The Linux Foundation has launched a new decentralized trust for various blockchain and crypto projects. | Credit: Pexels.
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Key Takeaways
The Linux Foundation has launched a new decentralized trust as an umbrella organization for various blockchain and crypto projects.
Founding members include Hedera, Ripple, Polygon, and Cardano developer Input Output.
As one of the trust’s inaugural projects, Hedera has handed over responsibility for hosting its open-source codebase.
While it was initially established to oversee open-source code initiatives rooted in the Linux operating system kernel, since around 2010, The Linux Foundation has evolved to shepherd a far more diverse variety of projects. Today, it functions as a kind of “foundation of foundations” for more than 230 open-source projects spanning AI, cloud, networking, security, blockchain, and beyond.
Reflecting its new role as a broad patron of open-source technology, on Monday, Sept. 16, the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust (LFDT) launched with the support of over 100 founding members, including the organizations behind Polygon, Hedera, Cardano, and Ripple.
Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust
The LFDT positions itself as an “umbrella organization that fosters collaboration and innovation across a growing ecosystem of blockchain, ledger, identity, interoperability, cryptographic, and related technologies.”
Alongside well-known players from the Web3 space, founding members include various technology companies and financial institutions with an interest in promoting interoperable, open-source standards.
Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust Founding Members. Source: Linux Foundation.
Going forward, the LFDT will be responsible for maintaining the suite of hyperledger resources developed by the Linux Foundation since 2016. Additionally, it has been entrusted with hosting open-source code libraries for external projects such as Hedera Hashgraph.
Hedera Hands Over the Reins
Until now, the limited liability company Hedera Hashgraph has maintained the source code for Hedera’s consensus algorithm alongside all associated libraries and tooling.
Now, Hedera has handed over the reins to the Linux Foundation, which will provide a “neutral home” for the software under the banner of Project Hiero, LFDT Executive Director Daniela Barbosa remarked.
Beyond Hyperledger
The Linux Foundation’s main contribution to Web3 technologies has been Hyperledger, an open-source project designed to help businesses build and manage blockchain-based applications.
With the participation of firms like IBM, Accenture, and Hitachi, the Hyperledger project has created one of the most successful blockchain frameworks for enterprise settings. Mastercard, Santander, and Visa are all experimenting with the technology.
Although Hyperledger has been a success by most measures, the new LFDT recognizes that businesses today embrace a range of decentralized platforms.
Creating a space for collaboration could help promote interoperability between diverse systems and solve some of the fragmentation that currently impacts the wider technology ecosystem.
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
