Bitcoin Foundation Director Resigns as Gyft CEO to Start New Company

Bitcoin Foundation board member Vinny Lingham has announced that he has resigned as CEO of popular mobile gift card service Gyft to start a new company, Civic .

Civic, based in Palo Alto, California, has raised $2.75 million in funding from Social Leverage and a group of venture capital firms active in the bitcoin and blockchain space, including Pandora Capital, Blockchain Capital and Digital Currency Group.

The digital identity protection startup, which is focused on providing a cyber solution for U.S. Social Security numbers, will officially launch this spring, according to Lingham.

Lingham told Coinbase:

"Whether you like it or not, your identity is out there. And it's full of holes. Right now, bad guys are using your identity to create fake accounts on the dark web to apply for credit cards or loans. This is a huge, and ridiculous, problem . Civic's goal is to make your Social Security number safe. "

Lingham has been a long-time supporter of the Bitcoin and blockchain industries, having first implemented Bitcoin payments on Gyft in 2013, and has been a regular at industry events ever since.

As part of an ongoing project that Lingham said he would continue to be involved in, he encouraged his company to experiment with combining gift card technology with blockchain technology, according to company information obtained by First Data .

Lingham said that while there is no direct connection between Civic and blockchain technology, he sees opportunities for his startup to take advantage of the emerging technology.

He also said: "Blockchain technology can be used for data security. At present, blockchain is probably the safest place to store information."

However, he made it clear that he believes consumers need a solution that gives them greater control over their personal information while providing them with a satisfying user experience.

What this service entails

According to Lingham, the app is premised on consumers willing to let Civic securely store their Social Security numbers for a higher level of monitoring capabilities.

“You install the app on your phone, and if someone wants to use your Social Security number on your network, you hear a ‘pop.’ No one can open an account with your identity, ” he explained.

According to Lingham, the service is an innovation to existing banking security models because Civic can detect when a Social Security number is about to be used to create a new account before it is used.

He added: “We will use all the best practices in this industry, from high-level security protection to cryptography. ”

"In theory, you could put your Social Security number on your business card because no one else would be able to use it."

To make the service available, Lingham said Civic will work with select financial institutions to partner with it. In addition, Social Leverage co-founder Howard Lindsay will join Civic's board of directors.