In the third quarter of 2023, we saw the continuation of macro themes that began to unfold in the previous quarter. In teeing up the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation and the Transfer of Funds rule to be enacted in 2024, the European Union positioned itself as a world leader for distributed ledger technologies (DLT). Laws for DLT in the United Kingdom also went into effect at the end of August. Companies like Civic are strongly positioned to address new and emerging regulatory needs of customers.

We also saw regulatory developments in the United States. In August, the US Treasury and IRS proposed rules that will require additional reporting of crypto transactions to the IRS for 2025. During the third quarter, Coinbase aggressively fought back against an SEC lawsuit with compelling arguments. Civic has been talking to companies that will need to meet US requirements for the past several years, and we’re looking forward to more clarity in this market, especially around these new developments.

New products

We announced a couple new products at the beginning of the third quarter. At ETH CC in Paris, we revealed our plans to help companies address the new EU regulation, leading to many conversations about what potential customers were looking for in a solution. We offer an open, privacy-preserving, cross-chain platform that may allow crypto asset service providers to meet regulations with minimal disruption.

The new regulations will require information about the source of the digital asset and its recipient, for example a name, account numbers, date of birth and address must travel with the transaction and be stored on both sides of the transfer.

At another conference, PlayGG, a Solana gaming conference in San Diego, we introduced a new toolset for game builders to improve their bottom line and help alleviate regulatory litigation. Civic Age Check Pass is designed to help satisfy age-related requirements, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which requires parents to have control regarding what information is collected from children under 13.

Growing our multichain capabilities

In addition to offering support for Civic Pass on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, XDC, and Arbitrum, we added support for Fantom and Polygon zkEVM. By expanding our multichain capabilities, we’re creating more value for dApps using Civic Pass. With Fantom’s fast, high-throughput platform and Polygon zkEVM’s efficient zk rollups, we’re proud to offer dApps more options and choice. Civic Pass is now multichain and multi-wallet, providing value across the DLT ecosystem.

Making digital identity more accessible

During the third quarter, we integrated with three identity companies, Gitcoin Passport, Polygon ID and Rarimo. As bots, AI, and AI-generated agents advance their technologies, the digital identity community is collaborating to bring dApps the tools they need to build more trusted communities. At the same time, we’re collectively making digital identity more accessible for users by making them accessible across platforms.

At the beginning of July and during ETH CC in Paris, we collaborated with Gitcoin to make Civic Pass available on Gitcoin Passport. Gitcoin Passport makes it easy for users to collect different pieces of their identity on the internet into a single place in order to earn trust and access to digital experiences. Civic Pass is now factored into Gitcoin’s reputation score, helping users prove their reputation as a human being. Companies that rely on Gitcoin Passport to determine user reputation can take advantage of this integration to build strong communities with more trusted members.

During the same conference, we collaborated with Polygon ID. Since integrating Civic Pass with Polygon earlier this year, we further deepened our relationship with the Polygon ecosystem by creating a fluid way for Civic Pass users to enter into the Polygon ecosystem with PolygonID. Anyone with an existing Civic Pass can now use PolygonID across the Polygon ecosystem of partners offering identity services. For example, a user with a Civic Pass in their Metamask wallet can now use that Civic Pass anywhere PolygonID is accepted. They must simply send their Civic Pass to their PolygonID enabled wallet. Polygon Labs produced an educational video of the integration.

In late August, we collaborated with Rarimo Protocol, as well as Gitcoin Passport and Unstoppable Domains to bring Civic Pass to Rarimo’s Proof of Humanity (POH) plug-in for Web3 dApps. Rarimo POH allows you to generate a zero-knowledge proof (zkp) to show participating dApps that you’re a human. Civic Pass holders can now issue a Proof of Humanity zkp through Rarimo. For more information about the integration and latest industry thinking, check out the Twitter Spaces conversation.

Engaging with our partners and community

During the third quarter, we took steps with partners to enhance our community. We joined together with seven other hand-picked companies to participate in the O(1) Labs Partner Program. This collaboration focuses on zero knowledge (zk) applications as the Mina ecosystem progresses toward the final stages of the Mina Berkeley Testnet, and offers us an opportunity to experiment with their zk technology.

We also fostered growth for dApps emerging in the Solana ecosystem by making our Realms integration more accessible to the DAO community and by participating in the Berlin Hacker House. There, we worked together with Solana Labs to build a foundation for RWAs, using Solana’s new standard, Token22. We also offered a hackathon bounty for Civic Pass integrations. Winners will be announced in the fourth quarter.

We’re always looking to harden our technology, and in the third quarter we collaborated with HackenProof to create a bounty program for security researchers that will ultimately strengthen Civic Pass for both our customers and end users.

We enriched our community in other ways, too. At PlayGG, we partnered with Ocean Explorers to give away six NFTs to our community. And, we hosted a Spaces on X to explore synergies between identity and dePIN for ReFi, and joined a panel about KYC at Polygon Guild during ETHCC.

Coming soon to close out 2023

After a whirlwind Q3 of new products, integrations, collaborations and even new regulations taking shape, we’re looking forward to introducing more features that will offer AI transparency around interactions. We are also building out ETH infrastructure for our consumer offering, Civic.me. Stay tuned for more updates and developments through the end of the year.