During the Bitcoin for Corporations event hosted by MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor unveiled the MicroStrategy Orange decentralized identity protocol. This protocol, built on the Bitcoin blockchain, utilizes Ordinals inscriptions to store identity data and SegWit to separate other data. Saylor believes that MicroStrategy Orange will revolutionize enterprise identity and security.
MicroStrategy introduced the open-source MicroStrategy Orange Decentralized Identity protocol at the MicroStrategy World 2024 event in Las Vegas. This protocol, inspired by Ordinals, stores only data related to digital identities, allowing for the creation and updating of documents with minimal restrictions on size and content.
MicroStrategy Orange leverages the secure Bitcoin network to store identity inputs, making modifications to the popular Ordinals inscription method. Ordinals, which was launched in early 2023, expanded the use cases of the Bitcoin blockchain by embedding data within transaction outputs. This enables users to add various types of data, such as memes, videos, images, and digital signatures, onto a Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin.
Saylor, a well-known advocate of Bitcoin, expressed his vision for MicroStrategy Orange at the event. He stated that the protocol aims to redefine digital identity by utilizing the secure and widely recognized Bitcoin network.
While MicroStrategy Orange shares similarities with Ordinals, it differs in that it only stores data related to digital identities on the Bitcoin blockchain. It utilizes Segregated Witness (SegWit) to separate other data, providing users with the ability to store virtually unlimited data sizes using the protocol.
MicroStrategy Orange is the brainchild of Saylor, who has been exploring applications that leverage the Bitcoin blockchain since the launch of Ordinals. Last year, he mentioned DocuSign as a business model that could greatly benefit from Bitcoin’s enhanced security.
Cezary Raczko, MicroStrategy’s VP of Engineering, explained the three fundamental aspects of the new protocol. The first is the Orange Service, which serves as the primary platform for building and issuing decentralized identities. It includes a hosted service cloud that enables the issuance of identifiers and the deployment of prepackaged applications on the MicroStrategy Orange platform.
Additionally, MicroStrategy Orange offers a software development kit (SDK) that simplifies integration into existing systems and applications. The team has already utilized the SDK to develop an ‘Orange for Outlook’ application that verifies the authenticity of email senders.
While MicroStrategy’s focus on Bitcoin has drawn criticism, especially considering the company’s net loss of $53.1 million in Q1, its BTC holdings have appreciated by over 60% and are now valued at over $15 billion. The company plans to raise half a billion dollars to acquire more BTC.
Currently, BTC is trading at $57,709 and has experienced sideways movement over the past day.