# Our Top 9 Predictions for Global Payments and Identity in 2024

## The Prediction to Innovation Pipeline

The road to success starts with a clear vision. Even though we're well into February, it's never too late to set goals. Each year, I zealously embrace the mantra, "New year, new me," by writing a list of goals and putting them into motion. Just as individuals set personal goals, corporations eagerly anticipate the future, often capturing their excitement into listicle blog posts titled "Top X Trends for [insert year here]." While these articles seem like fun speculation, they have the potential to catalyze action.

Here are a few companies' predictions for 2024 that piqued my interest:

* Fuselab Creative envisions that Biometric Authentication and AI integration will be [top UI/UX trends in 2024](https://fuselabcreative.com/top-20-ui-ux-design-trends-for-2024).
* Trinsic’s CEO, Riley Hughes, shared [10 Predictions for IDtech in 2024](https://trinsic.id/10-predictions-for-the-identity-industry-in-2024/), including verified profiles on platforms like TikTok and Snapchat.
* KPMG anticipates the [future of payments](https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/uz/pdf/2020/04/uz-10-predictions-for-the-future-of-payments.pdf) will incorporate social experiences into payment technology.
* GitHub foresees an increase in AI security tools integrated into the developer workflow in their [2024 Predictions for Open Source Software](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2024-predictions-open-source-software-github-rtxdc)

Inspired by these predictions across various industries and recognizing TBD's role in reshaping the web, identity, and global payments, it seems fitting to voice our vision of the future.

## Our Projects

Before I share predictions, let me give you an overview of our initiatives and explain how we fit into the Global Payments and Identity industries.

At TBD, we aim to make the decentralized financial world accessible to everyone. Initially, this goal didn't resonate deeply with me. But as I reflected, I recognized the importance of financial inclusivity in my own life. As an immigrant, I've witnessed my parents face challenges accessing traditional financial services.

After a few months of working here, I'm playing a part in making this vision possible by writing code, hosting live streams, and blogging. From my viewpoint, here's how I see our projects making an impact:

- **Making global payments easy** - We recognize that much of technology is U.S. centric. We've proudly contributed to making money exchange easy within the U.S. through platforms like CashApp. Now, we're expanding this accessibility worldwide with the development of the [tbDEX SDK](https://developer.tbd.website/docs/tbdex/), enabling developers to create platforms where global money exchange is easy.
- **Modernizing ID management** - Along with other organizations, we're part of a collective to leverage W3C standards to reduce reliance on passwords or physical identification cards. In the near future, it will be popular to store IDs and credentials on your cellphone via the use of [Verifiable Credentials](https://developer.tbd.website/docs/web5/learn/verifiable-credentials), [Decentralized Identifiers](https://developer.tbd.website/docs/web5/learn/decentralized-identifiers), and [Agents](https://developer.tbd.website/docs/web5/learn/agents).
- **Introducing data portability** - We built the [Web5 SDK](https://developer.tbd.website/docs/web5/) to empower developers to create web apps where users can keep their data private and easily migrate data from one platform to another.

## My Top 2 Predictions

### 1. The Rise of Cross-border Payment Applications

TBD's Software Development Kit (SDK) will empower developers and financial institutions to build applications that support frictionless international money transfers. While this feature is beneficial for personal remittances (sending money globally to family and friends), it's equally beneficial for business entities. Examples of entities limited by the challenge of cross-border payments include:
* Remote work payrolls - Paying remote employees in multiple countries can get complicated because companies have to navigate each country's financial system.
* Charities - For global charitable organizations, accepting donations can mean high transaction fees and delayed access to funds.
* Open Source Maintainers - Technologists often maintain important software that high-earning, well-known companies use for free. Platforms like GitHub Sponsors and Open Collective provided ways for maintainers to receive financial recognition for their contributions. However, due to limitations in cross-border payments, some people in certain countries can't receive money.

Our SDK is not directly aimed at solving these specific challenges nor is it guaranteed to do so. However, I am hopeful that it will create a positive ripple effect, lowering barriers for entities such as small companies, charities, and open source maintainers.

### 2. Reducing Spam in Open Source

When I worked at GitHub, I learned that spam was huge issue in open source, especially during Hacktoberfest. Many times people are just trying to inflate their contribution graph with superficial contributions. This can be overwhelming for maintainers who already have enough work to balance. **I predict that in 2024, open source organizations will search for a solution to reduce spam. Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers could solve this problem because they can be used to accurately reflect a contributor's reputation.**

## TBD's Top 7 Predictions

So far, I've been sharing my personal perspective. I decided to reach out to my coworkers at TBD for a more holistic perspective of our company’s and industry’s future. I asked seven employees, each with specialized knowledge in product, engineering, compliance, and partnerships, to share their predictions for global payments and identity in 2024. Let's see what's in their crystal ball for 2024! 🔮

### 3. Borderless Transactions

*In 2024, we’ll see at least one major report published showing that more of the world’s wealth has moved into borderless currencies compared with 2023. -* **Kirah Sapong, Software Engineer**

### 4. The Hidden DID

*The first explosive private sector use-case for DIDs and VCs will almost completely hide DIDs and VCs from the experience* - **Nick Burgess, Compliance Product Manager**

### 5. The Emergence of DID:DHT

*By the end of 2024, over a million `did:dht` identities with associated verifiable data will be created and in use.* – **Gabe Cohen, Director of Open Standards and Software Engineer**

### 6. Increased Mergers and Acquisitions

*2024 will see a significant surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and consolidation activities within the realm of Digital Identity and Fraud Prevention. Walk the halls of any of the prominent fintech conferences and you will encounter a multitude of digital identity firms, ranging from global juggernauts with “blue-chip” reputations to a rapidly-growing array of startups offering specialized solutions for various challenges (think behavioral biometrics, 3D liveness verification, deep-fake detection and the like). This trend of increasing fragmentation, which has been gaining momentum in recent years, is expected to culminate in a major wave of consolidation during 2024, with no less than three significant transactions poised to make headlines.* – **Aaron Suplizio, Tech Partnerships**

### 7. Deep Fakes and Money Moves
*In 2024, we'll see one notable attack that uses deepfake capabilities to defraud customers across borders. It will be the catalyst for a change in global payment policies.* – **Lam Chau, Software Engineer**

### 8. Hacked
*In 2024, we'll see at least one major national news outlet publish a headline along the lines of "Government-issued digital ID database hacked"* – **Kendall Weihe, Software Engineer**

### 9. Speaking TBD's Success into Existence
*tbDex will onboard some PFIs* – **Diane Huxley, Software Engineer**

## Keep up with TBD
*"The best way to predict the future is to create it" - Peter Druker*

At TBD, we're envisioning the future we aspire to create. Follow our journey across various platforms to witness which of our predictions become a reality:
- [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/tbd)
- [Developer Docs](https://developer.tbd.website/docs)
- [Developer Blog](https://developer.tbd.website/blog)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@TBD54566975)
- [Weekly Live Stream](https://www.twitch.tv/tbdevs)

TBD is an open source community. Join us as we pave the way for innovation and progress in global payments and identity solutions.