The Decentralized Identifier Working Group has published a First Public Working Draft of Use Cases and Requirements for Decentralized Identifiers. This document sets out use cases and requirements for a new type of identifier that has 4 essential characteristics:
- decentralized: there should be no central issuing agency;
- persistent: the identifier should be inherently persistent, not requiring the continued operation of an underling organization;
- crytopgraphically verifiable: it should be possible to prove control of the identifier cryptographically;
- resolvable: it should be possible to discover metadata about the identifier.
Although existing identifiers may display some of these characteristics, none currently displays all four.
Original source: https://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/8072
