Civic, a blockchain company specializing in identity management, recently announced its acquisition of “Identity.com.” Civic’s founder and CEO Vinny Lingham commented he “never thought we’d get it”, with “it” being ownership rights to the Identity.com domain.
Introducing https://t.co/oBeu9d68FN, the decentralized #identity verification ecosystem that connects users, requesters, and validators to enable reusable identity verification, powered by CVCs. It will also be #opensource by the end of 2018. #blockchain https://t.co/VkiptgXUgY pic.twitter.com/qW9C0maFSs
— Civic (@civickey) July 17, 2018
In June 2017, Civic reportedly managed to raise $33 million in Civic tokens (CVC), which was notably eight days before the launch of its official initial coin offering (ICO). Funds raised from the token sale went toward implementing a decentralized identity verification ecosystem. By using this system, third parties such as requesters and validators can make attestations regarding people’s identities.
An Open-Source Verification Ecosystem
Civic’s main objective is to give its users full control over their personal information, including the ability to monitor processes required to accurately verify their identity. Commenting on his company’s acquisition of identity.com, Lingham noted that he always thought the domain name was ideal for promoting his decentralized identity management platform.
In an official Civic.com blog post, the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) supporter wrote that identity.com will be a “first-of-its-kind” decentralized system that will allow for “on-demand, secure identity verification.” He added:
Identity.com is designed to connect users, requesters, and validators around the world to enable reusable identity verification, powered by Civic tokens (CVCs). This ecosystem allows individuals, companies, and other entities to interact easily and safely in the digital world.
Lingham noted that a key milestone was reached in March when Civic’s CVC tokens were used to conduct the company’s first Know Your Customer (KYC) compliant transaction. He added that the code for Identity.com will be completely open-source by Q4 2018. A software development kit (SDK) will be provided so that developers can improve or add more functionality to the platform.
Before Civic acquired Identity.com, one of its previous owners was reportedly Inflection, a trust and safety platform, which decided to leave the identity management business. This gave Civic an opportunity to buy the domain.
Lingham noted that one of the conditions set to purchase the domain was to not disclose the amount that changed hands. He revealed, however, “it wasn’t pocket change.” Civic currently has a market capitalization of over $72 million, according to data from CryptoCompare.
