Blockpass launches Token Distribution Event

Blockpass, the blockchain-based identity application which gives users total control over their own personal data, is pleased to announce that it has today launched its Initial Token Distribution Event (“TDE”) through the sale of tokens (“PASS tokens”) which will be available for purchase from official distributors from 31st May 2018 until 30th November 2018.

 

• Blockpass is an identity application for regulated services and the Internet of Things (IoT). As a self-sovereign identity platform, users can establish, verify, store and manage their identities, maintaining full control over all data involved.


• With an initial focus on human identity, Blockpass will provide a reliable and cost-effective Know-Your-Customer (“KYC”) and Anti-Money-Laundering (“AML”) service for regulated industries, blockchain merchants and service providers.


• Available on iOS and Android, the Blockpass app is consumer-oriented and will enable users to create a new account (profile), submit documents for verification, submit their digital identity to service providers to pass KYC, log in to Blockpass-enabled services, sign crypto-asset transactions, and access third-party decentralized applications (“Dapps”).


• Blockpass has published its White Paper which can be found on the Company’s website at https://www.blockpass.org/token


• The PASS token will be an ERC20-based token


• Blockpass will issue a finite number of 1 billion PASS tokens of which 250 million PASS tokens will be available for purchase during the Initial TDE from authorised distributors


• The PASS tokens available at the Initial TDE will be priced at 0.08 Euro per PASS token

Adam Vaziri, CEO of Blockpass, said: “Blockpass provides an exciting, easy to use, identity verification solution to the proliferating and serious security challenges created by the fast-evolving digital age. By turning personal validation data into an anonymous cryptographic code that is whitelisted on the blockchain, Blockpass gives users back control over their own identities and eliminates the need for painful online validation processes. Businesses will benefit from vastly reduced KYC/AML costs and will no longer have the liability of protecting vast amounts of sensitive personal data in an age of GDPR.

Today represents an exciting milestone for Blockpass as it will allow us to accelerate the development of a differentiated offering that will bring transparency and trust to the blockchain ecosystem where we are already established with a dozen leading suppliers and partner companies. We have an experienced management team with a clear revenue model and strategy for growth and a first mover, patented advantage in the growing regtech market which is expected to reach $118.7 billion USD by 2020. The funds generated from the PASS tokens accelerate awareness through branding and marketing and the tokens themselves will be used to encourage utilisation. Holders of the PASS tokens will also participate in the growing value of Blockpass.

We have numerous opportunities for growth but are prioritising crypto offerings and financial services where the need for identity validation is particularly acute.”

Blockpass
Adam Vaziri, CEO
Hans Lombardo, CMO
Tel: +852 9688 1719
[email protected]

Buchanan (UK Financial PR)
Alex Brown / Chris Lane / Jamie Hooper / Olivia Montefiore-Vita
Tel: +44 (0)20 7466 5000
[email protected]

The Blockpass Human Identity Solution
Blockpass manifests itself as a user-centric and self-sovereign identity application for regulated services and the Internet of Things. Blockpass offers a next-generation, effective identity creation and storage protocol.

Blockpass is built with self-sovereignty in mind:
Blockpass starts from the premise that users need to hold and control their own identifying data - not third parties. So, in Blockpass, online identity data belongs to, and is entirely controlled by, the user. Blockpass does not retain any user data, nor is any raw user data stored on any blockchain - only hashes. Users choose what credentials they want to have verified and signed (such as a proof of address or a government-issued piece of ID), decide where that data is stored (such as on their device or in the cloud), and control who may see it.

Blockpass digital identities have a high degree of utility:
As an owner of a Blockpass verified identity, you gain access to a growing ecosystem of Web 3.0 service providers that have chosen to accept Blockpass identities as KYC. For businesses, Blockpass can be seen as a shared KYC platform, where a pool of pre-verified users is shared between businesses thus reducing the cost and time of onboarding new customers.

Blockpass digital identities are underpinned by their reusability:
With a Blockpass identity application, the user keeps all their digital KYC in a single place, which they have at their fingertips at any time. Once the user’s credentials have been verified and signed, they may re-use them quickly and simply with any number of services. When a user joins a new regulated service, if their Blockpass identity application is configured, they can prove their identity extremely quickly.

Blockpass offers an onchain identity solution that is easy to combine with other decentralized technologies or processes:
Blockpass offers an onchain, immediately available, verified digital identity. For a transaction to be compliant in regulators’ eyes, both transacting parties need to prove the transaction was personally authenticated. With Blockpass, users can transparently sign transactions and Dapp accounts with their compliant digital identity, meaning that buyers and sellers will be able to safely and compliantly complete transactions and that Dapps will seamlessly meet the basic verification requirements for the services they provide. Furthermore, this setup enables the generation of multi-signature smart contracts that require personal authentication with the Blockpass tool.

