Microsoft ION Switches to Bitcoin Main Network

Microsoft ION is moving to the Bitcoin main network. The decentralized identity tool called ION is being moved to the Bitcoin main network for general beta testing.

What Do Decentralized identifiers Mean?

Decentralized identity tools create cryptographically verifiable identifiers, creating more ownership of a person's digital identity information. Users can both secure their own information and authenticate others using the public key infrastructure. However, trust in big technology companies such as Facebook and Google can be limited. The industry consortium, which aims to establish technical standards for Microsoft's decentralized identity systems called ION, was developed with the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF). Microsoft first announced that it will run ION on the Bitcoin network in 2019. What Does Microsoft ION Mean? ION is defined as a decentralized network developed to operate independently of Microsoft. ION does not have its own validator nodes or consensus mechanisms that completely rely on Bitcoin's blockchain network to validate Processors. It had been CoinDesk that first reported the beta version of ion. In a statement released by Microsoft, BitPay wrote to Gemini and others plus the Bitcoin initiative Casa, which will run the nodes and provide feedback to the beta period, “to the next list of collaborators.”