DIF’s commitment to supporting builders and doers in the decentralized identity space has led to the launch of DIF Labs, an initiative aimed at transforming how decentralized identity solutions are built, tested, and scaled. DIF Labs bridges the gap between brilliant ideas and market-ready solutions, empowering developers, startups, and industry innovators to collaborate, experiment, and grow.

DIF Labs was born from the need for a dedicated space where creators in decentralized identity can focus on practical innovation. Traditional standards organizations can be slow and formal, while incubators may lack the technical ecosystem DIF provides. DIF Labs is uniquely positioned to address these gaps, offering participants:

• Speed and Flexibility: Projects in DIF Labs aim to achieve milestones within months, not years.
• Open and Inclusive Governance: All outputs are open-source and royalty-free, allowing for broad community adoption.
• Knowledge Pool: Access to a network of expertise across technical, legal, and market domains.

DIF Labs stands apart by supporting real-world applications rather than just standard development. It’s a space where builders can focus on creating solutions without the bureaucratic overhead typical of many organizations. Projects are any decentralized identity stack, not necessarily based on DIF-based specifications.

The inaugural DIF Labs Beta Cohort began November 2024, and runs through February 2025. This first iteration is a learning process for everyone involved, with high-touch engagement from the chairs to refine the structure and maximize impact. The chairs hand-selected projects with leads they knew were capable and focused on completing some amazing work.

• Lead: Brian Richter
• Goal: Establish a standardized framework for implementing verifiable credentials on Bitcoin using Ordinal inscriptions.
• Use Cases: Event tickets, digital collectibles, ownership records, Verifiable AI Inference credentials.
• Proposal: Read the project proposal here.

• Leads: Golda Velez, Agnes Koinange, Phil Long
• Goal: Build progressive trust through combining attestations and release the high-level specification for LinkedClaims to further the LinkedTrust project.
• Proposal: Read the proposal here.

• Lead: Alex Hache
• Goal: Introduce a protocol for anonymous personhood verification using Semaphore, a zero-knowledge group membership protocol.
• Proposal: Read the proposal here.

• Labs Start Date: Late November 2024
• Check-ins: Scheduled throughout the three months.
• Show and Tell: February 18, 2025 - Projects will be showcased to the community.

DIF Labs is more than a program—it’s a movement to propel decentralized identity into its next phase of growth. By fostering a space for practical, collaborative innovation, DIF Labs aims to cultivate solutions that tackle pressing industry driven challenges in the decentralized identity space.

We invite you to follow our journey and participate in this initiative:

• Join the conversation on DIF Labs Discord
• Explore projects on Github
• Attend the meetings:
  • Meetings are the third Tuesday of every month at 11am ET
• Subscribe to DIF’s calendar
• Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved

You’ll be hearing more about our Mentors, Chairs, and Cohorts in the coming months. Stay tuned as we unveil even more Mentors as well.

After Beta cohort is done, we will be opening up for new projects to run through DIF Labs. Together, we’re building the future of decentralized identity.