An anonymity preserving framework for associating personally identifying information with a digital wallet

Abstract

Growing adoption of cryptocurrencies by institutional investors coupled with recurring incidents of loss of access to digital wallets have resulted in emergence of custodial services for high net worth individuals and institutions. However, such services are not economically feasible for the wider community of crypto owners who are left with no recourse for recovery of lost funds. This paper proposes a framework, AFAP, for associating certain personally identifying information with a digital wallet so that a user may prove ownership of the said wallet. Thus, the owner is able to establish his/her claim over funds associated with such a wallet in case of loss of access to it. We show that the proposed scheme has no adverse effect on anonymity, privacy and forgetfulness of personal information of the wallet owner.