There is no shortage of visionary scenarios about how Web3 might unfold, but one of the latest, “Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul” — a paper published in mid-May by E. Glen Weyl, Puja Ohlhaver and Vitalik Buterin — is close to becoming one of the top 50 most downloaded papers on the SSRN scholarly research platform. The attention, one might suspect, has much to do with the participation of Buterin, blockchain’s wunderkind and the legendary co-founder of the Ethereum network. But it could also be a function of the paper’s ambition and scope, which includes asking questions like: What sort …

The capital of Argentina and an agglomeration with more than 12 million citizens, Buenos Aires will make blockchain a vital part of its digitalization drive. Specifically, the city will accept public financial transactions in crypto. As city Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta revealed in his Steve Jobs-styled presentation on April 25, the 12-step development plan titled “Buenos Aires +” envisions a significant increase in crypto and blockchain adoption. Con Buenos Aires + vamos a dar un paso más en el camino hacia un Estado facilitador que desburocratice y agilice los procesos. Un camino en el que el Estado sea el que …

Layer-two Ethereum scaling solution, Polygon has announced the establishment of Polygon ID, an identity platform designed to complement the decentralized finance and decentralized application (dApp) economies by providing users greater privacy and sovereignty within Web3. Professed to be the first identity platform of its kind to adopt cryptographic-based zero-knowledge technology, the platform will utilize Iden3’s Circom ZK toolkit, including zkSNARK cryptography for generation and the zkProof Request Language protocol to verify authenticity of the proposed claim. Users of the platform can provide proof of their identity when engaging in activities such as initial coin offerings, token airdrops, decentralized exchange, or …

Six worldwide corporations have banded together to start the IEEE blockchain Identity of Things standardization. According to IEEE Chair of the Identity of Things Working Group Dr. Xinxin Fan, researchers from Lockheed Martin, Ericsson, Lenovo, Huawei, Bosch, IoTeX and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology are developing the global standards for blockchain-based decentralized identities in an effort that commenced two years ago. Related: Decentralized identity can bring the analog world into the digital one After two years of research, the six major global businesses have provided the proof of concept for blockchain-based decentralized identification (DID) for IoT devices, which …

The government of Gibraltar, a British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, has started a pilot program aimed at utilizing blockchain technology to store official credentials on its systems. In a Tuesday announcement, Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar said it had partnered with Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitso and IOVlabs, a startup that develops financial solutions based on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain, to integrate blockchain technology into its eGov system. The initial phase of the integration will allow users to store state-issued and certified credentials on its servers in an effort for residents and location organizations to have …

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) are backing a proposed system for secure sign-in using Ethereum from decentralized identity software firm Spruce. Spruce’s system was selected after EF and ENS submitted a Request for Proposals in July encouraging developers and software firms to propose a sign-in package using OAuth — an open standard for access delegation. A Monday announcement states that the firm aims to give users control of their own online identities, offering an alternative to handing over one’s personal data to the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook. Spruce notes that the Ethereum ecosystem “already …

A new report on the potential for blockchain identity management solutions to become integrated across sectors has forecast strong growth for its global market, at a compound annual rate of close to 71%. The report grounds its predictions on a study broken down into segments by sector — e.g., government, healthcare, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), geography, and applications. It was published by the Lyon-headquartered market research solution provider ReportLinker. Drawing on an analysis of several existing blockchain identity management market vendors — Accenture, Amazon, Bitfury Group, Civic Technologies and others — the report expects the total global market …

Years after CryptoKitties were released to the masses, the nonfungible token (NFT) sector is finally going places. Coveted collectibles are selling for millions of dollars in some of the world’s finest auction houses. Top-flight soccer and basketball teams are releasing once-in-a-lifetime moments that fans cherish. Movie studios are starting to issue NFTs as memorabilia too, unlocking new revenue streams when they are needed most. It’s little wonder that NFT-focused companies are attracting eye-watering valuations. Just take a look at Sorare, which is on track to secure a price tag of at least $3.8 billion through its latest funding round. Although …

Following a $1.25 million seed funding round, a cryptocurrency payments and identity management app is moving deeper into decentralized finance. Numio has partnered with zkSync to provide a trustless layer-two solution for payments that it says are instantaneous and as much as 100 times cheaper than transactions on the clogged and expensive Ethereum blockchain. Numio promises peer-to-peer scalability of 2,000 transactions per second. Led by HashKey Capital, the funding round will allow Numio to push into DeFi, including cryptocurrency trading, swaps, pooling, and staking on Ethereum's layer two. Also on the roadmap is support for e-commerce and point-of-sale capability, letting …

A blockchain platform that allows businesses and developers to issue and manage verifiable credentials has announced that it is transitioning to a proof-of-stake algorithm. Dock says the switch to PoS will further decentralize its network — increasing the number of validators involved in securing its infrastructure, and enhancing governance measures. Until now, the project’s blockchain has been based on a proof-of-authority algorithm, where validators were selected by the Dock Association, a nonprofit organization. The move to PoS means that validators will now be chosen by the network based on how many Dock tokens have been locked up to back their …

Dallas Mavericks owner and Dogecoin proponent Mark Cuban says nonfungible tokens may have the ability to disrupt and even transform industries dealing with digital identity verification and electronic signatures. In an episode of the Unchained podcast released yesterday, Cuban said “anything documentation driven” could potentially be transformed by nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The billionaire said that smart contracts could destabilize companies like electronic signature technology firm DocuSign. “Right now we see quite a bit of utilization of smart contracts for NFTs but those are really just proof of concepts for what can happen in the business world applications like insurance, …

Data has become one of the most valuable resources on the planet and its analysis, collection and monetization have helped companies like Google and Facebook achieve blue-chip status in the eyes of investors. With monetization comes risk and privacy protection is one of the biggest challenges companies and data producers face. One cryptocurrency project that focuses on helping individuals and companies manage personal data is SelfKey (KEY), a blockchain-based identity platform that seeks to revolutionize the KYC process and embody the ethos of Self-Sovereign Identity. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Tradingview shows that the price of KEY has vaulted 470% …