The Everest Story (so far…)
Chapter 1 — Principles & Architecture
Introduction
Estonia led the way for digitizing a society…..the government did it by digitizing users’ identities for the banks, and then layering on financial services, followed by governance, health, schooling, etc. India followed suit a decade or so later with Aadhaar + India Stack, digitizing all identities and financial transactions. And although both significantly increased their economic output, they relied on central databases and control mechanisms. Imagine if we could take that blueprint to the blockchain, and give users control! Everest did that.
Without the fundamental elements of all human interaction (value exchange) crypto and blockchain communities will not be able to grow their economies. A comprehensive system with all the fundamental elements, not just a permissionless ledger & token, must be developed. The attributes of that system, like all economies, require the following:
- Identity (EverID): a multi-faceted (unique, human, ability to associate in groups, verified for regulated services, etc.), homogenized identity creation + verification service. Without the ability to tie a wallet address to an individual “real person” with attributes, meaningful commerce and the value of crypto and blockchain, (especially regulated services), will be fundamentally limited.
- Account (EverWallet): no device should be required by the user, and access is by only the user.
- Ledger (EverChain): transactions under 5 seconds for a fraction of a penny, and able to perform over 10 million transactions per minute.
- Stablecoin (CRDT): a recognized store of value that is stable over time. Pegged stablecoins are the best example to date.
- Legal (Virtual Financial Asset): a license or recognized ability to operate by powers that enforce laws, fines and jails is an absolute requirement.
- Access (ID token): APIs to the regulated financial and traditional world, and staking for said access is required.
Everest solved all of these issues, and built a platform to bring a global community into the 21st century.
Similar to a bank or nation-state like Estonia and India, Everest’s platform is anchored on verifiable identity (user-controlled, and pseudo-anonymous for legal transactions), and layered on infrastructure with accounts, transactions, programmable stablecoin, license to operate globally, and a set of APIs to interact with traditional, legacy systems (i.e. banking systems).
And like most nation-states, Everest is starting with financial services suite of applications. A user-centric, global “bank” or credit union that brings the billions in mass markets into crypto and blockchain. That is, we integrate ALL the requirements in the existing stack.
The Everest platform consists of the following six modules:
- Gateway Module: enables FI partners to quickly and seamlessly integrate Everest with their own legacy financial platforms via lightweight, secure and inexpensive APIs.
- Identity Verification: Quick and inexpensive biometric ID creation & verification with integrated KYC/AML. Any smartphone made in the past seven years (with an auto-focus camera) can create or verify a user’s identity. A user does not need any device at all if relying on an agent’s smartphone, and a host of different biometrics are possible.
- Universal Account: An account in the cloud that stores documents, identity data, access to bank accounts, currencies and investment vehicles. Also, the account provides access to the 4+ billion users who don’t have a smartphone and are often un-bankable; a user with the proverbial shirt on their back can visit an agent with a smartphone or ATM with camera, scan their face, type in their PIN and then access their account to make a withdrawal or deposit.
- eMoney: an eVoucher that functions like programmable money, or a digital gift card, with full compliance tracking and reporting — and salable globally. For example, a user can send a voucher from Europe to his mom in Mexico that can only be used to pay for utilities, or convert a national currency to/from crypto. FI partners can program their own “money” with Everest’s tools, or use Everest’s eVoucher on a co-label basis.
- Ledger Management: Tracks all inbound/outbound transactions associated with a given account, and ensures that compliance rules are satisfied for the FI and its regulators.
- Network: A network of fiat and crypto accounts in US, Europe, Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico, India, and elsewhere that enables Everest to send money cross-border in minutes and for pennies.
Registration by an agent, when the user has no device, can be seen here: ttps://youtu.be/EcuV_qpPZp0. Authentication and transaction of eMoney over the ledger can be seen here: https://youtu.be/ti_UBUOjXHc. When using fingerprints or palm-prints, Everest accommodates countries where burkas are prevalent.
Recognition:
- Visa Everywhere Initiative — Semi-finalist in two categories 2020
- Visa Fast Track — 2020
- Ethereum Foundation — 2019 grant winner (eKYC on Mainnet)
- Inclusive FinTech 50–2019 winner
- Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio — 2019 winner
- New America, Blockchain Impact Ledger — recognized in 2019
- Approved vendor list of United Nations and Asian Development Bank
Partners:
Recent Press:
- Remittances for Papua New Guinea — Kina Bank
- Digital dollar, Fed + Covid-19 wallet
- Compliance for VASPs, eKYC on Ethereum
- BRI remittance (Indonesia) partnership
- Ethereum Foundation grant for eKYC on mainnet
- ADB funding for eKYC in Samoa
- Podcast with Santa Fe Institute on eGov infrastructure
- Indonesian govt. subsidy delivery case study
- Forbes interview
