Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution, Polygon (MATIC) has announced the establishment of Polygon ID, an identity platform designed to complement the decentralized finance and decentralized application (DApp) economies by providing users greater privacy and sovereignty within Web3.
Professed to be the first identity platform of its kind to adopt cryptographic-based zero-knowledge technology, the platform will utilize Iden3’s Circom ZK toolkit, including zk-SNARK cryptography for the generation and the zk-Proof Request Language protocol to verify the authenticity of the proposed claim.
Users of the platform can provide proof of their identity when engaging in activities such as initial coin offerings, token airdrops, decentralized exchange (DEX) trading, or those in which strict Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements apply.
With the capacity to introduce a Sybil-resistant one-vote-per-person mechanism, the use-cases can also expand beyond the DeFi sector, to the metaverse, gamify and nonfungible token (NFT) industries whereby asset authenticity is verified via on-chain, privatized claims.
The team is expecting to deploy the public version of the ID wallet app during Q2 of 2022, alongside features such as “Claims Issuance, Private Authentication, zk-Proof Generation and Verification,” with the full platform release and accompanying SDK functionalities scheduled for the following quarter.
Related: Here’s how Polygon is challenging the limitations of Ethereum, as told by co-founder Sandeep Nailwal
In November 2021, Polygon made a concerted effort to expand its zero-knowledge proof development by pledging over $1 billion towards the technology, a sum that included 250 million MATIC tokens for startup firm Mir.
On a video call with Cointelegraph, Rafal Nazarkiewicz, the product manager at Polygon Hermez and Polygon ID, shared exclusive insights into the technicalities and purported benefits of the technology for blockchain advocates and consumers, alike.
Speaking on the importance of identity ownership within the Web3 space, Nazarkiewicz argued that “identity is fundamental for many use-cases within digital inclusion, and for the right to be recognized,” and that “in Web3, it’s supposed to be private by default and decentralized,” before affirming that none of the content of the claims, for example, their personal information, will be transacted or stored on-chain, only the proof of validity.
The use-cases of identification systems are not wholly limited to on-chain activities, but can also be utilized in the interaction of traditional contract agreements, aNazarkiewicz reveals, such as “legal ownership for the propose of transfer of tokenized assets such as securities, intellectual property and land titles.”
Keep personal details, personal.
Introducing Polygon ID – a self-sovereign identity solution powered by zk cryptography.
– Complete user-privacy
– Scalable on-chain verification
– Open attestation ecosystem
#OwnYourIdentityTL;DR [1/7] pic.twitter.com/f5aFc5jRD7
— Polygon | $MATIC (@0xPolygon) March 29, 2022
