Bitcoin.com and Concordium Collaborate to Enable Age-Verified Crypto Payments

Crypto media and wallet platform Bitcoin.com has teamed up with Concordium, a privacy-focused layer-1 blockchain, to introduce age-verified stablecoin payments across over 75 million wallets on the Bitcoin.com network. This integration, announced on Thursday, allows users to confirm their age or jurisdiction without sharing personal information.

Key Takeaways

Bitcoin.com has partnered with Concordium to enable age-verified stablecoin payments.
This integration allows users to verify identity attributes without disclosing personal details.
Off-chain verification using third parties ensures privacy, while zero-knowledge proof technology handles compliance.
The partnership addresses new regulatory requirements for age verification in Europe and the US.
Effective verification is necessary for stablecoins to become a mainstream payment option.

Bitcoin.com, Concordium partner on age-verified crypto payments

Verification is conducted off-chain by independent third-party providers, ensuring that personal data isn’t stored on the blockchain. Each transaction uses zero-knowledge proof technology, allowing for compliance verification while preserving user privacy.

Corbin Fraser, the CEO of Bitcoin.com, emphasized that this capability to facilitate age-verified payments addresses the need for a balance between user anonymity and regulatory adherence, which is crucial for the growth of the crypto sector.

The alliance responds to new safety and age-verification laws in various parts of Europe and the United States. In the UK, the government has noted that around five million online age checks are executed daily due to new regulations.

Both companies acknowledged that the lack of effective verification mechanisms has hindered the stablecoin sector's ability to become a widely accepted payment method.

The value of stablecoins in circulation has surpassed $300 billion; however, limitations to their adoption persist. Source: DefiLlama

The Growing Need for Stronger Verification Standards in Stablecoins

As cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow, especially in the stablecoin sector, industry analysts argue for stronger verification standards. Stablecoins now handle more annual transactions than both Visa and Mastercard combined.

The urgency for new standards increases as institutional investments move on-chain. As reported by Cointelegraph, competition in the corporate stablecoin arena is heating up, with major players like Citigroup and Western Union entering the market.

On the retail front, interest is also rising, especially in emerging markets where stablecoins provide quicker transaction times and shield against local currency inflation. For instance, Nigerian fintech company Flutterwave has recently partnered with Polygon Labs to establish a stablecoin-based cross-border payments network across 34 African nations.

Related: Concordium launches app for anonymous online age checks amid UK regulatory challenges