Buenos Aires issues blockchain ID to 3.6 million residents

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Argentina has been setting the pace in Latin America with digital asset adoption for years and ranks in the top 20 markets globally. The country’s capital, Buenos Aires, is looking beyond digital assets and onto the blockchain, recently rolling out a decentralized digital identity for over 3.5 million residents.

This week, the city of Buenos Aires announced the integration of a decentralized identity (DID) solution into miBA, the government app that allows residents to manage their data, transact, access personal documents, and verify their identity. According to the announcement, the integration was at the start of the month, issuing DIDs to the 3.6 million users of miBA.

Decentralized identities have become increasingly popular as more people seek greater control over their digital presence. However, so far, they have been a preserve of the private sector, where industry leaders like nChain have pioneered innovative DID products that are secure, private, and verifiable. 

Some cities have experimented with blockchain IDs; in Switzerland, Zug first issued DIDs in 2017, while in the U.S., the Texan city of Austin has been using DIDs to help the homeless access government and health services. However, these initiatives have been limited to a few thousand people in a controlled and closed ecosystem.

Buenos Aires is going big. The new system, dubbed QuarkID, will be accessible to millions and cover over 60 documents—from birth certificates and driver’s licenses to tax documents—on the miBA app. For the end user, nothing will change in how they access the app. However, blockchain will power the app under the hood and offer residents greater control over their identity. 

According to ZKSync, the company whose technology the new solution runs, residents can now share and verify their identities and other credentials peer-to-peer without involving any third parties, including the government. It also allows users to share their identities with other digital applications, from banking to social media, without involving the government. 

Jorge Macri, the Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, described the integration as “an unprecedented milestone” for the capital: “Adopting new technologies that simplify citizens’ processes and grant them full control over their information is a fundamental step to continue offering more secure and transparent digital solutions.”

One key feature of the Buenos Aires DIDs is the use of zero-knowledge proofs. These allow users to only reveal the information they need while keeping everything else private. For instance, users can prove their age when purchasing an age-restricted product without revealing their names and addresses.

“By giving residents control over their identities, we’re not only improving privacy and security, but we’re also setting the foundation for a future where personal data ownership is a basic right, protected by advanced zero-knowledge-based cryptographic proofs,” commented Diego Fernández, the city’s Secretary of Innovation and Digital Transformation.

Indonesia extends exchange registration deadlines

In Indonesia, the country’s commodities watchdog has extended the digital asset exchange licensing deadline to next month. The Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, known locally as Bappebti, announced that the deadline for exchanges to register as Physical Crypto Asset Traders is now November 30. 

The announcement follows the publishing of Regulation No. 9 of 2024, which requires exchanges to implement Know Your Transaction (KYT) protocols and integrate the travel rule for non-individual clients. It also mandates exchanges to establish agreements with the Ministry of Home Affairs on data verification processes.

Bappebti has been overseeing exchanges since 2019 when it introduced the first framework for the sector. However, last year, it launched the world’s first national bourse for digital assets, known as the Commodity Future Exchange (CFX). In its most recent announcement, it reminded exchanges that receive licenses that they must register with the bourse within seven days of license receipt or face revocation.

So far, only six exchanges have received licenses under the new regime. In total, 35 exchanges have applied for the license; all the unlicensed applicants are currently categorized as “prospective crypto exchanges” and can serve clients as they await the license.

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest digital asset markets, ranking seventh for adoption, according to Chainalysis. Bappebti revealed that Indonesians have transacted $27.3 billion year-to-date, a significant increase year-on-year. Official data shows that there were 20 million digital asset traders in the country as of May, significantly higher than the 12 million stock traders.

Watch: Securing personal information with blockchain identity system