Unveiled last year, ION (Identity Overlay Network) is an open source decentralized identity infrastructure based on the Sidetree protocol and built on Bitcoin.
In a blog post, Daniel Buchner, program manager for Microsoft Identity, said that ION is now available, in beta, on the blockchain of the Queen of Cryptocurrencies.
We are delighted to see ION making the jump to the main Bitcoin network for its public beta version. ION is an open, public and unauthorized “Layer 2” network, built on open source code - From the start, ION was developed as a decentralized network designed to operate independently from centralized parties and trusted intermediaries, including understood Microsoft, ” wrote the employee of the Redmond firm.
The decentralized identity solutions offer digital credentials more reliable than those currently available on the internet (eg Facebook Connect) through unique and cryptographically verifiable credentials.
Developed in collaboration with the Decentralized Identity Foundation, the ION network is today supported by several popular ecosystem startups such as the BitPay crypto-payment processor, the Gemini crypto-exchange or the Bitcoin Fold application.
Although no release date for the final version has yet been announced, Microsoft has said it will focus on the project in the coming months.