did:cel - a cryptographic event log-based DID Method

Hi all,

The DID Methods WG Charter is going up for a W3C Member vote soon and
one of the DID Method types it contemplates standardizing is a fully
decentralized DID Method. The Cryptographic Event Log[1] was adopted
as a Credentials CG work item earlier this year, is listed in the new
DID Methods WG charter, and hinted at a DID Method that was powered by
the technology.

This email is to introduce did:cel, a fully decentralized,
cryptographic event log-based DID Method:

https://digitalbazaar.github.io/did-cel-spec/

The goals of this DID Method are:

Minimal Infrastructure - A single individual with a file hosting
location can create and control multiple DIDs in a way that the
identifiers are highly-available and globally recognized.

Near-zero Cost - The cost to create and control multiple DIDs is not
burdensome to at least 70% of the world's population, which are the
number of people that have access to the Internet as of 2025.

Censorship and Coercion Resistant - The oblivious witness and file
storage services used to manage a DID cannot censor or coerce an
individual or organization to any significant degree.

No Centralization - Witness and file storage services are abundant,
easy to operate at scale, and are easily interchangeable if they
become non-responsive or compromised.

Over the years, there are many of us that have invested in DLT-based
DID Methods and have not seen their usage grow at the rate we would
wish. There are a number of reasons for this, but many of them boil
down to implementation and operational complexity as well as
significant infrastructure and transaction costs. The did:cel DID
method focuses on reducing each of those costs as much as possible.

Please take a look at the spec and let us know what you think. Raise
issues here if you find anything of concern:

https://github.com/digitalbazaar/did-cel-spec/issues

We are currently looking for support and co-editors for this work item
in the W3C CCG and will raise an issue to call for adoption once we
have a week or two of discussion on this mailing list. If you are
supportive of this work, please let us know via the mailing list.
Happy to answer questions and concerns in the meantime. :)

-- manu

[1] https://w3c-ccg.github.io/cel-spec/

-- 
Manu Sporny - https://www.linkedin.com/in/manusporny/
Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
https://www.digitalbazaar.com/

Received on Monday, 8 December 2025 14:54:59 UTC