March 2025
DIF Website | DIF Mailing Lists | Meeting Recording Archive
Table of contents
- Decentralized Identity Foundation News; 2. Working Group Updates; 3 Special Interest Group Updates; 4 User Group Updates; 5. Announcements; 6. Community Events; 7. DIF Member Spotlights; 8. Get involved! Join DIF
🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News
Creator Assertions Working Group Joins DIF
DIF welcomes the Creator Assertions Working Group (CAWG) as its newest working group! CAWG builds upon C2PA's work by defining additional assertions allowing content creators to express intent about their content and bind their online identity to what they produce. This collaboration with ToIP will be chaired by Eric Scouten from Adobe, with meetings beginning March 10.
To participate, join DIF!
Working Groups
DIDComm User Group Expands!
The DIDComm User Group offers developers an open forum to learn about and implement DIDComm protocol. Colton Wolkins highlights three compelling reasons to join:
- Seeing real-world demonstrations from implementers
- Getting help with technical challenges
- Learning about DIDComm adoption across industries and regions.
The group meets regularly to accommodate global participants.
Working Groups
Cryptographic Pseudonyms: A Short History
Following IETF/IRTF's adoption of BBS Blind Signatures and BBS per-Verifier Linkability specifications, this comprehensive piece by Greg Bernstein, Dave Longley, Manu Sporny, and Kim Hamilton Duffy explores the evolution of cryptographic pseudonyms and their privacy features. The article examines how BBS signatures provide protections against credential fraud.
Working Groups
DIF Hackathon 2024 Winners Wrap Up
The DIF Hackathon 2024 showcased remarkable innovation across multiple tracks including education and workforce solutions, reusable identity, and privacy-preserving authentication. Standout projects included ZKP implementations, verifiable credentials powering next-gen job boards, seamless hotel check-ins, and digital identity solutions for expats. See the full list of winners and their groundbreaking projects.
Limari Navarrete
🛠️ Working Group Updates
DID Methods Working Group
The group discussed categorization of DID methods, blockchain-based DID methods, the need for standardization in web-based methods and decentralized methods for government use cases, and the proposal for a new charter for the W3C Working Group. The group agreed on the need for further refinement and discussion before a vote could be held.
DID Methods meets bi-weekly at 9am PT/ noon ET/ 6pm CET Wednesdays
Identifiers and Discovery Working Group
The Identifiers & Discovery group discussed various work items, including Linked VPs and DID:webvh method, as well as open source code projects like the Universal Resolver. The group also explored the potential of biometric technology to create a private key directly from a person's face without storing any biometric data or involving a server, and considered the possibility of generating DIDs from biometric data.
Identifiers and Discovery meets bi-weekly at 11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 8pm CET Mondays
🪪 Claims & Credentials Working Group
DIF recently hosted a special Credential Schemas workshop focused on privacy-preserving age verification solutions. Led by Otto Mora (Privado ID) and Valerio Camiani (Crossmint), participants explored innovative approaches beyond traditional verification methods, including AI-based age estimation while maintaining strong privacy protections.
Working Groups
Credential Schemas work item meets bi-weekly at 10am PT/ 1pm ET/ 7pm CET Tuesdays
Applied Crypto Working Group
The general Applied Crypto Working Group has finished a draft for a general trust model for ZKP self-attestations, and working through feedback. It's a great time to get involved.
The Crypto BBS+ Work Item group is addressing feedback from the CFRG Crypto Panel review.
BBS+ work item meets weekly at 11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 8pm CET Mondays
Applied Crypto Working Group meets bi-weekly at 7am PT/ 10am ET/ 4pm CET Thursdays
DIF Labs Working Group
The DIF Labs Show and Tell event was held on February 18, featuring three groundbreaking projects from the DIF Labs Beta Cohort. After three months of development and refinement, these projects demonstrated cutting-edge innovation in decentralized identity with real-world applications.
The featured projects included:
- Ordinals Plus: Brian Richter presented a framework for implementing verifiable credentials on Bitcoin using Ordinal inscriptions.
- Linked Claims: Golda Velez, Agnes Koinange, and Phil Long demonstrated their system that combines attestations to build progressive trust.
- VerAnon: Alex Hache showcased a protocol for anonymous personhood verification using Semaphore and zero-knowledge proofs.
The event provided attendees the opportunity to engage directly with project creators, offer feedback, and network with industry leaders driving the future of identity. As the Beta program concludes, DIF Labs is now preparing for its next cohort and invites builders, startups, and innovators passionate about decentralized identity to get involved.
DIF Labs meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 8am PT/ 11am ET/ 5pm CET
DIDComm Working Group
The DIDComm WG is discussing the Trust Spanning Protocol (TSP) and its potential integration with DIDComm to leverage the best of both protocols.
DIDComm Working Group meets the first Monday of each month noon PT/ 3pm ET/ 9pm CET
If you are interested in participating in any of the Working Groups highlighted above, or any of DIF's other Working Groups, please click join DIF.
🌎 DIF Special Interest Group Updates
DIF Hospitality & Travel SIG
The H&T group featured presentations from The Camino Network Foundation, Customer Futures, and Indicio. The group is discussing a Glossary project, as well as formation of a DIF working group for specification development.
Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays at 10am EST. Click here for more details
DIF China SIG
Click here for more details
APAC/ASEAN Discussion Group
The group discussed progress of their healthcare project, the development of a platform for verifying yellow fever vaccination cards, and the introduction of a new system for verifying the legitimacy and identity of businesses and individuals. They discussed the concept of a foundational identity and the importance of government involvement.
This group is seeking more participants in their calls, so please join!
The DIF APAC call takes place Monthly on the 4th Thursday of the month. Please see the DIF calendar for updated timing.
DIF Africa SIG
The DIF Africa SIG discussed DID:UNCONF Africa and plan to aggregate and publish the Book of Proceedings from the DID:UNCONF sessions on the event website.
Meetings take place Monthly on the 3rd Wednesday at 1pm SAST. Click here for more details
DIF Japan SIG
Meetings take place on the last Friday of each month 8am JST. Click here for more details
📖 DIF User Group Updates
DIDComm User Group
There are two meeting series to accommodate different time zones, each taking place every Monday except the first week of the month (which is reserved for DIDComm Working Group). Click here for more details.
Veramo User Group
Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays, alternating between Noon EST / 18.00 CET and 09.00 EST / 15.00 CET. Click here for more details
📢 Announcements at DIF
Conference season is kicking into high gear. Explore our Events calendar to meet the DIF community at leading Decentralized Identity, Identity, and Decentralized Web events.
🗓️ ️DIF Members
Dr. Carsten Stöcker Appointed DIF Ambassador
DIF has appointed Dr. Carsten Stöcker, founder and CEO of Spherity GmbH, as DIF Ambassador. Dr. Stöcker brings extensive experience implementing decentralized identity across industrial ecosystems, with expertise in Verifiable Digital Product Passports for regulated industries and bridging European Digital Identity initiatives with Industry 4.0 applications.
Foundation
👉Are you a DIF member with news to share? Email us at communication@identity.foundation with details.
🆔 Join DIF!
If you would like to get in touch with us or become a member of the DIF community:
- Join DIF: https://identity.foundation/join/
- Visit our website to learn more
- Follow our channels:
New Member Orientations
If you are new to DIF join us for our upcoming new member orientations. Find more information on DIF’s slack or contact us at community@identity.foundation if you need more information.
