NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)—Cogni, the pioneer Web3 platform that provides FDIC-insured banking along with an integrated non-custodial wallet, providing users access to Web3 products and services on a single platform, has debuted the “Web3 Passport,” the first and only turn-key solution that ports the traditional Web2 KYC (“know-your-customer”) into a Web3 environment via the Polygon PoS chain. At launch, Passport will be available to a select number of Cogni users, before opening to the public in the summer of 2023.
“When planning our entry into Web3, we prioritized ownership and security first. We’ve since developed an easy-to-use, safe platform that allows users to hold digital assets without adding any unnecessary stressors to the process,” said Archie Ravishankar, founder and CEO of Cogni. “The essence of blockchain has not changed. We believe that if you don’t own your keys, ultimately you don’t own your crypto. Our users own their keys, making Cogni the most secure platform on the market.”
The launch of the Passport marks Cogni’s second Web3 offering, after the debut of their non-custodial, multi-chain wallet in December 2022. While the wallet allows users to hold their NFTs and other non-fungible tokens across multiple blockchains like bitcoin and ethereum, the Passport supports various Web3 platforms as they navigate the regulatory KYC mandates when transitioning from Web2 into Web3. With the Passport, partnering DApps can now adhere to and maintain KYC compliance in the United States without having to build out their own compliance infrastructure.
In addition, Cogni’s Passport grants individual users complete customer privacy by minting a non-transferable NFT with encrypted personal information, which is captured during Cogni’s account opening process, to a user’s wallet.
“The Cogni Passport is an industry-first, porting traditional web2 KYC into a web3 medium. The Passport solves the industry’s biggest problems around trust and compliance. From a trust perspective, users and platforms will know the unique, verified identity of wallets – provided that the owner allows it – which will reduce the amount of fraud and inauthentic sellers in the web3 space. Passport provides web3 companies with a simple solution to comply with upcoming KYC rules in the U.S. so they can continue to operate normally without any serious infrastructure upgrades,” said Simon Grunfeld, Head of Web3 at Cogni.
In the midst of a continuing conversation of trust within the world of cryptocurrency, compliance is top of mind for all influential players in the space. Cogni’s Passport ensures that all users can safely navigate the infinite Web3 ecosystem without any worry of fraud or malpractice. As Cogni continues their expansion from beyond the confines of traditional Web2 digital banking, the company will continue offering their users valuable features to explore the burgeoning world of Web3.
About Cogni
Cogni is a leading lifestyle-focused digital banking platform founded in 2018. Cogni gives members zero-fee banking, access to 55,000 free ATMs worldwide, single-use cards, and access to discounted gift cards. Cogni also allows users to track carbon emissions on each transaction. Cogni bridges the gap between Web2 and Web3 services by building a fully compliant, digital banking experience for mainstream user adoption with unique features. Cogni is headquartered in New York City, with a second office in San Francisco.
The company’s investors include Hanwha Asset Management, CXO Fund, Solana Capital, ROK Capital, 35 Ventures, Bluewatch ventures, World Quant, Hard Yakka and additional angel investors and venture capital firms. To learn more about Cogni, visit http://getcogni.com or download the app on the App Store or Google Play.
About Polygon Labs
Polygon Labs develops Ethereum scaling solutions for Polygon protocols. Polygon Labs engages with other ecosystem developers to help make available scalable, affordable, secure and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. Polygon Labs has initially developed a growing suite of protocols for developers to gain easy access to major scaling solutions, including layer 2s (zero-knowledge rollups and optimistic rollups), sidechains, hybrid chains, app-specific chains, enterprise chains, and data availability protocols. The existing Polygon network is home for some of the biggest Web3 projects, such as Aave, Uniswap, QiDAO, and OpenSea, and well-known enterprises, including Robinhood, Stripe and Adobe. Polygon Labs is carbon neutral with the goal of leading Web3 in becoming carbon negative.
