Airbitz’s Edge Security Ventures into Ethereum Space with Augur

Bitcoin wallet provider, merchant directory, and digital asset-based applications developer Airbitz has announced a partnership that will deploy the Airbitz Edge Security Platform on Augur’s decentralized prediction market platform. What this means for Augur’s users is that they will have the option to sign in to and access the Augur platform with an Edge secure username and password, without having to worry about the complexities of associated with storing and remembering encryption keys.

The Edge Security Platform is a highly secure platform which automatically encrypts, backs up, and synchronizes private keys and account data across multiple devices. It is designed to allow users to easily operate the application via a simple interface and quickly connect to decentralized applications.

For Augur, the appeal of the Airbitz Edge Security Platform lies in its ability to secure and store private keys and account data.

“One of the biggest usability issues with decentralized apps at the moment is that there’s no good way to store private keys and account data without resorting to a centralized server: Airbitz solves this problem for Augur,” said Augur Core Developer Joey Krug in a statement.

Since the Edge platform enables applications and platforms to store private keys and account data without relying on a central server or database, it allows applications to remain completely decentralized, without having to deal with security issues.

One of the biggest problems with blockchain-based applications is usability. Users have trouble dealing with platforms that are difficult to navigate and use.

“We want Augur to be just like using a regular website, from the user’s point of view. Our partnership with Airbitz is a big step towards this goal: users will have the option to use a more traditional accounts system, instead of having to manually manage their cryptographic keys,” said Augur Core Developer Jack Peterson.

More importantly, Augur represents the first Ethereum-based application to deploy the Edge Security Platform. Since the Edge platform increases usability and user-friendliness while maintaining a high level of cryptographic security, it will serve as a bridge between the barrier of decentralized Ethereum-based applications and mainstream users that do not wish to deal with the sometimes complicated and overwhelmingly technical security issues associated with  these applications.

This partnership with Augur is in keeping with Airbitz’s goal to expand their Edge Security system to other industries: to companies in Healthcare, IoT, secure messaging, authentication, identity, and financial services markets.

“Call it a prediction, but when fully released, Augur will have with the most seamless account creation, encryption, backup, and synchronization process in the industry, as well as close integration with Airbitz accounts,” stated Airbitz co-founder and CEO Paul Puey.

While there are no immediate plans for Airbitz’s wallet to support REP tokens associated with Augur, it is easy to speculate that this new partnership could pave the way for future support in this area.