--- title : Phonon Press Release tags: press-release author: mickey slugs: phonon, press, testnet date: 08/03/2022 --- PHONON DAO: Press Release --- :::info August 1, 2022 For immediate release. ::: :newspaper: Alpha Testnet Launch --- > **Phonon DAO** Launches Its Alpha Test, Laying Down a Gauntlet to Visa, Mastercard, Applepay. With its testnet launch on ==August 3rd==, The Phonon Protocol open-sources the same closely guarded and secure infrastructure as Apple Pay, Visa and Mastercard, and combines it with the benefits of blockchain technology. >> While payments firms like Visa and Mastercard process transactions through a centralized database (with access to every user's spending habits) >> **$Phonon** is a payments protocol that is entirely peer-to-peer and perfectly private, without sacrificing security or scalability. - Over 18 months, the Phonon DAO, has been diligently building the Phonon Protocol, which has quickly gained a reputation as the first serious Web3 challenger to establishment payments processors. - :date: Today (08/03/2022), the **Phonon DAO** is pleased to announce the imminent release of its Alpha Testnet with rewards for participants. The structure of the Testnet includes a series of objectives and those who accomplish them will earn Phonon Governance Tokens. Those interested in participating in the Alpha Testnet will need to register in the PhononDAO Discord ==#testnet== channel. :pushpin: What is Phonon? --- Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay leverage silicon based secure elements in smartphones and credit cards to securely sign and process transactions. Until today, the technologies used to sign these transactions have been held as trade secrets. **$Phonon** is an open source payments protocol that leverages the same secure elements as the world's largest payments processors. - This technology enables the off-chain transfer of digital assets and currencies between secure devices by wrapping them with immutable cryptographic properties. This technology includes Physically-Unclonable Function (PUF), the same that ApplePay, Visa, and Mastercard use. Protocol transactions are strictly peer-to-peer, have no fees, are ultra-secure and absolutely anonymous. :bulb: How Advanced is Phonon? --- - The **Phonon Protocol** is capable of more transactions per second (TPS) than Visa, Mastercard, ApplePay, Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. Because it is entirely peer-to-peer, it scales linearly with the number of users. Though the technology used by the Phonon Protocol is the same technology you use every day on all of your credit cards and smartphones, it comes with two major distinctions: * 1. Given that $Phonon is open source and can be built and improved on by anyone. * 2. Also, it is built to transfer values, backed by any digital asset, which includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) like the proposed US Digital Dollar. :::spoiler For your Consideration ::: > **One of the hallmarks of every new technology within this space is talking about throughput.** However, what's never really disclosed (till someone looks within the fine print or the hardware requirements) is the trade-off between a greater TPS value and other crucial aspects, native to this technology. Namely, permisionlessness, security, scalability, cost(fees) and especially **privacy**. :memo:**Phonon** has been designed in such a way that it does not need to sacrifce and make such trade-offs.Protocol has been built for the everyday, consumer-level end-user. It does not sacrifice privacy for speed or throughput for security. **$Phonon**, truly is the living embodiment and update of what was originally created by David Chaum, Adam Beck, Nick Szabo, Timothy May, Hal Finney, Eric Hughes and of course, Satoshi. :link: Links --- **Find Out More**: - Testnet: [Testnet FAQ](https://hackmd.io/@0xRakeHMD/phonon-faq) - Youtube: [World's First Phonon TXN](https://youtu.be/TInbfyFrllg) - Sales: [Buy you Testnet Kit](https://gridplus.io/products/phonon-developer-kit) - Twitter: [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PhononDAO) - Discord: [Discord](https://discord.gg/phonon) - Website: [Phonon Home](https://phonon.network) - Press Kit: [Media & Press](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TTBNyrYQpBOx1oH-9aUrlVPUJcH83bBL?usp=sharing) - Blog: [Phonon Blog](https://blog.phonon.network) - Inquiries: [email](info@phonon.network)