Founded by leading crypto exchange Coinbase and Circle, the Centre Consortium recently announced a set of decentralized data models and identity protocols for credential issuance under the name “Verite”. Per a press release shared with Bitcoinist, the identity solution has been developed as open software and can be implemented by developers right now.
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Centre has released a series of interactive demos and samples to demonstrate Verite’s use cases and released its code on Github. The identity solution will allow people and entities to have more control over their information and the parties with access to it:
These protocols allow people and institutions to cryptographically prove claims about their identities, and allow services to attest to those claims, while avoiding exposure of sensitive data.
The Coinbase and Circle backed initiative claims Verite can be “easily integrated” with leading blockchains, crypto wallets, web apps, mobile apps, and smart contracts. One of the identity solution’s objectives is to provide trust when engaging in the crypto economy in a “scalable, reliable, and privacy-preserving” fashion.
Sean Neville, Co-Founder of Circle and one of the architects behind Verite and stablecoin USDC, said the following about this release:
The web’s early superpower was enabling everybody to connect and engage with content using standard protocols that everyone can use and no one can own. But we’ve lacked a similarly open, global, standard way to safely identify ourselves, control our own identity data, and establish trust between each other on the web.
Neville believes Verite will be able to tackle this issue and allow the internet to enter a new era by integrating financial services running on top of a blockchain with “new apps”. In addition, the solution will “ensure regulatory compliance” in the DeFi ecosystem, according to its official website.
Coinbase Backed Centre Working With Partners On Verite
Verite will allow users to prove their identity and go through Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, their credit and investor status, and other key identity claims without giving out their private information. The identity solution will operate with a general-purpose approach, without a token, as per its website, and without a specific blockchain backing it.
The Coinbase and Circle-backed Consortium claims Verite will be deployable across multiple sectors including healthcare, arts, gaming, entertainment, education, and others. However, its main use case is centered around decentralized finances and the USD Coin (USDC) ecosystem.
In that sense, they seek to provide institutions with confidence about operating with the DeFi sector without breaking laws, provide people with more access to “the global economy, create a way for crypto exchanges and marketplaces to validate their users without storing personal data, open opportunities with lending and borrowing protocols, and more.
One of the most controversial issues around cryptocurrencies and the DeFi sector is the claims, mostly made by governments and politicians, that they enable criminal activity. Verite, according to its website, is a solution that could mitigate that risk without having to “hinder” innovation.
Thus, if widely adopted, it could drive a new wave of adoption for DeFi protocols. Centre will work with its founders Circle and Coinbase to promote its identity solution, and with other major entities in the crypto space such as the Algorand Foundation, Compounds Labs, ConsenSys, Hedera, Ledger, MetaMask, and the Jack Dorsey led company Block. The CEO of Centre David Puth said:
Centre is focused on maintaining the highest standards of integrity, compliance and trust in driving the global development of an internet of value. Verite marks the next step on our open-technology roadmap by defining and harmonizing decentralized identity standards to help bolster trust and protect customers’ privacy in the growing marketplace for crypto-native finance.
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As of press time, COIN trades at $186.72 with a 2.82% loss on the daily chart.
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