Blockchain
MIAMI BEACH, Florida — TBD, a division of Jack Dorsey’s financial technology company Block (SQ), has launched a new open-source toolkit for its Web5 project, designed to make it easier for developers to create decentralized Internet applications.
The collection of technologies includes proprietary, tamper-resistant identifiers similar to email addresses or usernames called decentralized identifiers (DIDs); secure digital certificates called Authenticated Credentials (VCs) that provide legal proof of things like name, age, and ownership of assets; and decentralized web nodes (DWNs) that store data in a decentralized manner.
The full Web5 platform is expected to launch later in 2023, but this first release will allow developers to start building decentralized applications on TBD’s developer platform.
“We are now at Bitcoin Miami. I’m here because I think Bitcoin is one of those open protocols for freedom,” said Mike Brock, general manager of TBD at Block. “And I think that’s what Web5 is, too.”
One of the first applications TBD will launch on their Web5 platform is a remittance app for Africa and Mexico that uses bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins as payment rails. The app will be based on another TBD open source project called TBDex – a liquidity discovery and asset exchange protocol.
“We think remittances are probably the closest we can get to a killer app for bitcoin and stablecoins in the near term,” Brock said. “The international remittance market is a mess.”
Unveiling Web5 in June 2022, Block describes the project as “a group of technologies that enhance the web with decentralized identity, personal data storage, and verifiable data-sharing capabilities.”