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The Linux Foundation has announced plans to form a new entity, the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF), which will provide the foundation for companies to create digital wallets on an open source platform.
“The ONF’s mission is to develop a secure, multi-purpose open source engine that anyone can use to build interoperable wallets,” the organization explains.
“The ONF strives to establish best practices for digital wallet technology through collaboration on open source code to be used as a starting point for anyone striving to build interoperable, secure and privacy-protective wallets.”
Linux Open Wallet Foundation
The idea behind the ONF is not to create a wallet that rivals Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, but to create a “multifunctional open source engine that anyone can use to build interoperable wallets,” whose foundation sees it being used for things like secure payments and digital keys.
Businesses will then be able to leverage the work of the ONF and develop their own digital wallets, which the Linux agency says will improve interoperability, security and privacy.
Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemllin said in a statement that “digital wallets will play a critical role for digital societies,” so the ONF’s work could be valuable in ensuring a more level playing field in the coming years.
Going forward, David Treat, Global Metaverse Continuum Business Group & Blockchain Lead at Accenture, believes that “a universal digital wallet infrastructure will create the ability to transport tokenized identity, money and objects from place to place in the digital world.”
Meanwhile, Pramod Varma, Chief Architect at Aadhaar & India Stack, sees “verifiable credentials…becoming an essential digital empowerment tool for billions of people and small entities,” highlighting the standardization work the OWF hopes to perform.
The aim of the body is to launch the new entity later in 2022, and interest in working together can be expressed on the OpenWallet Foundation website (opens in new tab).