Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy

customers using Bitcoin-address login

are already enabled for purchase.

On the surface, OneName is an elegant

Bitcoin-facilitating utility, but in the

background, it is a more sophisticated

decentralized digital identity verification

system that could be extensible beyond

its initial use case. OneName helps

solve the problem that 27- through 34-

character Bitcoin addresses are (at the

expense of being cryptographically

sound) cumbersome for human users.

Some other Bitcoin wallet services and

exchanges, like Coinbase, have allowed

Bitcoin to be sent to email addresses for

some time. The OneName service is a

more secure solution. With OneName,

users can set up a more practical name

(like a social media handle) to use for

Bitcoin transactions. After a user is

registered with OneName, asking for

payment is as easy as adding a plus sign

to your username (for example,

+DeMirage99). OneName is an open

source protocol built on the Namecoin

protocol that puts users in charge of their

digital identity verification, rather than

allowing centralized social media sites

like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to

be the de facto identity verification

platform, given that many websites have

opted to authenticate users with social

media APIs. 88

A similar project is BitID, which allows

users to log in to websites with their

Bitcoin address. Instead of “Login with

Facebook,” you can “Connect with

Bitcoin” (your Bitcoin address). BitID is

a decentralized authentication protocol

that takes advantage of Bitcoin wallets

as a form of identification and QR codes

for service or platform access points. It

enables users to access an online

account by verifying themselves with

their wallet address and uses a mobile

device as the private-key authenticator. 89

Another proposed digital identity

verification business is Bithandle, which

was developed as a hackathon project.

Bithandle offers short-handle

registration, verification, and

ecommerce service. As with Onename

and BitID, users can register an easy-to-

use handle—for instance,

“Coinmaster”—that is linked to a wallet

address via a public or private real-life

identity check and a Bitcoin blockchain

transaction. The service offers ongoing

real-time digital identity verification and

one-click auto-enabled ecommerce per

“Login with Bitcoin” website access. An

obvious problem with the mainstream

adoption of Bitcoin is the unwieldy 32-

character Bitcoin address, or QR code,

needed to send and receive funds.

Instead, Bithandle gives users the ability

to link a short handle to a Bitcoin

address, which is confirmed initially

with real-life identity and looked up in

the blockchain on demand at any future

moment. Real-time digital identity

verification services could be quite

crucial; already the worldwide market

size for identity authentication and

verification is $11 billion annually.90

Specifically, how Bithandle works is

that in the digital identity registration

process, participants register a Bitcoin

username, an easy-to-use handle that can

then be used to “Login with Bitcoin” to

websites. As mentioned, this is similar

to the ability to access websites by

“Login with Facebook” or “Login with

Twitter” but automatically connects to a

user’s Bitcoin address for proof of

identity. When a user sets up a

Bithandle, his real-life identity is

confirmed with Facebook, Twitter,

LinkedIn, or other services, and this can

be posted publically (like OneName) or

not (as OneName does not allow), with

the user’s Bithandle.

Later, for real-time digital identity

verification, “Logging in with Bitcoin”

means that a Bithandle is already

connected to a Bitcoin address, which

securely facilitates ecommerce without

the user having to register an account

and provide personal identity and

financial details. Bithandle thus helps

streamline user interactions with

websites in several ways. First,

websites do not have to maintain user

account registries (“honeypot” risks for

hacking). Second, every user “Logging

in with Bitcoin” is automatically

enabled for one-click ecommerce

purchases. Third, the Bithandle service

can provide real-time blockchain

lookups to confirm user digital identity

at any future time on demand—for

example, to reauthorize a user for

subsequent purchases.

Blockchain Neutrality

Cryptography experts and blockchain

developers and architects point out the

importance of designing the blockchain

industry with some of the same

principles that have become baked in to

the Internet structure over time, like

neutrality. In the case of the Internet, net

neutrality is the principle that Internet

service providers should enable access

to all content and applications

regardless of the source and without

favoring or blocking particular products

or websites. The concept is similar for

cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin neutrality

means the ability for all persons

everywhere to be able to easily adopt

Bitcoin. This means that anyone can start

using Bitcoin, in any and every culture,

language, religion, and geography,

political system, and economic regime. 91

Bitcoin is just a currency; it can be used