San Francisco based DocuSign has announced the integration of the Ethereum blockchain into its electronic signature and transaction management service.
The company, which currently has over 400,000 paying customers, will now have an option for customers to have evidence of a DocuSigned agreement automatically recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. This option will be an alternative to the company’s native system for verifying signatures and is poised to be a natural fit for customers who want to have evidence of their agreements in a neutral environment.
Ron Hirson, chief product officer at DocuSign, stated in the release:
“For customers that opt-in, DocuSign will compute a one-way cryptographic hash fingerprint for every completed transaction, and write the value to the Ethereum blockchain — the most popular blockchain for smart contracts in our view.”
He went further to explain the hash will act as “tamper-proof evidence for the transaction” that “enables any completed document to be validated independently. And by using the Ethereum blockchain, that third party evidence for a transaction is accessible to anyone.”
The company has been researching on smart contract since it first collaborated with Visa, creating one of the first public prototypes. The prototype, which was developed in 2015, was a proof-of-concept that brought together secure contracts and payments made online via a connected car prototype developed by Visa for car-based commerce.
At the time, Hirson said:
“This proof-of-concept makes it easier and faster for customers to get out the door in their new car by bringing together smart contracts and payments so that customers can electronically sign all pertinent documents and seamlessly pay in one fully digital experience.”
The company has also joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, as it hopes to continue innovating in the space. DocuSign recently relaunched a new developer center.