Decentralized Identity Protocol (class, 2016–ongoing)

Class card for W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), and Fediverse identity protocols — the cluster of LM-Dawn infrastructure machines that provide cryptographically-verifiable identity without a central authority. Core specifications: W3C DID Core 1.0 (July 2022 Recommendation); W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model 1.1 (2022); DIDComm messaging protocol; ActivityPub 2018 (Fediverse). Notable DID methods as of 2026: did:key, did:web, did:ion (Microsoft Bitcoin-anchored), did:sov (Sovrin / Hyperledger Indy), did:peer, did:jwk. The machine's defining feature is the separation of identity verification from centralized identity registries (passports, SSNs, driver's licenses, OAuth-login platforms). Identity subject, identity issuer, and identity verifier operate without a single privileged authority holding the master record. Verifiable Credentials carry cryptographic proofs; DID Documents are anchored on distributed ledgers or DNS. LM-classification is [EXTRAP]: DIDs exist and are standardized (W3C CANON), but their adoption as a class of *infrastructure* rather than a niche experimental protocol is still emerging in 2026. EU eIDAS 2.0 (regulation entered force 2024; wallet rollout 2026+) is the highest-confidence signal that LM-class membership is being confirmed. Fediverse ActivityPub (6M+ Mastodon users 2024; Bluesky AT Protocol 2023+) demonstrates LM operational scale without central authority. Fragmentation is HIGH-2026: >100 DID methods registered in the W3C DID registry, most with low interoperability. proletarianization_risk is HIGH (0.70): the protocol spec libraries (did-core, veramo, aries-framework) have thin contributor pools — typically <50 active maintainers globally per library. If no living competence re-internalizes the inscribed specifications, the lineage terminates while artifacts (specs) persist (Stiegler proletarianization risk). Cross-era position: hostile_inheritance from MM-Dusk national-identity-registry-class (KYC / anti-anonymity laws / GDPR compliance burdens block DID adoption); substrate_provision from DM ICANN/IETF/W3C (DNS + TLS + W3C standards body itself standardizes DIDs); substrate_provision from DM AWS cloud (DID resolution + VC issuance runs on cloud-hosted PKI + blockchain infra); hostile_inheritance from MM-Dusk US New Deal admin state (SSA + IRS + TSA driver's-license + passport issuance systems create KYC compliance requirement walls). All state-variable values are [EXTRAP]; CANON framing applies to DID/VC spec existence and W3C standardization facts.