Hyperledger Identus

About Hyperledger Identus

Hyperledger Identus is an open-source decentralized identity technology stack designed for building self-sovereign identity and verifiable credential solutions. It enables organizations and developers to create systems in which individuals can hold and manage decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and digital credentials and selectively share verified information with businesses, governments, and other organizations.

Identus uses open standards for decentralized identity, verifiable credentials, and secure communications. Its PRISM DID infrastructure uses the Cardano blockchain as a verifiable data registry, allowing DID-related information to be anchored and resolved without relying on a traditional centralized identity provider. Sensitive personal information and credentials do not need to be stored directly on the blockchain.

Traditional identity systems often require organizations to collect, store, and protect large amounts of personal information. This can create security, privacy, compliance, and operational challenges. Individuals may also have limited control over how their personal information is stored, reused, or shared between different services.

Hyperledger Identus provides infrastructure for a different approach to digital identity. Organizations can issue cryptographically verifiable credentials directly to users, while users can store those credentials in compatible applications or wallets. When interacting with a service, users can present the required credentials or proofs rather than repeatedly providing the underlying personal information.

For businesses, decentralized identity solutions built with Hyperledger Identus can support customer onboarding, credential verification, access management, and other identity-related workflows. They can also help reduce reliance on centralized identity databases and simplify the exchange of verified information between organizations.

Governments and public institutions can use Identus-based solutions to issue and verify digital credentials such as permits, certificates, licenses, or other attestations. These credentials can then be presented electronically when accessing public or private services.

Individuals can use applications built with Hyperledger Identus to receive, store, and present verifiable credentials. This gives users greater control over when credentials are presented and makes it possible to share verified information without requiring every organization to maintain its own copy of the underlying identity data.

Key Components

Hyperledger Identus provides a collection of open-source components, SDKs, APIs, and infrastructure for developing decentralized identity applications.

Cloud Agent

The Cloud Agent provides backend services and APIs for implementing decentralized identity workflows. Organizations can use it to manage decentralized identifiers, issue credentials, request and verify proofs, and integrate identity functionality into existing applications and services.

Edge Agent SDKs

Hyperledger Identus provides Edge Agent SDKs for building digital identity wallets and client applications. The SDKs support functionality such as creating and managing DIDs, receiving and storing credentials, presenting proofs, and communicating securely with other identity agents.

SDKs are available for multiple development environments, including TypeScript, Kotlin Multiplatform, and Swift, allowing developers to integrate decentralized identity capabilities into web, mobile, and cross-platform applications.

DIDComm and Mediator

Identus supports DIDComm, an open protocol for secure and private communication between decentralized identity agents. DIDComm can be used for workflows such as credential issuance, proof presentation, and other peer-to-peer identity interactions.

The Mediator component supports message delivery when users or applications are not continuously connected, helping enable asynchronous communication between identity agents.

PRISM DID and Verifiable Data Registry

Hyperledger Identus includes infrastructure for the PRISM decentralized identifier method. PRISM DIDs can be created, updated, resolved, and deactivated using a verifiable data registry.

The current PRISM infrastructure uses the Cardano blockchain to anchor DID operations. The blockchain provides a tamper-resistant record that can be used to resolve and verify decentralized identifiers, while personal credentials and sensitive user information can remain off-chain.

Verifiable Credentials

Identus supports the issuance, storage, presentation, and verification of verifiable credentials. A credential can represent information such as a qualification, membership, license, account status, certification, or other verified attribute.

Cryptographic proofs allow a verifier to confirm that a credential was issued by the expected issuer and has not been altered. Depending on the credential format and implementation, users may also be able to present only the information required for a particular interaction.

Cryptographic and Identity Libraries

The Identus architecture includes libraries responsible for cryptography, decentralized identifiers, credential processing, secure messaging, and local data management. These components provide the technical foundation used by the Edge Agent SDKs and other applications built on the platform.

APIs and Developer Tools

Hyperledger Identus provides APIs and developer tooling that allow organizations to integrate decentralized identity functionality into existing systems and workflows. Developers can use these interfaces to automate credential issuance, verification, DID management, and secure identity interactions.

Use Cases

Hyperledger Identus can be used as the foundation for a wide range of digital identity applications. Potential use cases include digital identity wallets, education credentials, professional certifications, employee credentials, customer onboarding, access management, government-issued credentials, licenses, memberships, financial-services onboarding, and reusable identity verification.

Because Hyperledger Identus is an open-source technology stack rather than a complete end-user identity service, organizations can use its components to build identity solutions that match their own technical, regulatory, and governance requirements.