Earlier this week, Microsoft announced an update to its plan for a scalable decentralized identifier system, which the company laid out last year. This would allow users to, for example, use a security key to access various accounts online. Since it will be running atop the Bitcoin blockchain, which is notoriously slow, Microsoft introduced ION, a solution that will enable tens-of-thousands of operations per second by storing and accessing data away from the blockchain. Microsoft has several blockchain patent applications, one of which is directed to synchronization across blockchains. This technology may prove useful in enabling the decentralized credentials system to work across different blockchains, so competing ID systems don’t arise. Given that Microsoft has chosen a truly decentralized solution, unlike JP Morgan and IBM which use “permissioned” blockchains, it will be interesting to see whether other companies follow suit.