Trust Registries

What Trust Registries Are

Trust Registries provide a way to verify the authenticity of Verifiable Credentials by defining which issuers and verifiers are trusted within a decentralized ecosystem. They help scale trust in complex networks by providing a directory of trusted parties, allowing verifiers to know whether they can trust the credentials being presented to them.

Components of Trust Registries

• Roles: Define the functions and responsibilities that entities can assume within the trust registry.
• Participants: The entities or organizations registered in the trust registry that perform specific roles and interact within the system.
• Schemas: Standardized data models that outline the structure and format of the verifiable credentials used in the registry.
• Governance: The set of policies, rules, and procedures that oversee the operation, compliance, and management of the trust registry. Often linked from the trust registry
• Metadata: Supplementary information like service endpoints and versioning that support trust and interoperability among participants.

How Trust Registries Work

1. Creation: Trusted entities are added to the registry based on pre-defined criteria.
2. Verification: Verifiers can query the trust registry to verify if a specific issuer is part of the trusted network, and authorized to issue a specific type of credential.
3. Update and Governance: Trust registries are governed by decentralized policies, ensuring that the list remains up-to-date with trusted entities.

Use Cases for Trust Registries

• Healthcare: A hospital can check if an insurance provider is on the trust registry before accepting their verifiable credential.
• Financial Services: Banks can verify if a credential issuer is trustworthy when evaluating loan applications or financial transactions.