Is Parity like Bitcoin?

A common question we get asked when we explain what Parity is is if it is like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the most well known crypto currency and the first to gain any traction. Parity tries to solve a different problem to Bitcoin and therefore is quite different.

Bitcoin was developed by a pseudonymous person or group called Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 to 2009. It borrowed ideas from previous projects such as Nick Szabo’s Bit Gold and Adam Back’s Hashcash as well proposing novel solutions to the problem of decentralised digital money.

The following two lists highlight some prominent features and differences of each currency.

Bitcoin’s properties

• Has a maxiumum cap of 21 million coins
• Designed to be a hard money like gold
• Extremely hard to change - last change to consensus rules was in 2017
• Completely decentralised - there is no controlling authority
• free floating value - people pay a market determined rate
• Censorship resistance - no permission is required to use
• No chargebacks or refunds - every transaction is final, even mistakes

Parity’s properties

• Flexible monetary mass - Everyone starts with balance of 0 and money is created when they spend using their credit line
• Value is pegged to the pound - 1 PRX == 1 GBP
• Centrally controlled and administered by Parity Network Ltd
• Members have to be approved by Parity Network - however members are still responsible to check who they are trading with
• Should a transaction be made in error, Parity Network could step in and reverse the transaction

Blockchain not Bitcoin?

Even though Parity is not like Bitcoin, could Parity still benefit from using blockchain or some other distributed ledger technology (DLT)?

We are open to being convinced otherwise but our current position is not. We will write a follow up blog post explaining our position.