Coinbase launches KYC service on Base

Coinbase launched its Verifications platform Thursday, bringing know-your-customer policies on-chain. 

The exchange said launching identity verification on the chain protocol level increases security and transparency, providing a solution to common challenges associated with typical KYC methods. 

“Built on the [Ethereum Attestation Service’s] open standard, our verifications are public and composable,” Coinbase Cloud, the company’s blockchain infrastructure arm, wrote on X. 

Ethereum Attestation Service is a base layer where users can make declarations and add virtual signatures to information. 

“EAS enables anyone to make attestations on chain or off chain about anything,” the service’s website reads. “You simply register a schema (or use an existing one) about any topic and make attestations referencing that schema.”

Coinbase Verifications, built on Coinbase’s layer-2 Base, already has about 9,300 attestations from users, according to data from analytics firm Dune. The service is expected to help particularly with Sybil attacks, which is when hackers use a single node to create many fake identities. 

The service is the next step toward “using open source, public good infrastructure to enable the next billion users to come on-chain,” said Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base.

The move marks Coinbase’s entry into the decentralized identity game. Proof of Humanity, a verification protocol where users can submit social and video proof of their identities, emerged as a leader in the space when it launched on Ethereum-built application Kleros in 2021. 

Read more from our opinion section: Made by humans but governed by code?

“In our digital interactions, we cannot know who is sitting on the other side of the screen,” the Kleros team said at time of launch. This enables AI manipulation through impersonation and the spread of misinformation by bad actors.

Coinbase’s announcement comes as Coinbase shares begin to par gains after an explosive week. The stock was trading down a little less than 1% Friday after gaining as much as 6% during Thursday’s trading session. 

Still, Coinbase (COIN) remains up close to 7% over the past five trading days and is in the green more than 175% since the start of the year. 

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