Credential Engine introduced the new Issuer Identity Registry (IIR) in our recent webinar, a trust infrastructure designed to verify and make transparent the identities of credential issuers. The registry aims to address issues such as fraud and establish trust in digital, verifiable credential ecosystems.
The IIR is the result of a two-year effort that began with a year-long research project conducted by Credential Engine and the Digital Credentials Consortium, followed by a year of implementation, governance development, technical design, and community engagement. The service reflects input from stakeholders across learn-and-work ecosystems.Â
The Role of the Issuer Identity Registry (IIR)
- Trust Infrastructure: The IIR serves as a critical leg in the “triangulation of trust” for verifiable credentials, ensuring that issuers are legitimate and verifiable.
- Problem Solved: It addresses the need for faster, reliable verification of credential issuers, reducing reliance on slow, costly verification processes, and protecting against identity fraud.
- Mechanism: It uses Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and cryptographic signatures to verify issuer identities. It is a complementary service to the existing Credential Registry, which handles structured CTDL data.
IIR Registration Process
The IIR registration process involves four main stages:
- Stage 1: Submit organizational information through the Credential Engine account system and ensure the organization is published to the Credential Registry.
- Stage 2: Pay a one-time $140 verification fee per credential issuer.
- Stage 3: The IIR service team verifies the organization’s information against authoritative sources.
- Stage 4: The organization submits its Decentralized Identifier (DID) and signed payload, ideally with the assistance of a technical staff member.
Adoption and Engagement – Everyone interested in trusted credentialing ecosystems can participate:
- Credential issuers: Publish transparent credential information to the Credential Registry and register verified issuer identities in the IIR.
- Employers, education providers, governments, platforms, and other verifiers: Adopt the IIR to support trusted, efficient, and interoperable credential issuer verification workflows.
- Technology providers and ecosystem partners: Integrate and build on Credential Engine’s open technologies, including CTDL, the Credential Registry, and the IIR.
- Everyone: Help advance the adoption of trusted digital credentials by communicating the value of trust, transparency, and interoperability, and by sharing how these technologies help people earn, control, share, verify, recognize, and benefit from their achievements.
- Trust Advisory Group (TAG): If you would like to help shape trust in digital verifiable credentialing ecosystems, join the TAG by completing this interest form.
Meeting Resources
- Webinar deck: Issuer Identity Registry Webinar 2026-June 17
- Webinar recording: Credential Engine Issuer Identity Registry (IIR) Launch Webinar
- Webinar summary: Meeting Summary: Issuer Identity Registry (IIR) Launch Webinar
Online Resources
- IIR InformationÂ
- IIR Governance Framework
- IIR Guidance Site page with application instructions
- IIR Technical Site with instructions on submitting DIDs and for verifier applications to verify credential issuers
- IIR ResearchÂ
- Building Trust in a Digital World: Scalable Solutions for Verifiable Credential Ecosystems  Â