On December 1st, 2014,
the Estonian government-backed initiative of e-Residency was officially launched so people from all over the world could apply for the e-Residency program and receive advantages of authenticated online identity along with a smart ID-card issued by Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
ID-card uses open-source public key-private key encryption, “which allows government agencies to perform various secure functions online connected with a citizen's identity”.
Digital signatures and authentication are legally equivalent to handwritten signatures and face-to-face identification in Estonia and between partners upon agreement anywhere around the world.
On December 1st, 2015,
BITNATION introduced a public notary service for Estonian e-residents. Via the international BITNATION Public Notary, e-residents, regardless of where they live or do business, are able to notarize their marriages, birth certificates, business contracts, and much more on the blockchain.