Identity Anchoring
The problem
A cryptographic signature proves a document was signed by a specific DID. It does not prove who owns that DID. Any party can generate a DID and sign a document — the signature is meaningless without knowing the DID belongs to a legitimate, identifiable business.
What an identity anchor is
An identity anchor connects a DID to a trusted business identity — a registration with an authority that society already relies on, such as a national business register or customs authority. The anchor is itself a verifiable credential, issued by that authority, asserting that a specific DID belongs to a specific registered entity.
When a verifier receives a trade document, verification proceeds in two steps:
- Cryptographic — the document signature is valid and was produced by the claimed DID.
- Identity — the DID is linked to a verifiable identity credential issued by a trusted authority.
Together these confirm both integrity (the document hasn’t been tampered with) and provenance (you know who actually issued it).
Trust without central infrastructure
No single global identity system is required. Trust is institutional — the same authorities that businesses are already registered with. The technology makes those existing registrations digitally verifiable, not a new layer on top of them.
Further reading
The UN Transparency Protocol (UNTP) develops complementary standards for supply chain transparency and defines a Digital Identity Anchor specification covering this pattern in detail.