Tokenized Identity: Empowering Web3 through Decentralization
Web3 is quickly becoming the new standard in our increasingly decentralized digital landscape, and tokenized identity presents the best path to usher us into this new era quickly and safely. Web3 identity refers to the innovative use of decentralized technologies to establish secure, user-controlled digital identities. Identity.com’s open-source marketplace for verifiable credentials provides a more reliable and frictionless ecosystem. For individuals, this means that we’re moving from a centralized three-party system to a decentralized two-party system, increasing privacy and security, while eliminating data tracking.
Identity.com leverages blockchain technology to anchor trust in a decentralized and permission-less way, providing a secure way to share and verify credentials directly between participants. In this process, Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is never stored on-chain. Blockchains are immutable by design and present a wealth of benefits that will improve upon most of our current, outmoded systems, especially in the world of DeFi. Our focus on advancing identity verification across DeFi has provided us with new opportunities to embed an identity layer into blockchains.
Right now, the way identity verification and protection are handled varies from chain to chain, and it has become clear to us that identity needs to be streamlined and verifiable, regardless of what blockchain it is in use on. So, our goal of integrating an identity layer across many blockchains remains. As a new financial system grows out of the DeFi community, Identity.com is finding more meaningful opportunities to serve the greater good, including providing a better onramp for investors. In continuing to work with Civic, we have found the ideal partner to provide our identity services to dApps.
Welcome, Martin Riedel
I’m delighted to welcome Martin Riedel as CTO of Identity.com. At Identity.com, Martin will oversee the development of the open-source identity frameworks and the Identity.com marketplace. He will take the reins in leading our work with the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). He’s also a Co-Chair of the Claims & Credentials Group at the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF).
We’re fortunate to have a brilliant thought leader so well attuned to our mission of bringing the credential marketplace to the mainstream as a core member of our team. Martin previously led innovation in the identity space at Civic with the development of the first decentralized Credential Marketplace.Prior to Civic, Martin worked as a developer and project manager for various IT companies in Germany. In 2015 & 2016, he oversaw the development, deployment and certification (TÜV Rheinland) of the Software Infrastructure at the Certificate Authority of the German Federal Chamber of Notaries (Zertifizierungsstelle der Bundesnotarkammer). More recently, at Consensys Mesh, Martin was a Research Engineer focusing on the application of cutting-edge layer 2 blockchain technology on identity-related problems like identifier registration, and discovery and anonymous credential revocation lists. Martin received his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Tübingen and was a visiting graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Calling All Top Talent — We’re Hiring!
Because the demand for decentralized identity verification is growing, we are also growing. We have some great positions that we are excited to fill with the best and brightest. Open roles currently include:
- Technical Community Manager
- Product Manager
- Senior Software Engineer
If you or anyone you know is fit for any of these positions, we welcome all to apply. Please visit our careers page to learn more about each role and to see the latest updates as new positions become available. https://www.identity.com/about/careers/
A Thriving Work Culture
While we are proud to call sunny San Diego our home, the reality today is that we work in a global virtual office. Unlike other companies who are reducing the salary of employees working remotely, Identity.com pays a wage appropriate to the position, regardless of location. As we learn to navigate the pandemic world together it presents new challenges — and opportunities — for us to discover what the future of teamwork and project management holds for us all. However, one thing remains certain in these uncertain times – Identity.com is committed to evolve and adapt with the professional and cultural shifts presented by our fast-changing workforce environments. Perhaps on the micro level we all learn to give elbow bumps instead of handshakes, and at the macro level we discover how to best collaborate through digital platforms and decrease our reliance on in-person meetings and events to help us move the ball forward on the projects we undertake. Whatever the future holds we are prepared to meet it, and hopefully, improve upon it.
Building On Past Successes
Hot on the heels of installing an age-gated vending machine in Black Fire Innovation, we are continuing to build out identity opportunities within the entertainment and gaming spaces. A vending machine selling age-restricted products is just one novel application of private identity verification. Other real-world opportunities for identity verification technology abound, especially when it comes to enhancing the entire customer experience — both online and offline — including opportunities for product enhancement across vendors and properties without collecting any personal data. The need for innovative solutions that integrate into the Web3 world and beyond is driving the market, and we are proud to be a key player in bringing these far-reaching improvements across innumerable verticals to those who need it most.
