The Linux Foundation announced today that it will start the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF), which will be “a new collaborative effort to develop open source software to support interoperability for a wide range of wallet use cases.”
The Linux Foundation announced in a news release on Tuesday that the program has already gained backing from a number of technology firms, including Accenture, Avast, and the Open Identity Exchange, as well as standards bodies and members of the public sector.
Instead of making digital wallets, the effort will focus on making an open-source software engine that other groups and companies can use to make their own digital wallets. The idea is that wallets made under the OWF will support a wide range of use cases, such as verifying identity, making payments, and managing digital keys.
Among the possible uses are crypto wallets, which are now a part of the digital economy as a whole.
“The OWF intends to enable many use cases where digital credentials and digital assets can be stored and easily accessed by users. One potential use case could include a cryptocurrency, but that will not be the only use case that could be addressed by the OWF open source engine,” Dan Whiting, Director for Media Relations and Communications at the Linux Foundation, told.
The Linux Foundation, which has been around since 2000, is the world’s best place to work together on open-source software, hardware, standards, and data. The Foundation backs projects like Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, and Hyperledger, which is a blockchain initiative for businesses.
“With the OpenWallet Foundation, we push for a plurality of wallets based on a common core. I couldn’t be happier with the support this initiative has received already and the home it found at the Linux Foundation,” Daniel Goldscheider, CEO of open banking startup Yes.com who started the initiative, said in a statement.
The Linux Foundation said that the OWF won’t be putting out its own wallet, offering credentials, or making any new standards.
PayPal, Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, and Block’s Bitcoin-friendly Cash App are some of the most popular digital wallets on the market right now.
The industry, on the other hand, has grown beyond payments and now often replaces things that people might keep in their physical wallets.
An illustration of this is Diia, a mobile app and web platform that enables Ukrainian individuals to use digital documents on their smartphones rather than real ones for sharing and identification. More than 50 governmental services are also accessible through Diia, and the government eventually wants to make all manner of state-person interactions accessible through the app.
Drivers in the US now store their licenses digitally on their iPhones thanks to Apple.
“Universal digital wallet infrastructure will create the ability to carry tokenized identity, money, and objects from place to place in the digital world,” claims David Treat, who oversees Accenture’s metaverse and blockchain projects.
“Massive business-model change is coming, and the winning digital business will be the one that earns trust to directly access the real data in our wallets to create much better digital experiences,” added Treat.
Leave this field empty if you're human:
