California-Based DocuSign Announces Integration of Smart Contract Functionality

By Swati Kishore

DocuSign, which provides digital signature services, recently tweeted that it will be deploying Ethereum into its contract verification processes. Ethereum is undoubtedly one of the most well-known Smart Contract frameworks available right now. DocuSign is not just known for its digital signature technology, it is also famous for its virtual transaction management services. At the time of the announcement, the San Francisco based company noted that ever since its collaboration with Visa, it had been actively researching the deployment of Smart Contracts in its processes.

The first prototype, developed in the year 2015, was a proof of concept and it brought together contracts with digital payments made on the internet with a connected car prototype developed by Visa. It enabled the customers to link documents, pay the money, etc easily through a proof of concept app. Hence, the customers were able to drive away with a new car in matter of minutes.

DocuSign is now a proud member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and it aims to continue innovating with the help of Blockchain technology. In its tweet DocuSign announced that its customers will now be able to choose to have evidence of a DocuSigned agreement to be written to the Ethereum Blockchain. This feature is optional and it comes bundled with DocuSign’s native system for verifying signatures. The company thinks that this alternative will fit its customers needs as most of them look to store an evidence of their agreements in a safe and secure environment.

With the integration of Ethereum in DocuSign’s processes, it will now be possible for companies to verify signatures as well as the integrity of a document remotely. It will be achieved by comparing them to records on the Ethereum Blockchain.

Ron Hirson, Chief Product Officer at DocuSign, was quoted as saying:

“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.”