Blockchain Digital Identity Card Secures $1.5M

The blockchain can be used for more than just bitcoin, at least that is what digital identification protection startup ShoCard is out to prove.

The company recently raised $1.5 million in funding from Morado Ventures Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, Enspire Capital and Digital Currency Group for its digital identity card that can be used through a mobile app, TechCrunch reported Friday (July 17).

ShoCard allows users to certify and store identification documents directly into the blockchain, enabling the retrieval of them later whenever a user needs to provide proof of identification. While there are various use cases for the technology, ShoCard chose to go with the B2B track first through the bank and credit card identification process.

“A lot of companies are looking at the blockchain for things other than bitcoin. We’ve created a digital identity card that is as easy to use as a driver’s license, but it’s so secure that a bank can rely on it,” Cofounder Jeff Weitzman told TechCrunch.

When a ShoCard is created, users can scan and sign identity documents; the mobile app will then seal that record by generating a private and public key. The record is encrypted and hashed before being sent to a network running bitcoin software.

The latest funding will be used to grow ShoCard’s team of employees as well as pursue additional partnerships by signing deals with banks and institutions relying on sensitive data.

In a recent New York Times article, entrepreneurs explained how they are using the blockchain to transfer lots of sensitive “cargo,” including sensitive data such as contracts, wills, licenses, patents and essentially anything that needs a third-party authorization.

“There’s a race going on to extend the blockchain’s capabilities,” Adam Ludwin, a cofounder of Chain.com, a startup looking to help developers build bitcoin applications, told NYT.

The blockchain has also been getting the attention of investors who see the value of the technology.

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