@@ -4,5 +4,30 @@
44
55# Urbit vs. Azimuth
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7−The Urbit project is a three-level stack: Azimuth, Arvo and Aegean.
7+Urbit addresses act as secure identities in the Urbit network. The closest
8+relative to Urbit address space is cryptocurrency, but such address space is
9+different in two important ways: they are non-fungible and they are used for
10+something besides just transferring value.
811
12+These differences make Urbit and cryptocurrency distant cousins indeed. The
13+Urbit network is composed of virtual machines running our software stack.
14+Using a blockchain for this kind of computing is impossible: there’s far too
15+much data involved in an operating system to run on top of a distributed
16+consensus mechanism. And you don’t want your private information on a public
17+ledger. The Urbit network is not on a blockchain.
18+
19+But, being a decentralized system, we need some way to cryptographically secure
20+and authenticate your identity on the Urbit network. What keeps track of who
21+owns any given identity? Well, simply matching something to an address is a
22+small piece of computing, and a blockchain are wonderful for such a purpose.
23+That’s where the Azimuth comes in.
24+
25+Azimuth is our public-key infrastructure (PKI), and it is on the blockchain. We
26+chose to build it on the Ethereum blockchain because smart contracts are
27+well-suited for the peculiarities of Urbit address space. Urbit address space
28+are owned by Ethereum addresses.
29+
30+Azimuth and the Urbit network are parallel systems. Azimuth isn’t necessarily
31+Urbit-related; it can be used as a generalized identity system for other
32+projects. Azimuth is the equivalent of a bank vault that stores the deed to your
33+house. The Urbit network is the neighborhood that you live in.