to disrupt the network by spamming double-spends and having the network ...
- 1,293
13
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What information is leaked if I reuse an address?
Everyone knows that spending from an address multiple times is bad, because Winternitz OTS.
But, what does that mean, exactly? What information is leaked in each signature, and how would an attacker ...
- 1,320
13
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How is data stored in the tangle?
What exactly is being stored in the Tangle if I send a set of data to someone? Is the whole data stored in the Tangle or does the data just pass through the Tangle. Is it just like putting a bag in an ...
- 1,946
13
votes
1
answer
4k
views
In the IOTA wallet, what does the Promote button do?
In the 2.5.5 version of the official IOTA wallet, "Reattach" seems to have been replaced with "Promote". What does Promote do that Reattach didn't, and how does it improve transaction confirmation?
- 1,112
13
votes
1
answer
773
views
Why does the signatureMessageFragment have a fixed size?
A transaction in IOTA consists of 2673 trytes. The biggest part is the signatureMessageFragment (more infos here) which has a size of 2187 trytes.
It is used to store the signature of value ...
- 4,444
13
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What does the ATTACH TO TANGLE button do?
On the Receive screen in the IOTA Wallet there's a button labeled "Attach to Tangle":
I thought attaching to tangle only applies to transactions, not addresses. What does this button do?
- 1,320
13
votes
2
answers
284
views
How to provide an IOTA based service, considering the receiving address has to change on every withdrawal?
One of IOTAs main use cases is to provide a way for M2M (machine to machine) micro payments. Therefore services can be called by sending a transaction, including payload + funds, to a specific address....
- 1,468
13
votes
1
answer
152
views
Difference between "Reboadcasting" and "Reattaching"
Could anybody explain what the difference between "Reboadcasting" and "Reattaching" is and what I should choose when a Tx is pending?
- 467
13
votes
1
answer
521
views
Persistence of important data on the Tangle
To this date, the IOTA network truncates all stored transactions after a snapshot, so that we basically only have an image of addresses with funds.
Now lets assume following scenario: Company A ...
- 131
12
votes
3
answers
336
views
How does reattaching a transaction increase the chance for confirmation?
It is common advice to reattach a pending transaction.
But why do I have to do so from a technical perspective? In other words: why does the tip selection not pick up my transaction if it's pending ...
- 1,468
12
votes
2
answers
426
views
Full node influence on scalability
Since transactions are propagated in the network using full nodes—can it be said that the number of full nodes influences the maximum Tangle scalability? To paraphrase, even if transaction validation ...
- 457
12
votes
1
answer
283
views
Is there a difference between branch and trunk transactions?
I understand that a transaction confirms two other transactions (branch + trunk).
Is there a special semantic or rule for branch and trunk or are this just two words chosen to denote the two ...
- 1,468
12
votes
1
answer
110
views
How do I set up a datastream for sale?
So, datum.iota.org is offering access to data streams? Is there any way I could sell my data through the same network at this time?
- 511
12
votes
2
answers
209
views
How does the coordinator sign milestones without compromising the private key?
All milestones are just signed transactions with teh address KPWCHICGJZXKE9GSUDXZYUAPLHAKAHYHDXNPHENTERYMMBQOPSQIDENXKLKCEYCPVTZQLEEJVYJZV9BWU. My understanding is that to sign a transaction, you do ...
- 221
12
votes
1
answer
280
views
How can I start developing IXI Modules?
Looking at MAM.ixi or Snapshot.ixi, I noticed that IXI Modules are written in Javascript but they are calling Java methods and using Java Classes by assignments like:
var Transaction = iri....
- 4,444
11
votes
6
answers
502
views
How do I generate a wallet from a seed?
Specifically, how do I generate the wallet offline with a seed. I want to use dice to generate the seed and create the address from that seed.
- 371
11
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What are the minimal system requirements to run a full IRI node?
What is the minimal system that would be suitable for this task? What kind of system and OS would you recommend for this?
- 651