Ethereum Foundation Launches Website on Digital Infrastructure for Governments

On November 3, 2026, the Ethereum Foundation launched a dedicated website focused on the application of Ethereum in digital public infrastructure. The resource is intended for government agencies, international organizations, and the nonprofit sector considering the use of blockchain for document verification and interaction between independent organizations.

The main idea of the initiative is to create a shared technical infrastructure that does not depend on a single service provider. According to the foundation, the open architecture of Ethereum can allow institutions to verify digital records and interact with each other while maintaining control over their own data and operational rules. This does not involve launching a new blockchain network or cryptocurrency product.

How Ethereum is Used in Bhutan's Digital Identification System

One of the main examples cited by the Ethereum Foundation is Bhutan's national digital identification system – Bhutan National Digital Identity (NDI). The program has been operational since 2023, and its integration with Ethereum was announced by its developers in October 2025. The system allows citizens to verify their identity and provide necessary information when accessing government and commercial services.

Digital IDs are issued by authorized organizations and stored in the personal NDI Wallet app. Users independently choose what information to disclose when interacting with a specific service. Digital signatures and an Ethereum registry containing information about trusted organizations and types of IDs are used to verify authenticity.

However, the IDs themselves and citizens' personal data are not published on the blockchain. Ethereum provides the ability to verify the authenticity of the presented information but does not determine who has the right to issue official documents. These powers remain with the relevant Bhutanese institutions.

According to the Ethereum Foundation, by the end of 2025, 449,549 people had registered with Bhutan NDI. The system was integrated with more than 70 government services, all five banks in the country, and two mobile operators. Practical applications include remote identification of financial organization clients and electronic identity verification when interacting with government services.

The Foundation Tests Blockchain for Humanitarian Aid Coordination

Another direction is the development of a technical prototype intended for interaction among humanitarian organizations. Its task is to help institutions coordinate aid distribution and avoid duplication of operations without the need to exchange complete personal data databases.

The Technical Foundations team proposed an architecture that combines decentralized identification, zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs, and confidential payment mechanisms. In this model, organizations can verify certain information through a shared registry without disclosing the original personal information to external participants. One-time addresses are provided for payments, making it difficult to publicly match transactions with their recipients.

The initial version of the prototype focuses on the interaction of humanitarian organizations with retail outlets through which aid can be distributed. The system allows verifying the seller's credentials, registering them in the shared registry, and preventing duplicate record creation by different organizations.

The development has already been deployed on the Ethereum Sepolia test network, where specialists tested the full cycle of digital ID and payment operations. During testing on a mid-range Android smartphone, creating a cryptographic proof took about 1.9 seconds.

However, the project is not yet used as an operational international humanitarian aid system. Its source code has not undergone independent security audits, and issues of scalability, access recovery, and servicing people without smartphones remain open.

Why Government Agencies Need a Shared Infrastructure

The Ethereum Foundation believes that open blockchain systems can reduce the dependence of government and public organizations on individual technology providers. If multiple institutions use a shared verification infrastructure, they do not need to transfer control of all records to a single operator.

At the same time, blockchain does not replace government bodies and existing personal data processing rules. Institutions still need to determine who is authorized to issue IDs, what information can be requested, and how users can dispute errors or recover access.

There are also technical limitations. The use of blockchain does not automatically guarantee confidentiality, as information protection depends on application architecture, key management, and the correctness of cryptographic implementation. For humanitarian services, the availability of devices, the cost of operations, and reliability in conditions of limited connectivity are of additional importance.

The resource presented by the Ethereum Foundation combines existing examples and experimental developments but does not confirm a widespread transition of government systems to Ethereum. The further spread of such solutions will depend on the results of practical implementations, independent security audits, and the ability of technologies to solve specific user tasks.