Bridge Protocol is launching an initial coin offering (ICO) in early February 2018 to secure digital identities on the blockchain. It’s an important step for complying with know-your-customer (KYC) rules across jurisdictions, including the United States. Bridge is offering 500,000,000 IAM tokens available during the sale and hopes to raise the $25 million USD target hard cap.

Hyduchak is the founder of ProjectICO and has worked with notable blockchain projects, including Shanghai, China-based Elastos and Singapore-based Ink Labs Foundation. ProjectICO provides legal consultation, technological development and marketing solutions to ICOs.

Bridge Protocol offers a digital solution that reduces the cost and complexity of launching an ICO. The firm’s solutions help startups comply with regulators’ KYC and identification requirements such as those coming from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. The team is building a global identity system and ecosystem on the NEO blockchain. And it’s bringing one whitelist and one KYC standard to ICOs, in a way that protects personal information.

One key feature is to allow users to control their private keys. Only the information required for identity verification will be shared and the Bridge blockchain will never see or hold any of the user’s data. Where data does need to be viewed, it gets destroyed by the verifier after the fact. All of this takes place within the Bridge ecosystem’s marketplace. The marketplace is made up of three segments, and the security of data is organized into three tiers.

Bridge Protocol’s storefront is the ICO startup’s version of a service like LegalZoom. It allows aspiring entrepreneurs launching ICOs to access all of the tools they need as micro-services. Pay for what you absolutely need, do it with all personal identities protected, and that’s it.

The Identity Storefront allows for the issuance of security certificates and Know Your Client services for digital identities that are used in the marketplace. The Legal Storefront sells legal services and applications that can be easily customized to serve the customer’s needs. The Developer Storefront connects coders, legal experts and users together.

Here’s a closer look at the protocol’s tiered security.

Tier 1 – name, address, date of birth, email address and date of birth.

Tier 2 – social security number, driver’s license, government identification. This allows ICO participation and the ability to sign legal documents.

Tier 3– for accredited investors where legal advisers and accountants need to certify accreditation.

Unlike Kraken and other tiered security structures, Bridge destroys data after it is used for its intended purpose. Therein lies the key. No participants have to compromise their identity to build or contribute to an ICO.

Bridge Protocol has high ambitions in a digital economy. Not just because the foundational elements of the idea are forward-thinking, but also because the project recently inked a partnership with Clearify. Clearify works in the business intelligence space by offering a visual representation of data-driven insights.

Hyduchak is confident the ICO will meet its targets.