Identity Overlay Network (ION)

Basics

• Based in:
• Started in / Announced on:
• Testnet release: Open to the public after being in closed beta since June 2020.
• Mainnet release: 25-3-2021
• Ion, Microsoft's open source decentralized identify solution program, will launch (13-5-2019) using the Bitcoin blockchain; the identity solution allows users to retain personal data while sharing it between different online sites.

Technology

• Whitepaper can be found [insert here].
• Code can be viewed [insert here].

Implementations

• Built on: Bitcoin. Coindesk calls it a L2 (25-3-2021).
• Programming language used:

Transaction Details

• Capacity (TPS):
• Latency:

How it works

• It uses Sidetree, an open-source protocol for decentralized identifiers built by devs from Microsoft, ConsenSys, Mattr and Transmute.

"This post details our joint effort with various members of the identity and blockchain communities to address the performance and scale needs of DID systems, while maintaining the properties of decentralization and self-ownership that differentiate them from existing identity technologies. There is no simple solution to this problem—one can’t just change a variable to increase the transactional volume of these system without degrading the very attributes of decentralization that make them valuable. To tackle this challenge, we’ve been collaborating with members of the DIF, notably ConsenSys and Transmute, to develop a blockchain-agnostic protocol for creating scalable DID networks, called Sidetree.

Today, we’re announcing an early preview of a Sidetree-based DID network, called ION (Identity Overlay Network), which runs atop the Bitcoin blockchain. ION is a public, permission-less, open network anyone can use to create DIDs and manage their Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) state. ION is designed to deliver the scale required for a world of DIDs, while inheriting and preserving the attributes of decentralization present in the Bitcoin blockchain. The code for the ION reference node is still under rapid development, and there are many aspects of the protocol left to implement before it is ready for testing on Bitcoin mainnet. On low-powered consumer reference hardware we’ve observed tens-of-thousands of DID operations per second."

Other Details

Some of the organizations who are leaning in early to run nodes:

• Equinix— Global interconnection and data center company. Equinix connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers. 
• Casa—Developer of hardware, apps, and services for security conscious Bitcoin users. 
• Learning Machine—Tools and services for issuing official records in a blockchain-anchored digital format, for schools, companies, and governments. 
• Civic—Tools to control and protect identities, built using an open source secure identity verification ecosystem. (Update: is running a node as of 8-2019) 
• Cloudflare— Leading Internet performance and security company that runs one of the world's largest networks
• Facebook was asked to participate but declined; according to Microsoft's Yorke Rhodes, Ion aligns with the software giants new "philosophy of consumer ownership and consumer "centricity"

Roadmap

• Can be found [Insert link here].
• From CoinDesk (25-3-2021):

"With version 1 launched, the team will focus on releasing a “light client” for bootstrapping nodes faster and streamlining ID resolution by authorizing an ID while its related transaction is still in Bitcoin’s mempool."

Audits

• Bug bounty program can be found [insert here].

Team, Funding, Partnerships, etc.

Team

• Full team can be found [here].
• Microsoft

• From CoinDesk (25-3-2021):

"Microsoft’s ION has attracted contributions from Bitcoin and crypto mainstays including Casa, ConsenSys, Gemini, BitPay and Protocol Labs, as well as a hand from the teams at Cloudflare, Spruce and others."

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