Why idOS?

Better for users, essential for the onchain economy

Because it is better for users

Self-custody of data puts user in control of what is stored and who has access to their data. In the internet, users' data for almost all applications is currently centrally held, siloed and retracted from any oversight. Duplicating sensitive user data to store them in central honeypots where they rot away is a big liability and it's bad for business, let a lone the users.

Because it is better for businesses

The onchain economy is finally starting to take off. Stabletoken infrastructure is the next frontier to bring user onchain. Nearly half a billion users are using crypto today, but are they onchain? Our thesis is that we need to solve the most pressing and hardest problem first for the industry to finally switch the equilibrium to adopt decentralized identity. That problem is KYC-resharing.

Centralized data/user onboarding flows also means walled gardens and platform risks. Permissionless infrastructure is the anditode that allow an open source, composable ecosystem to thrive. Applying this concept to user data is necessary to equip builders with the same convenient user flow, with the same high level of compliance to simply connect modules. That is why we built idOS to satisfy financial market and data privacy regulations, so that businesses can actually use it.

Because we need human-centered systems on the internet

There is no second life, but one life that is more and more online. We do not have the notion of being a human online. That quality should not depend on a network of friends, the distinct quality of being human should be enough. That is why we enable decentralized easily accessible biometric systems for uniqueness. We need accountability if we want to build systems for everyday use. We need to be able to distinguish between artificial intelligence and a human being. And we need governance system that put humans at it's center.

Because a data settlement layer is needed for composability

In 2025 we still don't have a decentralized identity system and is not for the lack of trying. Decentralized identity only works if all parts and stakeholders come together and it is impossible to build as a standalone effort. idOS is an effort of radical cooperation even on core levels across the idOS Consortium partners. idOS aims to become the storage and access management layer across the internet.

We are inviting the whole industry to add applications that everyone can use, like zkProofs, permissionless biometric systems, create more sophisticated role systems for access management and great dashboards for users and businesses. Let's stop working in isolation and build a better stack together.

Because we mean it

idOS was founded by individuals that have been in the web3 identity space since 2017. Our mission has always been to help actual business onboard actual users. We held ourselves accountable to not just build infrastructure, but actual products people could use today to nudge forward towards decentralized, self-sovereign identity. We have learned, sometimes the hard way, what works and what doesn't work. We became uncompromising when we saw that a gentle nudge isn't enough to push data in self-custody and keep data secure.

It is time to demand that individuals own and manage their data in a self-custodial way, but at the same time enabling actual usage in today's world, in compliance with existing regulations. We are not here to compete with other decentralize identity or data privacy solutions, but rather to act like an open-source secure decentralized storage layer where existing solutions can be integrated in a composable way. We really care, not just theoretically, but very practically, today.

We are collaboration maximalists

We will all have less if we don't collaborate. That is true for the general web3 industry, but even more so for decentralized identity adoption. This is what drives us:

1. Chain-agnostic: Go where users are today. Built collaboratively with leading ecosystems and web3 players, idOS supports users and applications across multiple chains, enabling seamless integration and 'user-liquidity' across web3 ecosystems, with no need to install additional software like ID wallets or browser extensions.
2. Build a real product that is needed today: We embed compliance deeply into the idOS because we want to build products that people can use today. The worst products are those that come with big hubris and little adoption. We want to change things that don't make sense from within. As a result, idOS is compliant with major data regulatory regimes such as GDPR, and works for financial use cases that require guaranteed data access for a set period of time. idOS allows regulated entities to request time locked access grants, while enforcing user deletion rights via its proof-of-state consensus. Additionally, idOS enables re-usability of credentials across multiple entities for highly-regulated use cases (e.g. KYC), using pioneering approaches like Passporting and Data ingestion.
3. Self-sovereign: idOS empowers users with control over their encrypted data, letting them decide who can access it and revoke access at will.

4. Decentralized: The idOS decentralized storage network is hosted by several node operators and no single party has access to decrypted user data. Progressively decentralizing the network is a key priority for idOS, and it requites to balance data security needs accordingly. idOS is open-source and all code repositories can be found in our GitHub.