Verifiable Credentials & Identity Wallets (W3C VC 2.0)
Cryptographically verifiable claims issued by trusted parties and presented via identity wallets, enabling selective disclosure and offline verification.
Overview
Verifiable Credentials (VCs) allow entities to issue cryptographically signed credentials that holders store and present through identity wallets. Verifiers check proofs without calling the issuer, enabling privacy-preserving flows and offline checks.
How it works
- Issuance: Issuer signs a credential to the holder’s wallet.
- Presentation: Holder creates a verifiable presentation with selective attributes.
- Verification: Verifier validates signature, status/revocation, and schema against trusted keys/registries.
Common use cases
- Digital diplomas & licenses
- Age or attribute checks
- Travel & cross-border credentials
- Land-registry consent and transaction authorization
- Government service access and digital signatures
Strengths and limitations
Strengths: Privacy via selective disclosure; offline verification; open standards.
Limitations: Interop profiles; governance/trust frameworks; revocation/status infrastructure.
Key terms
- Verifiable presentation: A bundle proving certain claims to a verifier.
- Issuer/Holder/Verifier: Roles in VC ecosystems.
Current market signal
VCs are increasingly tied to operational ecosystems rather than only conceptual wallet demonstrations. Bhutan's National Digital Identity work applies credentials to land-registry consent, while idOS reflects demand for reusable identity and compliance proofs across decentralized applications.
References
Vendors using Verifiable Credentials & Identity Wallets (W3C VC 2.0)
Latest Data Cards
Data Card Sumsub joins idOS consortium for reusable Web3 identity
2026-07-02CC-BY-4.0digital-idverifiable-credentialssumsubSumsub joined the idOS consortium to support reusable identity and compliance checks across Web3 applications without requiring users to repeat full onboarding for every service.
- The collaboration connects Sumsub's verification and compliance capabilities with the idOS reusable identity network.
- The model is intended to let users reuse verified identity information across participating applications.
- Reusable compliance proofs can reduce repeated KYC while preserving relying-party policy checks.
Data Card Bhutan NDI adds digital consent to land registry transactions
2026-06-03CC-BY-4.0verifiable-credentialsdigital-idnational-eidBhutan added NDI-based digital consent to land registry transactions, using decentralized identity credentials to authorize property-related workflows.
- The land registry update uses Bhutan's National Digital Identity wallet for digital consent.
- Property owners can authorize transfers or title updates through cryptographically secured digital signatures.
- The use case shows decentralized identity being applied to high-value government records rather than only login or onboarding.
Data Card Dewa Developing AI Agent for eIDAS 2.0 Compliance as Danish Wallet Deployment Scales to Millions
2026-03-30CC-BY-4.0digital-idverifiable-credentialsDanish startup Dewa announced development of an AI agent for eIDAS 2.0 compliance tooling, having already reached approximately 5.3 million users and generated over 160 million verifiable credentials through its digital wallet partnership with e-Boks in Denmark.
- Reached approximately 5.3 million users in Denmark
- Generated over 160 million verifiable credentials
- Rollout completed in roughly 42 days post-integration with e-Boks