Microsoft is using Bitcoin's blockchain for its new decentralized ID tool

Microsoft has taken its first major step into the world of decentralization by building an identity tool upon the Bitcoin blockchain…

According to Coindesk, Ion, an open source project of Microsofts, has been under construction for around a year and focuses on network communication and validation.

The project will look to enhance decentralized identity, securing information within systems utilized by companies such as Airbnb and Uber, allowing intercommunication between networks, identity validation, and proof of data ownership, without compromises to privacy - all upon the worlds oldest blockchain.

Speaking to Coindesk, Christopher Allen, co-founder of the world wide web consortium (W3C) working group for decentralized identity (DID) solutions, noted how Microsoft’s involvement may transform the wider tech industry:

“A lot of enterprise infrastructures use Microsoft products,” Allen said. “So if they integrate this into any of their infrastructure products, they’ll have access to DID.”

While decentralization and privacy benefit greatly from this new venture, Allen notes just how much of a win this is for Bitcoin and the wider crypto community as well:

 “To have Microsoft say they are not scared of bitcoin, and in fact, it has some very good properties and we are willing to take advantage of those properties, is, I think, a step in the right direction.”

Coindesk also collared Yorke Rhoads, a program manager for Microsoft’s blockchain engineering team, who relayed that the company had been working on key signing and validation software for the better half of a year. Rhoades conveys that while the software relies on public networks such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, it can handle a higher throughput than the blockchains themselves are restricted to.