4 ♣ · Coordination · Draft
Verifiable Credential
A signed digital claim about a person, such as a degree or a role, that anyone can check.
How it works
An issuer, such as a DAO or a university, writes a claim about a holder: a role, a skill, a membership. The issuer signs the claim with its key and gives it to the holder. The holder stores it in a wallet. When a verifier asks for proof, the holder presents the credential, or only the part that is needed. The verifier checks the issuer's signature and whether the credential was revoked. No call to the issuer is required at check time.
Use it when
- You need to gate roles or votes on a fact that a trusted party can attest.
- Let members prove something once and reuse the proof across many tools.
- Share only the needed fact, not the member's whole identity.
Watch out for
- A credential is only as trustworthy as its issuer, so verifiers must decide whom to trust.
- Revocation is hard: a fired member may keep presenting an old credential unless lists are checked.
Example
Gitcoin Passport. Gitcoin Passport, launched in 2022, bundles signed stamps from services like GitHub and BrightID into one credential that grant rounds check for Sybil resistance.