[john_moscow]

It basically looks like a smart contract-powered decentralized escrow service, but the impression I got from their main page is that there isn't a specific end user or market for this yet, although that didn't stop the VCs from funding it.

[tuxxy]

> smart contract-powered decentralized escrow service

That's actually not quite right. I'm one of the engineers here, but allow me to put my evangelism hat on a bit here. We're building a decentralized key management system similar to AWS KMS or Google Cloud KMS -- except decentralized.

We use proxy re-encryption to do this. You can read about how it works in our Umbral blog post[0].

Several large applications are within the healthcare world. This allows patients to be in control of their own medical data and to share/revoke their data at will with other doctors, hospitals, etc. This lets them retain their own encryption keys without trusting another party.

Its market/end user is specifically anyone who has a need for a KMS. I Would also like to point out that NuCypher can be used as a consumer grade KMS -- something that I am exceptionally excited about.

[0] - https://blog.nucypher.com/unveiling-umbral-3d9d4423cd71

[paulie_a]

I honestly think those are the two worst possible examples.

I would never trust my secret management to some random block chain. And for medical records? That is laughable at best with severe HIPPA compliance issues.

[tuxxy]

> I would never trust my secret management to some random block chain.

Me neither. ;)

[leppr]

You would not trust a cryptographic system to manage your cryptographic keys?

And you think regulations are set in stone with no room for innovation?

Empty, politically motivated arguments.

[paulie_a]

No I am simply pragmatic. Blockchain is an empty promise