Verify once. Reuse everywhere.
TrustKYC is a shared, blockchain-based identity verification platform for banks and e-wallets. Customers complete Know Your Customer (KYC) checks once, keep control of their encrypted data, and share it with each new institution — cutting repetition and fraud.
The same customer, verified over and over again.
Banks, financial institutions and businesses all run Know Your Customer checks to confirm who their clients are. Today, each one does it separately — and the customer pays the price in time, paperwork and risk.
Repetitive
Customers submit the same documents to every new bank or wallet they join.
Centralized
Each institution keeps its own copy of sensitive identity data.
Vulnerable to breaches
Many separate stores of identity documents mean many targets for attackers.
Costly and frustrating
Institutions carry rising compliance costs; customers face slow onboarding.
Onboarding takes weeks, not minutes.
A global survey of over 2,000 financial institutions and corporations showed how heavy traditional KYC has become.
average time for a bank to onboard a new client, as reported by banks.
average onboarding time as experienced by corporate clients.
average yearly KYC spend reported by firms with over US$10 billion in revenue.
times corporations report being contacted by their bank during onboarding.
Source: Thomson Reuters Global KYC Surveys (2017), via Corporate Compliance Insights
Why decentralized KYC needs one more layer.
The research behind TrustKYC compared ways of putting KYC on a blockchain — and found the gap that earlier designs left open.
All data on the blockchain
Storing identity documents directly on the chain is secure but carries high transaction costs.
Data on IPFS, hash on chain
Cheaper — but anyone who obtains the hash can open the stored data.
Encrypt first, then store
Data is encrypted with AES before it reaches IPFS. Only the hash goes on the blockchain, and the customer holds it — so the hash alone reveals nothing.
Four steps from documents to reusable trust.
- 01
Submit once
The customer provides their identity documents a single time.
- 02
Encrypt
The data is encrypted with
AES, a strong standard encryption algorithm, before it is stored anywhere. - 03
Store and anchor
The encrypted file is stored on
IPFS, a distributed file system. Its hash is recorded on theblockchainand given to the customer. - 04
Share with consent
When joining a new bank or e-wallet, the customer shares their record instead of starting KYC from scratch.
Three layers, each with one job.
AES encryption
Turns identity documents into unreadable ciphertext before they leave the customer's control.
keeps data privateIPFS
A distributed file system that stores the encrypted record without one central database.
keeps storage costs lowBlockchain
Records the record's hash on a tamper-resistant ledger that institutions can rely on.
keeps records trustworthySource: Chouke et al., "Decentralized KYC", Springer, Studies in Systems, Decision and Control (2025), pp. 1363–1377. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-87584-7_99
Less repetition. Less fraud. More control.
Reduced redundancy
One verification serves many institutions instead of being repeated each time.
Customer control
The customer holds the hash key and decides who can access their record.
Stronger security
Encryption plus decentralized storage removes the single honeypot of identity data.
Lower cost
Only a hash goes on-chain, avoiding the high cost of storing full documents there.
One shared network of trust.
Banks
Onboard verified customers faster and lower the cost of repeated checks.
E-wallets & fintechs
Let new users join quickly using identity already verified elsewhere.
Customers
Stop re-submitting documents — and stay in control of who sees them.
Finance meets secure technology.
TrustKYC was founded in 2025 by a research team uniting financial and compliance expertise with engineering and information technology.
Faculty of Administrative & Financial Sciences
Defines the banking workflows, compliance needs and value for financial institutions.
Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology
Builds the blockchain, IPFS storage and encryption layers of the platform.
Frequently asked questions
What is KYC?
Know Your Customer: the identity checks banks, financial institutions and businesses carry out to confirm who their clients are.
Why not just put the data on a blockchain?
Storing full identity data on-chain is very costly in transaction fees. TrustKYC stores the data off-chain on IPFS and keeps only its hash on the blockchain.
If someone gets the hash, can they read my data?
No. The data is encrypted with AES before it is stored on IPFS, so the hash alone only points to encrypted content that can't be read.
Who holds the key to my record?
You do. The hash of your encrypted record is given to you, so you control when your KYC record is shared.
Who can join the network?
Banks, e-wallets and other financial institutions that need to verify customers can share the platform.
Built on peer-reviewed research.
Read the published study behind TrustKYC's decentralized identity verification design.
Chouke, A., Lamkuche, H. S., Abuamria, F., Ajouz, M., Al-Safarini, M. Y., & Irziqat, S. (2025). Decentralized KYC: Enhancing identity verification with blockchain technology. In Business Resilience and Business Innovation for Sustainability (Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, pp. 1363–1377). Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-87584-7_99