The Metanet and the New Internet of Value

In 2019, Dr Craig Wright published a white paper detailing a system for creating an on-chain internet of value, allowing content and content management frameworks to be embedded directly into Bitcoin transactions and indexed to allow simple navigation and service. The Metanet is a protocol that describes a means of embedding this data in transactions in ways that allow it to be both easily retrieved and verified to establish provenance. This gives data on the Metanet the immutability, security and scalability of Bitcoin.

In this, the content of the Metanet becomes a subset of the overall data captured on the Bitcoin ledger, connecting users to content producers via the same system that manages payments, identity and more. By embedding data and content using the Metanet protocol, we create a solution that allows users to provably own their on-chain content.

The Internet becomes a sidechain to the Bitcoin Blockchain. The Metanet is a value network — the entire global system of online activity and data connected commercially.

— Dr Craig Wright, CoinGeek Week (2018)

Key to the Metanet is the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) that is used to secure millions of Bitcoin transactions every day. Using elliptic curve signatures as part of a second layer protocol allows us to generate detailed information systems on the public ledger and then serve them up to users/viewers/customers via Metanet gateways. Thanks to the fact the information isn't stored via a central server or domain-based system, it can remain accessible even when individual metanet gateways are taken offline. The model gives the data being served the same immutable properties as the Bitcoin transactions it is wrapped in, with the security of Elliptic Curve Digital Signatures which allows any user viewing the data to quickly and easily validate the source of the material.