The world is becoming more connected, and recent accelerations in the development of blockchain technologies attest to this fact. Now, quickly approaching, is Web 3.0, the next generation of the internet, where on-chain (blockchain) services will be accessible alongside their online counterparts, where profit and value centers will be shared across open networks, and where everything will be connected.
Whereas today internet-based industry is centralized, and goods and services must be obtained through a third party (e.g., Amazon, Uber, Airbnb), Web 3.0 users will be able to go online to access services that have eliminated centralized forms of organization and that operate through decentralized applications (Dapps). Over time, these Dapps, owing to shared-cost infrastructures and a growing demand among users for data security, will outcompete the centralized applications, and a new, decentralized economy will come to the fore.
To make this Web 3.0 vision fully feasible, the blockchain industry – and the blockchain networks themselves – require the support of compliance tools.
The starting point for the creation of these compliance tools is a know-yourcustomer (KYC) solution – a method for blockchain service vendors to confirm the identity of their customers. This setup will streamline the accessing of blockchain services for users and drive down compliance costs for blockchain merchants, who are facing ever-increasing regulatory demands. In the Internet of Things, KYC is the first step, as it enables the digitally registered ownership of things.