- Bitcoin blockchain just got a major boost from an unlikely partner.
- It received a vote of confidence with the help of America-based tech giant, Microsoft.
- The corporation is reportedly building decentralized identity infrastructures on top of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Blockchain, the technology at the heart of Bitcoin, has taken hold of many sectors as traditional conglomerates start to experiment internally with blockchain to be at the front position of this disruptive technology. The latest wave of adoption is now coming from American technology giant Microsoft Corporation.
According to the latest news, Microsoft is reportedly building an identity tool on top of the Bitcoin decentralized blockchain. The project dubbed Identity Overlay Network (ION) focuses on creating applications which let different networks interact with each other.
According to Coindesk, this project has been ongoing since 2018. Since it focuses on network communication and validation, it looks to improve information security within systems used by corporations such as Uber and Airbnb. It also looks to allow proof of data ownership and identity validation – all on top of the Bitcoin’s blockchain.
A program manager at Microsoft’s blockchain-focused engineering team, also noted that the software is not only compatible with Bitcoin blockchain but also with a variety of other public chains including Ethereum.
In an interview with Coindesk, Christopher Allen, an early crypto adopter and the co-founder of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) working group for decentralized identity (DID) solution, stated:
“A lot of enterprise infrastructures use Microsoft products. So if they integrate this into any of their infrastructure products, they’ll have access to DID.”
According to sources privy to the matter, the ION network will be moving from Bitcoin’s testnet to Bitcoin mainnet by the end of 2019. This means that anyone anywhere can run a node and contribute to the strength and security of the network.