Bhutan’s self-sovereign digital ID switches to Polygon Blockchain

Bhutan’s national digital self-sovereign identity (SSI) system has officially switched from Hyperledger’s Indy distributed ledger and migrated to Polygon Blockchain, making a “significant upgrade” of security and performance, the country has announced.

With the switch, the biometrics-based National Digital Identity (NDI) is also changing its protocol layer to CREDEBL, an open-source decentralized identity and verifiable credentials management platform registered by the United Nations-endorsed Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).

The Himalayan nation of less than one million citizens made headlines last year when it became a self-sovereign identity pioneer, presenting a model for other countries towards privacy-centric decentralized digital IDs. The country has recently been discussing how to improve and build an atmosphere of trust around the National Digital Identity while it expands use cases, features and applications.

Bhutan’s authorities announced the switch to Polygon Blockchain and its zero-knowledge protocols a month ago citing the need to improve scalability. The choice fell on Polygon’s architecture enabled by CREDEBL’s protocol layer which can support high transaction volumes and meet the need for continuous growth without compromising on performance, Druk Holding and Investments (DHI) explains in an announcement.

The government-owned company that runs the National Digital Identity project added that the shift from the Acentrid protocol layer to CREDEBL will help Bhutan embrace global open-source security standards and align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“By harnessing the advanced capabilities of Polygon, we are not only enhancing the security and scalability of our platform but also opening new doors for innovation and interoperability within the decentralized identity space,” says Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO at DHI.

During a conference in July, government agencies, corporate bodies and the private sector pitched solutions on how to improve the digital ID, including the introduction of a voice biometrics feature to serve people with visual impairment. The NDI has also been testing an improved selfie biometrics feature.

Bhutan has ambitious plans for its digital wallet, DHI’s Chief Technology Officer Jacques Von Benecke explained for Biometric Update in a previous interview. The wallet will serve as a single sign-on function for government services, enabling data exchange through proof requests and issuing verifiable credentials (VCs). It also plans to allow for complex proof requests such as know your customer (KYC) and cross-border uses.

Article Topics

Bhutan  |  Bhutan NDI  |  biometrics  |  blockchain  |  Credebl  |  digital identity  |  Digital Public Goods Alliance DPGA  |  national ID  |  self-sovereign identity