Trezor Removed Controversial Verification Protocol, Others Follow Suit

Trezor removed controversial verification protocol for its wallet, and many other wallets followed suit so let’s read more today in our latest blockchain news.

A week after introducing the Address Ownership Proof Protocol, the wallet company backtracked on the decision due to its customer privacy concerns. Since 2019, Swiss Financial crypto intermediaries required proof of ownership of an external address for BTC withdrawals and deposits to their customers’ noncustodial wallets and one automated mechanism used for this is the Adress Ownership Proof Protocol. The Trezor hardware wallet introduced AOPP signing as a part of the latest January update a week ago, allowing users to generate signatures that conform to the AOPP standard used in certain jurisdictions. Trezor even announced it will remove the protocol in the next update after consideration of recent feedback.

We will remove AOPP in our next Trezor Suite update in February.

More on our decision: https://t.co/hMDenbdjcg

— Trezor (@Trezor) January 28, 2022

The recent feedback refers to Twitter and Reddit users that were concerned that the use of AOPP signaled Trezor’s support for bigger regulation and a disregard for the loss of privacy. Trezor admitted that they underestimated that the feature will be recieved in the way that it did but the company still welcomes the public scrutiny. The fact that it listened to the users and reacted swiftly shows the power of social media sentiment.

As Trezor removed controversial verification protocol, the wallet maker claimed it against the regulations that concern AOPP like the data lea risks associated with using a stringent identification process like KYC to buy BTC:

“Our sole aim was to make withdrawal to self-custody easier for users in countries with strict regulation, but we acknowledge that more harm than good could be done in the end if this were viewed as proactive compliance with regulations we do not agree with.”

✅ @SparrowWallet – Removing AOPP next release
✅ @bluewalletio – Removing AOPP next release
✅ @Trezor – Removing AOPP next release

Congrats to these projects for strength & resolve to listen to the community. Congrats to the community who successfully made their desires known https://t.co/RuqnxgbJfu

— Samourai Wallet (@SamouraiWallet) January 28, 2022

Other hardware wallets like Samurai Wallet and Sparrow Wallet also decided to follow Trezor’s decision. While the AOPP protocol could not negatively impact the users of noncustodial wallets directly, decentralization and freedom are central tenets to the community that values privacy. The main concern is that the implementation of AOPP could set a precedent for increased government influence and surveillance.

As recently reported, Trezor will use the Swiss travel rule protocol for private cryptocurrency wallets that is developed by 21 Analytics’s Address Ownership Proof Protocol that can automatically identify an unhosted wallet when the crypto is withdrawn from a Swiss exchange.

Source: https://www.dcforecasts.com/blockchain-news/trezor-removed-controversial-verification-protocol-others-follow-suit/