DIDs
Identity Protocol
Community
Details
License Specification only; many reference implementations across languages — SpruceID, walt.id, Veramo, Digital Bazaar libraries, Microsoft ION, ConsenSys uPort/Veramo, etc.
Dev Status 🏁 Final
Dev Status Detail Released / Mature (W3C Recommendation since 2022; broad ecosystem adoption)
Owner W3C; DID Working Group; DID Working Group editors include Manu Sporny, Markus Sabadello, Drummond Reed, others
Governing Body W3C (Recommendation track — DID Working Group)
Governing Body - List
- World Wide Web Consortium
Country International (W3C)
Start Year 2017
Stack Specification; implementations in nearly every major language — JavaScript/TypeScript (Veramo, Digital Bazaar, walt.id JS), Rust (SpruceID DIDKit), Java/Kotlin (walt.id, IDunion), Python, Go
Funding W3C standards process; substantial industry investment in DID-based products (SpruceID, walt.id, Microsoft, etc.)
Funding - List
- StandICT.eu
Last Investigated Jul 1, 2026
Identity Protocol Attributes
Origins Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) movement; emerged from W3C Credentials Community Group; influenced by earlier work on cryptographic identity (PGP, namecoin, X.509) and the principle that identifiers should be controlled by their subjects rather than by registration authorities
Database DID method-specific — each DID method (did:key, did:web, did:ion, did:peer, did:ethr, etc.) defines its own resolution mechanism, ranging from purely cryptographic (did:key) to blockchain-backed (did:ion, did:ethr) to web-resolvable (did:web)
Query Language DID Resolution (HTTP-based; method-specific; standardized via DIF DID Resolution specification)
Data Formats JSON-LD (canonical DID Document format); JSON (alternative representation); CBOR (efficient binary form); DID syntax: did:method:method-specific-identifier
Mobile Support Yes (DID wallets available on iOS and Android — Lissi, Trinsic, Veramo, walt.id wallet, etc.)
Web Support Yes (did:web, browser-based DID libraries, web-resolution via universal resolvers)
Native Apps Yes (dedicated SSI wallet apps; integration into broader identity ecosystem applications)
Terms Open standard — W3C Recommendation
Funding - List
- StandICT.eu
Funds N/A (specification itself); broader DID ecosystem has received hundreds of millions in funding
Based On Public-key cryptography (Ed25519, secp256k1, P-256, RSA); URI specification (RFC 3986); JSON-LD; earlier self-sovereign identity research; co-designed with W3C VCs and the broader SSI stack
Governing Body - List
- World Wide Web Consortium
Permissions N/A — DIDs are identifiers; permissions/authorization layered via ZCAPs or other capability systems
Authentication & Identity DID controller holds private key(s) corresponding to public keys published in the DID Document; authentication proves control of the DID by signing a challenge with the corresponding private key; no centralized identity authority
Storage Model DID method-specific — DIDs and their documents may be stored cryptographically (did:key, deriving document from the DID), on blockchains (did:ion, did:ethr), via web hosting (did:web), in peer-to-peer exchanges (did:peer), or in distributed networks
Interoperability High — over 200 DID methods registered; universal resolvers and DID-method-agnostic libraries allow cross-method interoperability; W3C SSI Suite composes DIDs with VCs and DIDComm
Data Portability Identity portability is a core design principle — DIDs can be migrated between methods (e.g. did:peer to did:web) by re-signing with established controller keys; VCs issued to a DID survive method migration
Governance & Decision Making W3C standards process (multi-stakeholder); DID methods themselves have method-specific governance; W3C DID Working Group; ongoing maintenance and version evolution
Protocol Maturity / Standardization W3C Recommendation (Mature) — DID v1.0 Recommendation (July 2022); DID v1.1 in development (2025); broad implementation and adoption; co-designed with W3C VCs and the W3C SSI Suite
Identity Standards Self — W3C DIDs IS an identity standard; composes with W3C VCs, W3C Data Integrity, JSON-LD
Identity Standards - List
DID Methods Supported 200+ DID methods registered with W3C — common methods include did:key, did:web, did:ion, did:peer, did:ethr, did:cheqd, did:jwk, did:pkh, did:tdw, did:webvh, did:plc (used by ATProto/Bluesky); each method has its own specification
