Applications for blockchain technology remain diverse, with different companies coming up with impressive ideas on integrating the technology.

One novel approach comes from Spruce – a decentralized identity software firm. The company is now working on improving identity verification, and it recently got backing from the Ethereum Foundation.

Earlier this week, Spruce confirmed in a press release that it had secured a partnership with the Ethereum Foundation to help build its decentralized identity verification system. The company would work with the Ethereum Foundation (EF) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to develop a secure sign-in module built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Spruce’s network had been selected after the EF and ENS submitted requests for proposals in July. The companies had sought developers who would build a secure sign-in package using Open Authorization (OAuth) – an open standard for access delegation that is frequently used to grant websites or applications access to Intenet users’ data.

As Spruce explained, it will focus on giving users more control of their data. This way, they hope to offer an alternative to big tech companies and platforms, which are notorious for data harvesting. The company added that the EF is the perfect partner, thanks to its user base that runs into the millions. Ethereum is also the largest community of developers in the crypto space, so Spruce has many resources at its disposal with this backing.

Spruce added that it would work closely with the ENS and EF to ensure that its solution is compatible with the Ethereum blockchain’s standards. Success with their project will empower millions of Ethereum users to control their digital identities and seamlessly access the web.

The first step will be user research and building specifications drafts. Core development work is expected to begin shortly.

Identity management has become a significant focus for the blockchain space. Allowing people to seamlessly access the web while controlling their data could be one of the biggest ways that the industry disrupts traditional tech, and Ethereum has had a major role to play in that.

In July, Numio – a layer-two scaling solution, raised $1.25 million in funding to push into decentralized finance (DeFi). As part of the company’s expansion, Numio will also be building on its identity management system. The system uses zkProofs to let users verify their identities on third-party platforms without sending any identity documentation.

Numio’s authentication solution uses public-key cryptography, which is heralded as more secure than the Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) used by platforms like Authy and Google Authenticator.

Operations like these are some of the reasons why the Etheruem blockchain remains an incredibly important part of the crypto ecosystem. Ethereum’s profile has risen significantly over the last year, and there has been a lot of talk about its token – Ether – flipping Bitcoin to become the most valuable cryptocurrency.

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