The makers of mobile-based cryptocurrency Electroneum (ETN) announced today that theirs will be the first fully Know Your Customer (KYC) compliant cryptocurrency in the world.

Electronuem’s business strategy has served them well in the past, allowing them to tap into a market of millions in underdeveloped countries by going entirely mobile phone based. The company states on its website that their goal is to connect underserved populations who don’t have access to banks with a means of currency.

There are roughly 350 million smartphone users in the world, representing a massive market that the company claims on its website will enable a 3 trillion dollar marketplace.

#ETN is now the WORLD’S FIRST KYC-compliant #cryptocurrency. Check out FinTech Finance’s write up of the news here: https://t.co/n1k1hEsrpb — electroneum (@electroneum) October 4, 2018

The makers of Electroneum have partnered with London-based app maker Yoti’s digital identity authentication tool to carry out their venture into full KYC compliance.

What is KYC?

KYC is especially important in the crypto world to combat claims of lax security and user anonymity connected with digital currencies. People want to know who they’re sending their money to, and that it’s being used for the intended purpose. One of the most common arguments for KYC is that these regulations make it harder to finance terrorism and other illicit activities.

KYC commonly involves collecting information from customers that use a service like their name, address, citizenship, date of birth, and a government-issued ID. The process is similar to the application for a U.S. passport and is designed to form a complete picture of a person that’s hard to fake.

How will Electroneum use it?

According to the publication FinTech Finance, Yoti will partner with Electroneum’s developers to create an app-based KYC protocol users can follow when sending or receiving ETN from their mobile wallets. Richard Ells, founder and CEO of Electroneum, said in an interview that:

“This will help us evolve from a cryptocurrency into a recognized means of digital payment like PayPal or Apple Pay, which will enable us to help our core market: smartphone users in developing and emerging countries.”

Electroneum claims that Yoti’s protocol will let users verify their identity in seconds, much like the partnership Brave Software recently integrated into its browser for its verified publisher service.

According to Tom White of Yoti, users will only need to create their Yoti profile one time, after which it can be used to repeatedly confirm their identity “in seconds” any time it’s needed.

KYC technology will most likely be on the rise in the cryptocurrency space, especially as both state and federal regulators ramp up their efforts to crack down on fraud and shut down the companies responsible. Security has also been a very tall hurdle to crypto’s mainstream adoption that KYC tech, especially solutions that are fast and easy to use, could help to leap.

ETN users are required to be compliant by November 12, 2018, but voluntary registration is available now.