Nizel Pradhan
cheqd, a technology company building a decentralised network enabling individuals and organisations to take full control of their data, unveiled its ground-breaking product updates today at Web Summit. The updates make cheqd the first and only network to support three major verifiable credential types, turbocharging decentralised identity adoption; cheqd is now the most interoperable network for decentralised identity.
Thanks to supporting three largest credential types, two biggest revocation types, these updates ensure the company is paving the way for a more diverse array of decentralised identity applications to be built on the cheqd network.
To understand the impact of these updates, it’s important to understand decentralised, or self-sovereign identity (DID or SSI). SSI is an emerging technology that centres the control of information around the user. It safeguards privacy by removing the need to store personal information entirely on a central database and gives individuals greater control over what information they share. SSI’s potential addressable market totals ~$0.55Tr, according to cheqd.
Acting as an enabler of decentralised identity, Verifiable Credentials (VC) are tamper-evident data files with a set of claims about a person, organisation, or thing that can be cryptographically verified.
Fraser Edwards, CEO and co-founder at cheqd explained: “Powered by the need for secure digital credentials, uptake of decentralised technologies, and growing concerns for data privacy and security, we’re seeing a strong market demand for decentralised identity solutions across all industry verticals. From public offices issuing identity documents, like introducing blockchain-based digital identification instead of physical cards in South Korea, to re-usable Know Your Customers (KYC) for banking and passwordless interaction for e-commerce, there is a common denominator for all: a need for digital trust.”
Across the SSI industry, there are three primary credential formats: JSON, JSON-LD and AnonCreds. Although widely adopted in isolation, to date, no single blockchain network has supported all three credential formats. This is largely because the AnonCreds digital credential format has been closely built around the Hyperledger Indy network.
With its latest releases and tooling made available, cheqd now supports all three credentials formats. With greater interoperability comes greater utility and hence greater value for data, creating a greater commercial driver for adoption.
Ankur Banerjee, CTO and co-founder of cheqd, went on further to say: “This is a huge milestone, not only for cheqd, but for the entire digital identity community. We’ve made the ability to share data in a simple and secure fashion available to developers who want to give back control to people for their data, by decoupling the highly privacy-preserving AnonCreds digital credential format from relying on only the Hyperledger Indy blockchain.”
“No other network offers the same capabilities as we built on cheqd,” explains Fraser Edwards, CEO and co-founder of cheqd. “We are proud to offer capabilities as yet unavailable in products from tech behemoths, such as Microsoft and Block.”
About cheqd
cheqd is a market-leading technology company enabling individuals and organisations to take full control of their data. It provides payment rails, customisable commercial models and governance structures for trusted data, including self-sovereign identity (SSI). Based on blockchain technology, cheqd is built upon a public permissionless network with a dedicated token – $CHEQ.
Founded in 2021 by CEO Fraser Edwards and CTO Ankur Banerjee, cheqd is a driver for innovation backed by Outlier Ventures, Evernym (now acquired by Avast), Cosmos’ Ignite (formerly known as Tendermint Ventures) and private investors, receiving a total raise of just over £2.4 million in its seed investment round.
