Definition
DID
Decentralized Identifier
A DID is a digital identifier. It helps its holder and a verifier establish who controls an identity and who a claim relates to. It is not a wallet, and it does not replace application accounts, sign-in methods, or permission rules.
Industry term
- Also called
- Decentralized Identifier
- Read more
- DID →
Explore this topic
Learning
- Understand identity and credentials
Distinguish identifiers, control, claims and application requests.
- What does a DID identify?
Distinguish the identifier, its document and its subject.
- Does control prove real-world identity?
Proving control of an identifier and establishing a real-world identity are different tasks.
- How does did:abt relate to DID Core?
DID Core supplies a shared model; each method supplies its own rules.
- Must a DID depend on a blockchain?
Identifiers and verifiable registries can combine without being synonyms.
- Are agent identity and permission the same?
Separate persistent naming, proof of control and authority for an action.
Articles
- Real user sovereignty: freedom to choose, freedom to move
Why Arc separates identity, data and compute: ownership should let you change services while keeping your identity, records and AI memory under your control.
- DiscussKit, Rebuilt on ARC
DiscussKit has been rebuilt on ARC, and ArcBlock Community has completed its move. This is a new division of responsibility across discussions, identity and user-owned data.
- Why We Built Aside
We watched great tools change hands or disappear. That is why ArcBlock built Aside: an ARC-powered iPhone app that sends every Share back to a place you own.
- CLARITY Act or Not, Let’s Clarify ABT
Clear law matters, but a product must also explain what its token does, who controls it, what rules apply, and how participants reconcile the record.
- What's next: ARC, one real application at a time
The new site is live. Here is how we plan to bring ARC into the community, data spaces and everyday applications, with migrations, new products and builders taking part along the way.
- A Useful Token Must First Stand for Something of Real Value
AI services already use credits to meter storage, compute, and API calls. As Agents begin to act across systems, the important work is not giving those units a fashionable name. It is making the rights, authority, and usage they represent possible to verify and reconcile.
Products
- ARC Space active
A data space associated with a DID. Create a personal space, or connect an application with the permissions and data model its task requires.
- ArcWallet active
Create and manage a digital identity (DID) and its associated credentials in one app.
- DID Connect active
The part of the DID protocol an application uses to ask someone to sign in or present a credential, including alongside third-party accounts.
- DID Names active
Domain management built on DID and verifiable credentials. One account can host and manage many domains at once, rather than configuring each one separately.
- DID Spaces renamed
A data space associated with a DID. Create a personal space, or connect an application with the permissions and data model its task requires.
- DID Wallet renamed
Create and manage a digital identity (DID) and its associated credentials in one app.
Documentation
Terms
- Agent
A useful system can distinguish the person, service, or agent taking an action; the party it represents; and the permission for that action. Treating all three as one shared secret makes a later decision harder to explain.
- Blockchain
A distributed ledger that links records cryptographically and uses shared validation and consensus rules to establish an accepted transaction history.
- Decentralized Identity
An approach where the identifier and the claims about it are held by the subject and checked by the verifier, instead of living inside one provider's account system. DID and verifiable credentials are the pieces that make it workable.
- DID Document
A DID document describes verification methods and services associated with a DID. W3C defines the shared data model; resolving a DID still requires support for its method. Applications decide which keys, purposes and issuers they accept.
- did:abt
ArcBlock’s DID method, using the did:abt: namespace to identify accounts, assets and other objects. Resolution requires support for this method.
- Self-Sovereign Identity
The position that a person should hold their own identifiers and credentials and decide each time what to disclose. It is a stance about who is in control, not a protocol; decentralized identity is how it gets built.