Bitfury invests in Shyft Network FATF compliance platform

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Blockchain tech company Bitfury has announced its “strategic acquisition” in Shyft Network, the decentralized credential provider specializing in compliance solutions for the blockchain sector.

In a statement, the Bitfury Group confirmed it’s backing the development of Shyft Network’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel compliance offering.

Neither Bitfury nor Shyft has disclosed the transaction’s value, though the announcement confirms that the deal has been concluded.

The FATF issued guidance for cryptocurrency exchanges in June, which imposes significant new hurdles on managing, controlling, and sharing customer data. Their compliance product aims to help meet these benchmarks in exchanging data over the blockchain, such as between different cryptocurrency exchanges.

The acquisition comes after a busy year in development for the Shyft Network, which has brought on two former FATF executives to staff to advise on the product. To date, Shyft Network claims to have built partnerships with as many as 20 different operators.

Alongside the acquisition, two Bitfury subsidiaries will be joining the network–Exonum and on-chain analysis company Crystal.

Notably, two of the firms thought to have been specific targets of the FATF guidelines, Binance and Bitfinex, are not yet confirmed as partners to the network. However, Shyft co-founder Joseph Weinberg suggested that several exchanges are already working with the network to help develop the compliance platform.

We’re actively working on pre-integration testing with our exchange partners, and aiming for release of the Travel Rule solution during [first quarter] 2020.

The acquisition will also allow Shyft to build its other flagship development, a digital identity platform targeted at governments, including a solution being built for the government in Bermuda.

Weinberg said Shyft was already working with several other governments around the world to leverage the benefits of the technology.

“We have been working with several African, and western countries [that] are looking to adopt the identity platform for different use cases in 2020,” he said.

The product will launch alongside Shyft’s mainnet in early 2020.