- Swiss voters narrowly approved the introduction of a state-issued electronic identification system, with 50.4% voting in favor and 49.6% voting against.
- Hashgraph positions the IDTrust platform as a privacy-first infrastructure and expresses support for the e-ID initiative.
e-ID (electronic ID) is Switzerland’s leap towards a secure digital future. This federally issued digital ID allows citizens to safely and reliably prove their identity online. It is completely voluntary and free to use, and is designed to work alongside, rather than replace, physical documents such as passports and ID cards.
In a post on LinkedIn, Hashgraph Group expressed strong support for this initiative, stating:
Hashgraph Group firmly supports this transformative national initiative. The Swiss approach to the e-ID system is fully consistent with the principles of a secure, trusted and citizen-controlled digital identity espoused by Hashgraph Group.
The team then explained that the company’s IDTrust platform, which is at the forefront of Swiss Web3 innovation, demonstrates its commitment to creating self-sovereign identity solutions built on Hedera Hashgraph’s trusted DLT.
In a high-profile referendum in September, 50.4% of Swiss voters said they were in favor of introducing a national electronic ID card, slightly more than 49.6% who were against it. The results surprised many pollsters, who had predicted a much easier victory for e-ID supporters.
Voter turnout was 49.55%, higher than expected, showing how much of an impact this issue had throughout the United States.
The victory was a relief for Switzerland’s political parties, which had largely supported the plan. Just a few years ago, in 2021, voters rejected an earlier version of the e-ID proposal. One of the biggest concerns at the time was that private companies would have too much control over sensitive identity data.
Now, lawmakers are addressing that criticism head-on, saying the new system will be run entirely by the government, with no private operator managing the core identity infrastructure.
How Hedera’s IDTrust fits in
For context, IDTrust is a self-sovereign identity (SSI) platform built on Hedera by Hashgraph Group. IDTrust aims to overcome some of the biggest limitations of traditional identity systems, including fragmentation, vendor lock-in, data overexposure, and inefficiency.
Swiss e-IDs are built around verifiable credentials, secure and cryptographically verifiable digital proofs of identity, age, and residence status. But it’s not just about ID cards.
The same trust infrastructure enables public and private organizations to issue a wide range of public electronic documents, from driver’s licenses and diplomas to certificates of residence and membership cards.
This allows credentials to move freely between platforms, gives users control over the personal information they share, and streamlines verification through trusted ledger technology and AI tools.
As Hashgraph Group co-founder and CEO Stephan Dies explained, e-ID supports Switzerland’s core values of data protection, privacy and security.
In another development, a filing filed on Oct. 7 shows that Canary has updated the S-1 registrations for both exchange-traded funds and formally revealed their ticker symbols (LTCC for the Litecoin ETF and HBR for the Hedera ETF). The HBAR ETF is based on an initial filing in November 2024, shortly after the debut of the private HBAR Trust for accredited investors.
If approved, these funds could be an important milestone in further introducing HBAR into institutional investing.
