SSI: self-sovereign identity explained

Written by Ross Power at cheqd, which helps companies leverage SSI to enable new business models for verifiers, holders and issuers.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) has seen a rapid adoption within finance, interestingly both centralised (CeFi) and decentralised (DeFi). In the context of DeFi, it is often referred to as its enabler. Beyond finance, its application has been growing too — spanning travel, e-commerce, supply chains, crypto, and other sectors. What remains a stumbling block for many is understanding what SSI is and what is so magical about it that it can fill in so many cracks across industries?

In this blog, this is exactly what we’re looking to address. Now, imagine, you need to open a bank account. Instead of bringing a ton of paper documents, you can simply show your digital identity (ID) to prove your identity in a matter of seconds, and the bank accepts it. Sounds like a dream? Nope, self-sovereign identity (SSI) makes it possible already. To understand how to let’s delve into the concepts of identity and credentials first.

Identity and credentials

Identity literally means the quality of being identical. To what? To yourself. According to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, identity is: “the condition of being the same with something described”. In an everyday sense, a credential is an attestation, evidence or proof of qualification, competence or authority issued to an entity, either individual or person, by a third party with relevant authority or…