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DID (Decentralized Identity)

A Decentralized Identifier is a globally unique ID controlled by its owner's keys rather than a central registry, used to prove identity across services.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJune 30, 2025
  • glossary

DID (Decentralized Identity) refers to identity systems that give individuals control over their digital identity without relying on centralized authorities like governments or corporations. DIDs use blockchain technology to create self-sovereign identities that users can manage directly. Domains play a crucial role in decentralized identity by serving as human-readable identifiers linked to blockchain addresses or identity credentials. A tokenized domain like alice.eth or bob.crypto can represent someone's decentralized identity, serving as their Web3 username while being cryptographically secured and user-controlled. This creates portable, censorship-free digital identity that works across different platforms and applications.

Related keywords

  • decentralized identity
  • self-sovereign identity
  • blockchain identity
  • Web3 identity
  • DID
  • what is DID
  • DID meaning
  • DID definition

Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

GitHub

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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