Digital Identity and Verifiable Credentials with Lace ID

Lace ID: digital identity and verifiable credentials to share less data

Overview

What if you could prove who you are while sharing less personal data? In this MERGE Madrid talk, Lace ID presents its self-sovereign identity initiative built on Lace Wallet, explains what verifiable credentials are, and shows how they let you “prove more while sharing less”, as well as how developers and institutions can build their own solutions.

What you'll learn

• The personal data problem: breaches, identity fraud and oversharing of information
• Verifiable credentials: cryptographic proofs of your identity without exposing sensitive data
• Lace ID and Lace Wallet: an “identity center” inside a non-custodial wallet
• Proof of humanity: the first use case, against bots and scammers in communities
• Roadmap: reusable KYC, institutional access and reputation credentials
• How to build SSI: the trust triangle, governance, privacy and compliance

Session summary

The problem: it explains how the personal data layer did not get the same attention as digital innovation, resulting in numerous breaches, exposed accounts and losses to identity fraud.

Verifiable credentials: it explains that they are representations of aspects of your identity (an ID, a proof of age, a reputation) backed by the same kind of public-key cryptography that secures blockchains, letting you share a proof without handing over the sensitive data.

The tools: it presents Lace Wallet (a non-custodial wallet from the Cardano ecosystem) as the user interface and Hyperledger Identus / Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust as the open-source infrastructure to build and commercialize identity solutions faster.

Proof of humanity: it details the first use case: after a KYC process, the user receives a credential proving they are a unique individual and can present it, for example, when joining a Discord server to stop bots and scammers without exposing their document.

Roadmap: it previews the launch of proof of humanity (expected in 2026), its extension to institutional scenarios with reusable KYC (DeFi and online finance) and, later, reputation credentials for more trusted interactions.

How to build SSI: the second part covers the challenges of self-sovereign identity: adoption, the trust triangle (issuer, holder and verifier), user education, standardization and interoperability, governance (trust and acceptance networks) and, above all, how to be compliant while preserving privacy, with Lace as a gateway to networks such as Cardano, Midnight and Bitcoin.

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, with Lace ID on digital identity and verifiable credentials.

FAQs

What is a verifiable credential?
It is a cryptographic representation of an aspect of your identity that lets you prove a fact (for example, that you are of age or a unique person) without exposing the underlying sensitive data.

What is Lace ID's proof of humanity?
It is a credential that, after a KYC, proves you are a unique person and can be presented on platforms like Discord to stop bots and scammers.

What is self-sovereign identity (SSI)?
It is a model in which the user owns and controls their own identity data and decides what they share and with whom.

Is this legal advice?
No. This content is informational and summarizes what was presented in the talk; it does not constitute legal or compliance advice. Consult a professional for your specific situation.