Microsoft to Build decentralized identity network on Bitcoin Blockchain

During Microsoft’s annual Build Conference in Seattle, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivered a keynote address He talked about Microsoft’s Blockchain projects with Starbucks. He also stated that Microsoft will build a decentralized identity network on the Bitcoin blockchain known as Identity Overlay network (ION) in conjunction with the decentralized identity foundation. 

More on the topic was published in a  blog post. The company said, “The most robust, decentralized, public blockchain operates at just tens of transactions per second; nowhere near the needed volume that a world full of DIDs would demand. However, the approach we are taking means tens of thousands of operations can be achieved per second. 

The blog adds, “We believe every person needs a decentralized, digital identity they own and control, backed by self-owned identifiers that enable secure, privacy-preserving interactions. This self-owned identity must seamlessly integrate into their lives and put them at the center of everything they do in the digital world.”

building the system on top of Bitcoin blockchain, the aim is to remove centralized identity control. Daniel Buchner, a program manager for the Microsoft Identity team, has said the goal of such decentralized networks is to remove the control that apps, services and organizations have over digital identifiers such as email addresses and usernames.

A Blockchain digital identity, in theory, would be a huge step in advancing people’s digital lives as so much today is done online, but these actions need constant affirmation of one's identity. Having a provable, immutable identity would alleviate thousands of everyday pain points.

The tech giant aims to create an ecosystem where: “billions of people and countless devices can securely interact over an interoperable system built on standards and open-source components.”

They added that it plans to collaborate with open-source contributors so ION can publicly launch on the Bitcoin mainnet in the coming months.