Today the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) announced an update of the Global Standards Mapping Initiative. Version one was published in October 2020 in conjunction with the World Economic Forum (WEF), with version two developed by the GBBC and its members. That involved 131 institutions, including the World Economic Forum, which co-chaired the policy working group. The range of topics is far broader, including 38 technical standards, digital identity and extensive coverage of digital assets and their regulation.
For example, it maps 187 jurisdictions and their progress towards implementing the FATF’s travel rule for virtual currencies as well as other regulations and taxing cryptocurrency transactions.
“We are proud to have incubated this initiative, and to have the support of so many industry leaders, as well as their valuable time in bringing GSMI 2.0 to fruition. As the industry continues to grow faster than ever, we hope the GSMI will serve as a free resource for anyone seeking a macro, global perspective,” said GBBC CEO Sandra Ro.
Digital identity is another key topic that has come to prominence. It’s a high growth area owing to its use for COVID travel passes and the increasing need for compliance with digital assets. It’s currently topical as the W3C standards for DID have received formal objections from the major browser companies Google (Chrome), Apple (Safari) and Mozilla (Firefox).
An important subject that has a section in the main report is the green economy. The Interwork Alliance has focused on developing blockchain standards for carbon credits, and in October, it merged with the GBBC.
Update: The WEF’s role in the policy working group was added.
