iDen2's recent announcement about expanding their leadership team with talent from Google, Coinbase, and Salesforce is making headlines, but are we cheering too soon? While the surface-level narrative is about scaling and expertise, a closer look raises a critical question: Are these hires a strategic move towards true decentralization, or a subtle slide towards a more centralized future disguised in decentralized clothing?

Centralized DNA in Decentralized Blood?

Let's be blunt. You don’t just spend years at Google, Coinbase, or Salesforce without absorbing the philosophies baked into those companies. These are starkly different companies, companies built on centralized control, data aggregation, and, let’s not kid ourselves, walled gardens. Marius Scurtescu, for instance, can boast over 20 years of experience defining internet identity standards such as OAuth and OpenID Connect. Sounds impressive, right? Here's the rub: many argue that these standards, while widely adopted, have contributed to the fragmented and, ultimately, centralized identity landscape we have today. Are we certain that someone so enmeshed within that same system is better positioned to construct a real, decentralized alternative? It's like asking a lifelong McDonald's chef to design a revolutionary vegan menu – the ingrained habits are hard to break.

I’m not arguing that these people are evil at heart. They are undoubtedly talented. But talent doesn't negate ingrained perspective. Can someone who thrived in a centralized environment genuinely champion a system where power is distributed and individual control reigns supreme? History is replete with examples of revolutionaries finding themselves transformed into the very tyrants they wished to replace. Are we witnessing a similar dynamic here?

The "Innovation" Echo Chamber

Rodolfo Ergueta, formerly of Salesforce, working to ensure technical work gets translated into tangible value. Again, sounds great. Except, Salesforce is the poster child for enterprise solutions that focus on features and scalability at the expense of real user empowerment and data sovereignty. Will this new-found motivation cause iDen2 to focus first on enterprise adoption? If so, at the cost of every user’s ability and agency in controlling their own identities. We have to be careful of the “innovation” echo chamber. In doing so, tech companies largely just stack each other’s biases and assumptions on top of one another—even when those beliefs run counter to the stated aims of decentralization.

Imagine living through the early promise of the internet, back when the promise of decentralization felt very much like a reality. Only to have centralized platforms gradually slide in using their promise of convenience and scale to chip away at that initial intent. Today, we’re waging a battle to restore the internet’s decentralized foundation. So the question becomes, are these new hires unknowingly setting the stage for a similar erosion in the digital identity space.

Growth at What Cost For Individual Power?

Erika Hakala, who has a strong history of success driving high-growth startups through rapid scale, including with Onfido, is working on marketing and growth. She told us that scaling was everything, yes, but at what expense? Onfido, despite being a great overall company, offers identity verification services that, due to the nature of the service, require a centralized service to collect and analyze data. Is the goal to simply replicate that model under a "decentralized" banner, or to truly reimagine identity verification in a way that respects individual privacy and control?

The rapid pace of development can just as easily harden our eyes to the impact it will have in the future. We’ve watched this unfold, over and over in the tech industry. The competition FAQ Privacy, security, and ethical considerations are set aside. The insatiable drive for user acquisition is a top priority. Will iDen2 succumb to the same pressures?

Consider the story of the Wright brothers. They were far from the only folks attempting to create an airplane. They made sure that control came first. They allowed the pilot to actually take control of the plane. While many of their other contemporaneous inventors simply had eyes on power – building the most powerful, fastest engine. As the Wright brothers understood, deep innovation is about more than just the technology. They began from the perspective of empowering the user— which is fundamental to everything they’ve accomplished. iDen2 needs to learn from this lesson.

Alfy Louis, iDen2’s founder, insists on the importance of people who have experience in creating the systems that form the internet backbone. That's understandable. Experience can be a double-edged sword. It can shed light on important issues and expose uncomfortable truths, but it can cause discrimination blind spots. The individuals shaping the internet's current identity landscape created the problems we're now trying to solve. Are they really the most qualified to guide us towards a decentralized, more productive, more affordable future?

Now, I’m not claiming iDen2 is deliberately trying to mislead anyone with this. However, the road to centralization is frequently lined with good intentions and innocuous choices. We need to be vigilant. We need to ask the hard questions. We need to make sure we hold iDen2 accountable to realizing its mission. We envision an interoperable, safe, secure, truly decentralized, portable, and accessible digital identity—one that is available to everyone. The only other option is a future in which our digital identities are reduced to simple data sets. In this dystopia, a privileged few will be in charge of them. And that’s a future none of us should have to settle for.

  • Centralized Thinking: Accustomed to centralized systems.
  • Legacy Biases: Shaped current fragmented identity landscape.
  • Unintended Risks: May prioritize enterprise over individual.

Yet the real question isn’t so much who iDen2 hires to support what, it’s what those hires actually end up building. The future of digital identity – and our personal freedom – might just rely on it.

The question isn't just about who iDen2 hires, but what those hires ultimately build. The future of digital identity – and our individual freedom – may depend on it.