Many of these credentials, as well as the processes depending on them, will be implemented in the private sector, the vision known as “Ambition Level 3”. This is where the real economic value will come from. Much like the road infrastructure is built by the state and then fuels the economy, so will the Trust Infrastructure serve as a critical foundation, a privacy preserving enabler, for all kinds of native digital processes in the near future.
The E-ID framework, including the underlying Trust Infrastructure, is primarily targeting personal identity and credentials. To realize the complete potential of the Credentials’ Ecosystem, however, the open topics around the organization identity – the identity of an organization itself as well as that of their representatives – must be addressed.
Unlike natural persons, legal entities require unique considerations for authentication, governance, and compliance. A well-designed solution for legal entity identities could unlock significant opportunities for global trade, regulatory compliance, and business interoperability.
To succeed, the chosen approach must be flexible, future-proof, and globally scalable. Not only from a technical standpoint but also from a governance perspective. A scalable solution must accommodate the widest variety of jurisdictions, regulatory requirements, and business use cases, ensuring it is both technically sound and broadly acceptable.
The Role of vLEI Credentials
One of the most promising solutions in this space is the Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI) credentials ecosystem. Pioneered by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), vLEI credentials aim to provide an extensible basis for an electronically verifiable and trustworthy way to identify legal entities and their representatives in the digital world. GLEIF, a globally recognized authority, oversees the issuance of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) that are already widely used in the financial sector to improve transparency and reduce risk.
The vLEI system builds upon this foundation by leveraging cutting-edge technology to ensure verifiability and scalability. However, despite its many advantages, the underlying technical framework—centered around Key Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) and Authentic Chained Data Containers (ACDC)— has proven rather challenging to grasp.
Deep Dive into the vLEI and its technical foundations
To make it easier to understand and appreciate the solution, we have undertaken a deep dive into both the governance and technical aspects of the vLEI ecosystem. Our goal is to provide an accurate insight into the key mechanisms and characteristics that make vLEI ecosystem a prime candidate to serve as the backbone for use-cases and applications that require a globally scalable legal entity identity framework.
First, we take a look at the governance, highlighting the key aspects as to why vLEI ecosystem can meet the diverse regulatory requirements of jurisdictions worldwide while accommodating the varied needs of businesses. Then, on the technical side, we are exploring the foundational KERI/ACDC technology, which promises enhanced security, efficiency, transparency and interoperability.
