Even though the idea of a fully decentralized package delivery system has been known for over 13 years, the race for the first successful implementation is still open. What challenges have prevented this vision from becoming a reality? What technical legacy have previous projects left behind? Let’s dive deep into the origins of this concept.

2011: How did it all begin?

With a little help of Wayback Machine, we thoroughly examined numerous defunct websites, discussions on abandoned forums, and mailing lists to uncover the earliest reference to such a concept. There is little doubt that the idea of a decentralized parcel delivery system can be attributed to Rob Kohr, who presented his paper “How To Build a Decentralized Postal System” on the Bitcoin Wiki back in December 2011.

This concisely written work proposes an architecture for such a system based on hubs and couriers transporting packages between them, rewarded with cryptocurrency called “meters” proportionally to their involvement in the delivery process. Rob Kohr suggested that the hubs could be publicly placed boxes secured with a combination lock and the code would be periodically changed and shared with couriers who need to leave or pick up a package. Unfortunately, such a solution would require complete trust in the couriers to ensure that they leave the packages they are supposed to in such unattended hub and do not take those they should not. The way this could operate in a trustless environment has not been addressed.

The world at that time was probably not yet ready for the emergence of such a system. It is interesting that the information network of this system was intended to be a fork of Bitcoin or Namecoin. There’s nothing unusual about this. It’s 2011, and Ethereum – the first smart contracts platform – won’t be created for another three years. People had not yet recognized the benefits of decentralization, and cryptocurrencies were often associated with illegal activities. Even if no attempt was ever made to implement this project, it motivated subsequent research and established the architectural foundation for later approaches, including Bitpost.

2018: Decentralized delivery boom

After many years of silence, peak interest in decentralized delivery companies occurred between 2018 and 2019, when the most projects of this kind emerged. One of the projects worth mentioning is Osliki, which was developed as a centralized delivery application since 2016, but in March 2018, its developers began rewriting it as smart contracts operating within the Ethereum ecosystem. While relying on the assumption that a single courier completes the entire journey from sender to recipient is insufficient to create a reliable system for global delivery, Osliki was undoubtedly a pioneer in utilizing smart contracts for shipping physical goods and matching transport orders with available couriers. Ultimately, the project reached the testing phase on the now-deprecated Ropsten testnet, but there is no information about any further steps.

Around the same time, another project called PAKET Protocol was conceived. Presented in May 2018, the white paper titled “Decentralizing, restructuring, and optimizing the way we transfers goods” comprehensively described innovative design patterns and addressed common issues associated with the operation of decentralized delivery system, for example:

  • A security deposit made by subsequent couriers as a guarantee for the safe delivery
  • Delivery confirmation code issued to the recipient by the sender
  • Increasing the shipping fee at any stage of transportation to speed up the delivery
  • Utilizing an additional peer-to-peer network for off-chain communication

PAKET Protocol also introduced the staffed distribution hubs that in the future could optionally emerge in areas with high shipment volumes. However, as a standard practice, shipments were intended to be exchanged directly between drivers. Furthermore, the courier who picks up the package from the sender is responsible for its entire journey, and it is solely in their interest to find another driver to hand off the shipment for the next stage of the journey and agree on the reward distribution with them. Otherwise, they must personally deliver the package to the recipient, regardless of the distance. Unfortunately, the project ended like the previous one, having presented a Proof of Concept application based on the Stellar blockchain, but then it ceased further development for unknown reasons.

The years 2018-2019 brought many other projects related to package delivery, such as APOD: Anonymous Physical Object Delivery, Geeba, and ParcelX. We won’t describe them in detail, as they were based solely on anonymous mailboxes for traditional shipping companies, using decentralized technologies only for data exchange, while their logistics remained dependent on centralized companies, or they stopped at announcing the project without disclosing any technical solutions behind it.

2022: If not us, then who?

The following years brought no significant breakthroughs in the pursuit of a fully decentralized delivery system. Essentially the only cultivator of this idea in recent years has been Pigeon DAO – the project announced in 2023. It proposed the use of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization and associated governance mechanisms to connect independent package couriers with customers, as well as utilizing a radio network for accurately tracking packages with attached transmitters. As of the publication of this article, the project does not have its own website, and its name is more commonly associated with another venture.

In light of the stagnation in the development of decentralized package delivery systems over the years, despite the enormous potential of this idea, we recognized an opportunity to take the initiative and move forward. Thus, in early 2022, a fresh perspective and determination to succeed allowed us to create a robust framework for a new decentralized delivery system named Bitpost. Our project builds on the legacy of previous initiatives, comprehensively addressing the challenges they faced. We identified key areas where we could implement our own solutions to create an efficient, secure, and scalable platform with the potential to challenge traditional shipping companies. The outcome of our research is the Bitpost white paper, and the development works to bring Bitpost to fruition are in full swing.

Today we can’t pen the final chapter of this story, because the journey toward the world’s first fully decentralized delivery system is still underway. We believe that this vision is not only achievable but also well within reach.