Tokoin’s Partnership

Tokoin x Shyft: The Collaboration That Will Provide an Even More Secure Blockchain Ecosystem

Promising the new systems that are founded on trusted data protocols to interact and bind into traditional financial data systems, the integration between Tokoin’s technology and Shyft network is bringing you to a whole new level of security.

We are glad to announce that Tokoin has signed a partnership with Shyft Network. Shyft is implementing a network protocol that leverages blockchain technology to enable industries, government organizations and users to obtain, store and share sensitive data securely and privately. Their goal is to enable new systems founded on trusted data protocols to interact and bind into traditional financial data systems. Tokoin is utilizing blockchain technology to empower the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in Indonesia financially by establishing a trustworthy credibility rating system for them, which banks can use for the purpose of evaluation. Acquiring bank loans has been a long-standing problem for the MSME sector in Indonesia, and Tokoin is the first project to address this problem. Tokoin’s solution involves authenticating participating enterprises through their KYC data, and the use of Shyft’s protocol will make the processing of personal information much more secure and efficient.

How Secure is our Sensitive Data?

Consumer data is of vital importance to corporations today. Organizations are constantly collecting user data for various purposes — personalized target advertising, analyzing market trends, product research, and so on. A massive amount of data is collected on a daily basis. Reports indicate that the personal data market is expected to grow to $330 billion by 2030. Data is also exchanged frequently between organizations (in other words, monetized), further driving up the value of this new world commodity.

In spite of the clamour for personal data and the high data collection rates, internal processes that deal with storage and sharing of data are not increasing in security or efficiency. With hacking techniques that are getting more sophisticated day by day, secure storage of data requires both money and maintenance. However, more often than not, corporations are unwilling to invest in either. Data exchange between organizations also leads to massive dissemination of sensitive data, often through insecure channels. The net effect is that user data is vulnerable to hacks and leaks, as has been seen time and again. Moreover, in the absence of any records of data ownership and custody, users are unable to own the rights to their data or monetize it once they hand it over to the enterprises.

Shyft’s Technology

Shyft is building the world’s first modern, secure, interoperable, blockchain-based trust network that enables KYC/AML attested and other sensitive data transfers. The Shyft Network comprises of a combination of a centralized data attestation engine (called the Byfrost) and an expansive network of validation nodes (called the Shyft Ring) that connect to the outside world. The Shyft blockchain features a smart contract-compatible architecture, which runs simultaneously on the Byfrost and the Shyft Ring.

Byfrost is the bridging technology at the heart of the Shyft Network, and ensures data availability and synchronization across the entire network, along with asset management and custody. It constantly monitors network activity, and can delay or pause block validation in case a threat is detected. The Byfrost also acts as the interoperability bridge between different blockchain networks, and controls the creation and transfer of digital assets over multiple blockchains.

Aiding the Byfrost in maintaining the network security is a smart-contract powered software called the Shyft Safe. The Safe ensures that asset records are continually synced across multiple blockchain networks, making it extremely difficult for malicious nodes to falsify transactions. By managing and protecting assets on the Shyft network, the Safe guarantees that users retain custody of their assets.

About the Partnership

One of Shyft’s major use cases is the decentralization of KYC processes. Different organizations process and verify KYC data from their customers separately, even though there might be a considerable overlap between these data sets. In case of cross-border transactions, organizations need to trust KYC data that originated in another country. Moreover, as highlighted earlier, KYC data aggregators do not always follow the best procedures when it comes to the storage of sensitive information. As a result, they often end up being easy targets for hackers. Crypto-exchange Binance fell prey to a KYC data hack recently!

A crucial component of Shyft’s ecosystem are Trust Anchors, which are enterprises, institutions, public organizations, or any other party which has collected and attested KYC data. They maintain control over this data through private keys, which is accessible to only them. They have the authority to record the KYC status of the customers on Shyft’s blockchain network using digital signatures. A point worth considering here is that they don’t record sensitive public information on the blockchain, as that would be visible to anyone. Instead, they send a blockchain transaction indicating that the KYC data of a certain customer has been verified. 3rd parties can check the status of anyone’s KYC data on Shyft’s public blockchain.

Tokoin allows business owners to create Digital Business Identities for their enterprises on a distributed pubic ledger, by uploading KYC data to Tokoin’s network. Once the KYC data is verified, the user can link all business transactions with his digital profile. Banks can use these transaction records as proof of authenticity of the enterprise in the absence of any recorded credit history.

Safety and transparency of KYC data are two of our biggest concerns. The partnership with Shyft will help us streamline the entire KYC process, and guarantee that sensitive user information is not left to the mercy of hackers. On the part of Shyft, they will get access to Tokoin’s swelling user base in Indonesia. As we look forward to expand to other Southeast Asian nations in the near future, we would have to deal with country-specific KYC regulations. Shyft’s decentralized KYC authentication process would help us in tackling complications posed by these country-specific KYC regulations as well.