Decentralized digital ID network launched by cheqd with support for different VC types

An upgraded network for decentralized digital identity has been launched by cheqd, and the company says that it is the first and most interoperable of its kind.

The cheqd network supports three major verifiable credential types, according to the announcement, which could spur the adoption of decentralized digital ID. It also supports two major types of credential revocation, and set up the possibility to implement a wide array of decentralized identity applications.

The company launched the original version of its SSI network a year ago with 20 partners.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) has a total addressable market of over half a trillion dollars, cheqd estimates.

“Powered by the need for secure digital credentials, uptake of decentralised technologies, and growing concerns for data privacy and security, we’re seeing a strong market demand for decentralised identity solutions across all industry verticals,” says cheqd CEO and Co-founder Fraser Edwards. “From public offices issuing identity documents, like introducing blockchain-based digital identification instead of physical cards in South Korea, to re-usable Know Your Customers (KYC) for banking and passwordless interaction for e-commerce, there is a common denominator for all: a need for digital trust.”

The three primary credential formats in SSI are JSON, JSON-LD and AnonCreds, cheqd says. Each has had adoption on its own, but no single blockchain network has supported all three until now, according to the announcement, in part because AnonCreds is closely associated with the Hyperledger Indy network.

Co-founder and CTO Ankur Banerjee says the network launch is a major milestone for cheqd and “the entire digital identity community. We’ve made the ability to share data in a simple and secure fashion available to developers who want to give back control to people for their data, by decoupling the highly privacy-preserving AnonCreds digital credential format from relying on only the Hyperledger Indy blockchain.”

Edwards also pitched the value of SSI for university credentials in a recent Biometric Update guest post.

Article Topics

AnonCreds  |  cheqd  |  data privacy  |  decentralized ID  |  digital identity  |  self-sovereign identity  |  verifiable credentials