Identity
Decentralized Identifier
Also known as: DID, W3C DID
A self-owned URL-like identifier whose associated public keys and services are declared in a resolvable DID document.
A Decentralized Identifier (DID) is a globally unique identifier that doesn't require a central registry to issue or resolve. The W3C DID Core Recommendation defines the format (did:<method>:<method-specific-identifier>) and how to resolve a DID into a DID document that declares its keys, services, and controllers.
Many DID methods exist: did:web (HTTPS-resolvable), did:key (derived from a public key), did:ion (Sidetree on Bitcoin), did:cheqd (on the Cheqd ledger), and dozens more. The method choice is a trust decision — who controls the identifier, who can update the document, how long resolution takes.
LearnCoin uses did:web because it's the simplest, most portable method: the DID document lives at a well-known HTTPS path and is controlled by whoever controls the domain. Our production issuer DID is did:web:learncoin.me, resolvable at /.well-known/did.json. Each tenant appears as a verificationMethod fragment (for example #tenant-ewance) so a credential's proof.verificationMethod resolves to the specific key that signed it.