DID Methods Supported - List
Key Management DID-method-specific; common approaches include hardware wallets, mobile secure enclaves, custodial wallets, browser-based key storage; key rotation supported in most methods via DID Document updates
Credential Types DIDs themselves are identifiers, not credentials; they are typically referenced as subjects, issuers, or holders of W3C Verifiable Credentials
Credential Types - List
Verification Method DID Document contains verificationMethod entries (public keys with type, controller, key material); common types include Ed25519VerificationKey2020, JsonWebKey2020, EcdsaSecp256k1VerificationKey2019; verification done by checking signatures against verificationMethod public keys
Privacy Features Pairwise DIDs (did:peer enables a unique DID per relationship for unlinkability); selective disclosure through associated VCs; pseudonymous identity (DIDs do not inherently reveal personal information)
Authentication Methods Challenge-response with DID-controlled keys; DIDAuth specification; OIDC for VCs (OID4VC); DIDComm messaging-based authentication; signature verification against DID Document's verificationMethod
Revocation Mechanism DID Document deactivation (deactivated flag); key rotation (replacing keys in verificationMethod); method-specific revocation (e.g. did:ion uses Sidetree, did:ethr uses on-chain revocation registries)
Agent Types Supported Humans, organizations, services, devices, software agents, AI agents — anything that can hold cryptographic keys can hold a DID
Wallet/Client Types Mobile wallets (Lissi, Trinsic, walt.id wallet, Microsoft Authenticator with VC support, Spruce ID); browser-based wallets; cloud wallets; custodial wallets; hardware wallets
Recovery Mechanisms DID-method-specific — common approaches include key rotation, social recovery via VCs, mnemonic-based key derivation, multisig controllers; some methods (did:ion) support recovery operations natively
Compliance / Regulations eIDAS 2.0 (EU Digital Identity Wallet uses DIDs and VCs); GDPR (DIDs enable privacy-respecting identity); ISO 18013-5 (mobile driving license); ongoing alignment with various national digital identity initiatives
Credential Exchange Protocols Many — OID4VC (OpenID for Verifiable Credentials), DIDComm, VC-API, CHAPI (Credential Handler API), WACI (Wallet and Credential Interactions); DIDs are the foundational identifier across these protocols
Credential Exchange Protocols - List
Trust Framework Trust frameworks built on top of DIDs — Trust Over IP, EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure), GLEIF vLEI, various national SSI frameworks; trust generally roots in issuer DID reputation plus VC verification
Cost Model Specification is free; DID-method-specific operational costs (e.g. on-chain methods like did:ethr have gas costs; did:web has hosting costs; did:key is purely local and free)
Censorship Resistance Variable by DID method — purely cryptographic methods (did:key, did:peer) are highly censorship-resistant; web-hosted methods (did:web) depend on hosting; blockchain-backed methods depend on the underlying chain's properties
Relationships
How this tool connects to other tools and organizations, from relationships reviewed by the OpenHaven data steward. They describe how projects connect, not how good they are.
- Funded by
- StandICT.eu
- Hosted at
- World Wide Web Consortium
- Speaks protocol
- Stewarded by
- World Wide Web Consortium
- Composes with
- Interoperates with
- Bridged from
- Conforming implementations
- ACDC (Authentic Chained Data Containers)
- Affinidi
- Animo
- AnonCreds
- Civic Identity
- Civic.Social
- did:cheqd
- did:ethr
- did:indy
- did:key
- did:peer
- did:plc
- did:scid
- did:vh
- did:web
- did:webvh
- DIDComm
- Dock.io / Truvera
- Elohim Protocol
- ERC-725
- FAN
- FedID
- First Person Project / Network
- Flowsta
- GreenCheck
- Iden3 / Privado ID
- IdentiKey
- IXO
- JLINC
- LinkedClaims
- Meeco
- Murmurations
- Northern Block / 4sure
- OOBI (Out-of-Band Introduction) Protocol
- OpenID for Verifiable Credentials (OpenID4VC)
- OpenVTC
- Personhood Credentials (PHCs)
- Portable Communities Protocol
- Real Life Trust Protocol (RLTP)
- Spherity
- SpruceID
- Trust Registry Query Protocol
- Trust Spanning Protocol
- UCAN
- VCs
- Verida
- Verifiable Relationship Credentials (VRCs)
- Walt.id
- Windfall Protocol
- XID
- ZCAPs
- Hosts
- Identity primitive for
- Protocol spoken by
- Storage for