Blockpass meets GDPR requirements:
On 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) went into effect in the European Union. As a user-centric identity application, Blockpass meets GDPR requirements. Blockpass and its suite of products are perfectly situated to enable blockchain business operations in the second largest economy in the world, in addition to other regions.

Benefits for Businesses and Individuals

Businesses
A comprehensive identity verification portal for quick and easy user onboarding for regulated industries.

1. Rapid User Onboarding: The use of blockchain technology and smart contracts eliminates tedious KYC & AML compliance procedures by reducing sign up friction and increasing conversions.
   2. Low Cost Pre-verified Compliance: With shared regulatory and compliance services, it becomes possible to onboard users without expensive and duplicative identity verification of the same user multiple times across different services.
   3. New Application Potential: A modernized compliance protocol will enable new levels of efficiency and application possibilities for blockchain, fintech, and traditional institutions.

Individuals
A faster, safer, easier way to access regulated industries.

1. Speedy Gateway to Compliant Services: Blockpass provides a secure and rapid gateway to access ICOs, exchanges, and other regulated services without the need to complete redundant compliance requirements.
   2. Own your own Data: Blockpass is a self-sovereign identity verification service that only stores a cryptographic representation of your verified identity on a blockchain whitelist. Your data is stored on your mobile device and shared only with those who you choose.
   3. Shared Identity Whitelist: The end of multiple KYC identity checks. Blockpass enables users to get approved and whitelisted once for near immediate access to multiple merchants and service providers.

Market Drivers
Self-sovereignty is something people want:

In a study carried out by the Pew Research Centre, 91% of respondents agreed that consumers have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by companies. Decentralized KYC gives users full-control over their data, and this is something people want and are willing to pay for.

Decentralized KYC means more cost-efficiency for businesses:
KYC solutions are prohibitively expensive. In a report, Consult Hyperion estimated that a KYC check can cost 10 to 100 GBP (11 to 114 euros) per customer. In the most extreme example, Thomson-Reuters found that some firms were spending up to 500 million USD (400 million euros) on KYC compliance and customer due diligence. Simply by eliminating data storage costs, decentralized KYC can prove to be cost-efficient to businesses.

Decentralization fosters a better user experience:
Centralized data storage means that a KYC check likely only applies to a single onboarding process. Decentralized data storage enables the possibility of a universal identity gateway. With the Blockpass Identity application, the user keeps all their digital KYC in a single place - on their personal device - which they have at their fingertips at any time. Once the user’s credentials have been verified and signed, they may re-use them quickly and simply with any number of services. When a user joins a new regulated service, if their Blockpass identity application is configured, they can prove their identity extremely quickly.

Web 3.0 developers demand decentralized KYC for their products:
Current online identity services cannot support the burgeoning development of Dapps and crypto-assets. KYC solutions that operate off-chain cannot reconcile users’ digital identities with decentralized applications. Blockchain Dapps currently lack regtech solutions that would enable compliant and secure services. For Dapps to reach their full potential - to be compatible with regulated transactions - they require a method to verify user identities.

Crypto-asset transactions require onchain KYC:
Security tokens, which are currently being issued as ‘meta’ tokens on Ethereum, Neo, and other networks, require KYC of the issuer, sender, and receiver of the asset. Transactions of the assets should be irreversible from a legal and non-technical point of view, which is only possible by proving that the counterparty actually signed a transfer with Blockpass. Additional AML laws are increasingly being enforced for crypto transactions.

Using the Blockpass Identity to Access Services
Within the application, services can be found in the “Services” menu. Services that are listed on the app are listed according to the amount of KYC that is required for user onboarding. Services for which the user has provided enough information to onboard are listed first, while ones for which the user must provide more information are listed later.

Alternatively, services can be accessed through the use of a QR code. Upon scanning a code, Blockpass prompts the user to submit the necessary profile information to access that service.

Service providers may perform additional verification checks before onboarding the user. In some cases, the service provider can issue certificates that the user can choose to add to their profile.

Blockpass Identity Backup and Recovery
It is possible for Blockpass users to backup their identity. As Blockpass is a user-centric solution, the backup process can only be initiated manually - at the request of the user. Backups contain all user-generated content, certificates, and the local key. The backup manifests itself as a binary file, which is encrypted with a password. In version one of the Blockpass user app, users may send the backup file to their email. Other destinations will be integrated in future releases. When a user wishes to recover their identity, they port it into the app that is downloaded to their app by connecting the email address that holds the backup file and entering a pin.