Introducing the idOS Consortium Partners and our $4.5m Funding Round

Today, we announce a $4.5m Consortium Funding Round for idOS — the identity layer of web3. idOS is a decentralized data storage and access management protocol. The idOS enables the consortium partners to provide an identity layer to dApps to solve compliant user onboarding and significantly reduce friction. For users, idOS provides control over their data and the ability to decide with whom they share it. The idOS is specifically designed to unlock OpenFi use cases that embed DeFi rails into real world financial products like self-custodial debit cards and bank accounts.

The idOS Consortium Round is led by Fabric Ventures, and includes eight leading strategic partners investing in idOS, with most of them also signing commercial deals. These backers are Arbitrum Foundation, Circle (through its affiliate Circle Ventures), Ripple, NEAR Foundation, Gnosis, Aleph Zero Foundation, Radix and the Tezos Foundation (Etherlink).

“As a thesis-driven VC, we have been advocating for Open Finance (OpenFi) infrastructure as a key driver of web3 adoption since 2017. Compliant decentralized identity systems are a core missing piece to enable DeFi to tap into everyday use cases, allowing users to manage their data and assets in a self-custodial way, also in the real world. We are excited to see leading ecosystems such as NEAR Foundation, Gnosis, Arbitrum Foundation and the Tezos Foundation, as well as organizations like Ripple and Circle investing in idOS and in most cases also signing commercial deals to become the decentralized identity layer of web3.”, says Anil Hansjee, GP of Fabric Ventures.

Why the idOS and Decentralized Identity are Needed in Web3

Web3 users and dApps deserve a better digital identity system. The Ethereum whitepaper in 2014 already mentions decentralized identity as a key fundamental of the open web. However, despite many industry efforts, in 2024 we still don’t have substantial adoption of decentralized identity systems.

“We are grateful that so many industry leaders came together to build on and with the idOS to finally make decentralized identity available.” says Julian Leitloff, Co-founder of idOS, “It is a commitment to their users to make self-sovereign data a reality and to their dApps to provide a missing module for a problem that has been plaguing us all”.

Unlike past approaches that relied on identity wallets, idOS stores user-encrypted data in a privacy-compliant decentralized storage layer based on the Kwil relational database framework. The advantages are data availability guarantees and composability. The idOS ability to store verifiable credentials compared to direct onchain attestations means that it can be used even for obligated entities that need to prove the ability to retrieve the actual underlying data. Additionally, it allows data privacy applications to use the idOS as the basis to create zero-knowledge proofs or only partially selectively-disclose information via the upcoming idOS and Aleph Zero’s ZK-ID.

Nicolas Streschinsky, Head of DeFi at Trilitech adds: “idOS enables a user who has completed KYC for Platform X to potentially reuse that same KYC to use permissioned components of Platform Y. This could turbo-charge composability for on-chain financial applications.”

idOS is live today and leveraged by identity verification providers. Fractal ID has already successfully issued credentials to +3,000 users in idOS and other providers such as Instapass and Netki are integrating their verification solutions. These and future providers will issue verifiable credentials that users can encrypt and store in their idOS profiles. These credentials can be reused multiple times across different applications.

“Fractal ID is proud to become the first verifier to write credentials to idOS”, said Anna Bikmetova, MD of Fractal ID. “By leveraging idOS, we are not only ensuring a seamless and secure onboarding process but also fostering a more decentralized and user-centric digital ecosystem. We are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation, setting new standards for the industry and driving the future of decentralized identity”.

Introducing the idOS Consortium

The idOS Consortium is a joint effort between leading web3 ecosystems and infrastructure providers to build the idOS — the identity layer of web3. All idOS Consortium members are building key infrastructure elements of the idOS, or integrating and enabling use cases for dApps in their ecosystem. idOS Consortium members are supporting to shape the idOS, its infrastructure and its governance in the early stages of development on the way to progressive decentralization.

“We are excited to see the launch of idOS in the NEAR ecosystem. A robust decentralized identity framework is an essential component of an Open Web and User Owned AI. By leveraging chain signatures, idOS is making this framework available not just to the millions of users in the NEAR ecosystem but also beyond to users across web3” says Chris Donovan, COO of NEAR Foundation.

“Radix believes deeply that decentralized identity goes hand in hand with truly open, decentralized finance — especially as it rapidly matures beyond the initial experimental phase. idOS is a brilliant platform to share identity credentials across ecosystems that will fit beautifully with Radix’s unique integrated network and wallet identity features. I think of it like “identity bridging” that doesn’t constrain what each network can offer uniquely”, says Matthew Hine, CPO of RDX Works.

OpenFi as the Main Force for Mainstream Web3 Adoption

idOS aims to open up DeFi to the real world by enabling everyday use cases that rely on decentralized, permissionless and more efficient web3 infrastructure. We call this OpenFi: Programmable Money for Everyday Use.

‘Interoperability’ has been one of the main buzzwords in web3 for years. Cross-chain infrastructure solutions to bridge and swap digital assets are key to aggregate liquidity across L1s/L2s and improve UX in web3. However, bringing DeFi liquidity to the real world remains a key challenge. OpenFi infrastructure, such as self-custodial wallets, crypto-fiat payment rails, and decentralized identity solutions enable DeFi users to truly own their assets and use them in the real world.

“One of the remaining challenges for DeFi to tap real-world use cases is the absence of a compliant, privacy-preserving decentralized identity layer. DeFi’s composability makes its infrastructure likely to become standard beyond web3. Achieving this requires adopting an equally composable decentralized identity layer like idOS”, adds Antoni Zolciak, Co-Founder of Aleph Zero and Common

Future Direction: Building the Identity Layer of the Internet

While OpenFi remains a strong initial focus, idOS aims to allow individuals to manage their own data in a privacy-preserving way and organizations to consume their users data in an efficient and compliant manner. Use cases like decentralized CRMs, content authentication, sybyl-resistant voting and portable social/professional profiles remain key challenges in the web.

“To make it clear: We are not here to compete with other teams building in the identity space, but we rather want to collaborate with everyone.” says idOS Co-Founder Lluis Bardet, “We want this round to be the bat signal to rally and finally build an open identity system the way it’s supposed to be”.