An article by our regular columnist Franceso Pagano with Stefan Deiss Co-Founder and CEO of The Hashgraph Group (THG)
Can we verify someone’s identity quickly and efficiently when trading and exchanging goods or services? Can we be sure that we are talking to the right wealth manager, doctor, public officer, or even the right machine, powered by an AI agent and operating on behalf of our favorite service provider, both digitally and physically? Should we know who’s who and who owns what, in a world disrupted by AI and Blockchain? Can we reward digital agency, instantly, while being sure to give money to the right party?
The answer to all these questions is yes, obviously. From a tech point of view, it’s all feasible. Let’s understand how we can realize this whole transformation.
This is why we (FP) spoke to Stefan Deiss (SD), who is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Hashgraph Group (THG), a Swiss-based Web3 technology company building business without barriers, leveraging the distributed ledger technology (DLT) of Hedera Hashgraph to enable institutions and enterprises to move into the Web3 economy. This is our exchange.
FP. Tell me a bit about you.
SD. I have spent the past 25+ years in the IT/Telco industry, in various senior commercial roles working with global enterprises. As such, it has been a gradual progression into the Blockchain space, starting around 8 years ago. I am based in Zurich, and this is where I co-founded both The Hashgraph Association (THA) and The Hashgraph Group (THG) over the past 4 years, to further the broad adoption of Hedera and the development of its ecosystem around the world, backed by the Hedera Governing Council. THG aims to achieve broader adoption of Hedera enterprise solutions. We want to elevate businesses and institutions to adapt to the Web3 economy, in full compliance with regulations, thus protecting end-users and our B2B clients.
FP. The evolution of enterprise Web3 has been bittersweet. Are you happy with the adoption?
SD. Real-world use cases with broad enterprise adoption have been few. The technology adoption curve and progress have been challenging and slower than anticipated, primarily related to regulatory concerns, scalability issues, and security risks. Initially, there was a lot of skepticism from the old economy, in particular, traditional financial institutions and governments. Rejection by traditional players remains a real challenge. For example, opening a bank account or securing a corporate insurance policy for a Web3 startup is still daunting.
However, the situation has drastically changed and improved since 2023 – we are now seeing some of the largest multinational companies actively moving from the conceptual stage to development and deployment of enterprise solutions. Traditional finance players and institutions are now realizing that blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are here to stay. And they are now starting to play along before they are disrupted or become irrelevant. One advantage is that many of these players have been building POC’s and testing on Hedera for the past four years. Enterprises and governments at least know more now and are moving up to execution and deployment. So, yes, the path to success and enterprise adoption is starting to emerge and will further accelerate over the coming years.
FP. For example, what has changed, more concretely?
SD. Banks are starting to integrate alternative payment systems, stablecoins are becoming mainstream, and governments and large enterprises are integrating chain-based features into their legacy systems. Conventional financial institutions are now offering crypto trading services to retail customers alongside traditional currencies. The regulatory environment is becoming more crypto-friendly, in particular in the US, where just last month the House of Representatives passed three crypto bills: 1. the CLARITY Act for market structure; 2. the GENIUS Act for stablecoins, and 3. the anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act for US central bank digital currencies. Furthermore, we are seeing increasing capital deployments into Web3 projects as another catalyst that is accelerating broad enterprise adoption globally. For example, THG just signed a major agreement with the Indian Government for the development of India’s first State carbon credit bank. The main enterprise use cases today are around sustainability and digital identity. With Hedera’s superior and mature technology, including its reputable governance model that comprises some of the world’s leading global institutions such as Dell, Deutsche Telekom, Google, Hitachi, IBM, ServiceNow, Standard Bank, and Tata Communications, just to name a few of the over 30 Hedera Council members, which all gives the necessary trust to new enterprise adopters about the quality, reliability, and security of our Hedera-powered Web3 solutions.
FP. Let’s talk about identity. What’s your solution doing exactly?
SD. THG recently launched its Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) platform called “IDTrust” to empower digital identity at scale for enterprises and governmental institutions globally. Decentralized by design with the core principles of enabling individuals to maintain full control over their personal data, IDTrust provides greater trust, authenticity, and security in the Web3 economy. We enable enterprises and their users to create, store, own, and protect their data and selectively share their verified credentials on any device through a secure digital ID wallet. Our IDTrust solution is designed with the guiding principles of privacy first, offering real self-sovereign identity. Users can download and manage their digital identity on their mobile devices through a self-custody ID wallet, which is compliant with international digital ID regulations, such as the Swiss e-ID system, the EU’s eIDAS 2.0 directives, or the UK Digital Identity Trust Framework. IDTrust helps issuers of credentials to empower their users to own, manage, and share their data, while keeping their information secure and stored on the distributed ledger of Hedera. And it also works when you are offline. An individual’s digital identity will be key in a future phygital world. Identity inclusion leads to financial inclusion. Our clients are primarily enterprises and governmental institutions that are the main issuers and verifiers of credentials, like banks, insurance firms, and other large companies. We build and deploy the entire tech through our experienced team of certified engineers and deliver a fully managed end-to-end service for our B2B clients, including an enterprise SLA and global 24/7 helpdesk support.
FP. Where is AI playing in all of this?
SD. AI is already assisting users and issuers to streamline the digital onboarding process. Our AI Agents autonomously manage credential workflows of issuing, verifying, and revoking credentials, while enforcing compliance and data privacy policies in real-time. They operate as trusted proxies for users and institutions. For example, when an individual needs a digital credential, our AI Agents take charge by autonomously verifying the identity and documents, ensuring everything meets the necessary compliance standards. Once validated, the AI Agent issues the credential instantly. The issuers of credentials can also give digital identities to AI agents, drones, robots, and so forth, which are acting on their behalf. Digital identity will also be used for Digital Product Passports (DPP), in compliance with EU DPP regulations for transparency and traceability of products and services in global supply chains. The potential use cases and applications are wide and deep. And THG is at the forefront of this exciting development.
FP. Are you optimistic about the future?
SD. Yes, I’m very optimistic. Firstly, I have a trusted co-founder and great business partner. We had a challenging start ramping up our operations a few years ago due to difficult market conditions. We have now proven ourselves in the market; we have established a fantastic global team; we have built and continue to develop innovative products that address enterprise pain-points and enable Web3 adoption; and we have demonstrated professional project delivery and execution in front of enterprises and large institutions. We also have the right technology with Hedera, which offers the fastest finality with the highest throughput, low predictable fees, and a privacy-preserving architecture that is built with the highest security standards and scalability, not to mention its unmatched green credentials as the world’s most energy-efficient DLT network. I believe we can power and empower B2B by building businesses without barriers for Web3, and enable a digital future for all through identity, financial, and communication inclusion.
