⛓️Blockchain Attestations

At Zipwire we believe that cryptographic blockchain technology will gradually supplant traditional siloed systems. We're interested in exploring identity, trust, reassurance and blockchain.

The financial industry, including money transfer services, identity management, and commerce platforms, are exploring how blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can address current challenges.

These technologies have the potential to upgrade financial infrastructure, improve security and efficiency, and ultimately deliver a better experience for users.

Rubber Stamp

Attestations are a way to imprint information and facts about an entity on the blockchain. You can view an attestation as a kind of rubber stamp – a seal of approval or signing of a document

Cryptographic algorithms provide tamper resistance and non-repudiation, i.e. the rubber stamp is not a fake and cannot have been issued by anyone other the controller of the secret key.

In our everyday lives, people, products and businesses gain our confidence through networks of credibility.

For example, a company has verified the identity of a person (rubber stamp). And that company is an approved IDSP and appears on a list on a website operated by the government (rubber stamp). The website has padlock in the browser and a HTTPS certificate which can be inspected (rubber stamp). To get a certificate, the website owner had to prove its identity to a certificate authority (rubber stamp) and the documents it provided were issued by other authorities, and so on.

We rely on various digital signals of varying strengths that combine to engender trust. Blockchain attestations seek to replicate this criss-crossing system of trust using strong cryptographic data.

An example

You may gather information from a person to check their identity and background, their insurances etc. and their company incorporation. You may send information off to other service providers to get further assurances.

Once done, you could put a rubber stamp in this person's wallet on a blockchain to say that you're sure they're a real human; you've checked their identity and possess some useful facts about them. This would help them accumulate attestations in their wallet which they can present elsewhere, to demonstrate eligibility.

Your own business wallet could accumulate attestations, too, from other businesses, your bank or from credit agencies or even a reciprocating attestation from your workers, all of which would give your business credibility and authority. It would also lend credence to every attestation you make.

Over time, a web of attestations would build-up making it much easier to determine good actors on the blockchain and in business generally and our daily lives.

Privacy

An attestation is signed and imprinted on a public blockchain but the data is usually held privately with only a cryptographic proof available for scrutiny.

The proof itself is a garble of pseudorandom binary revealing nothing by itself. The original data is either handed back to the end user like a receipt or held securely on file on their behalf.

The time of the attestation is incontestable and the facts can be proven to be true by checking the proof against the actual data.

Using cryptography it's possible to reveal and prove just one fact, keeping the other data private. For example, a person may prove they're over 18 by presenting their blockchain wallet and a proof issued by Zipwire of their checked passport data, revealing only their date of birth.

This complexity would be designed into future products, similar to how your web browser guarantees the certificate of this website and encrypts its data without you having to think about it.

In general, such technology would engender strong trust while alleviating the burden on performing checks.

Does this sound interesting?

We're excited about attestations and how Distributed Ledger Technology will shape the future. We think attestations will form a critical part of compliance in years to come but recognise that this will take a while to build - the earlier we start, the better for everyone.

To bring about a better tomorrow we need to give your business and your customers the right, easy-to-use tools, today.