DIF taking over TBD’s decentralized digital identity developer tools as Block shutters subsidiary

Block is handing off the open-source components it developed for decentralized digital identity to the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) in the wake of closing its subsidiary TBD.

Open source repositories for decentralized identity code, including the did:dht DID method, verifiable credentials (VCs) and decentralized web nodes will now reside in DIF’s ecosystem, according to the announcement. Block says did:dht is among the most mature and feature-rich DID methods developed, and is on its way toward being formally recognized as a technical standard.

“We are honored to provide a home for these technologies, which are rapidly becoming the backbone of new decentralized applications,” says Kim Hamilton Duffy, executive director of DIF. “As a non-profit foundation committed to decentralized identity, DIF can ensure longevity of these components in a transparent, community-led environment.”

Placing the tools within DIF’s ecosystem may give them a longer runway to entice adoption of its “open source developer platform and infrastructure” for decentralized ID.

TBD was also among the many winners announced in the DIF 2024 Hackathon, for projects involving known customer credentials and DIDs for hotels.

“Within our emerging initiatives, we are refining our investments based on our progress,” Block said in a shareholder letter dated November 7. “We are scaling back our investment in TIDAL and winding down TBD. This gives us room to invest in our bitcoin mining initiative, which has strong product market fit and a healthy pipeline of demand, and Bitkey, our self-custody wallet for bitcoin.”

The company declined to elaborate on its participation in mDL initiatives with California and NIST or factors in the decentralized digital identity market in an email to Biometric Update.

Article Topics

Block  |  decentralized ID  |  Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF)  |  digital identity  |  open source  |  TBD