Thread by @cheqd_io

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We're pleased to announce a successful upgrade of the @cheqd_io test network which was completed with our new Interactive Installer

This upgrade of our testnet (mainnet to follow) is the first step in bringing a huge amount more utility to the @cheqd_io network

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The primary feature being introduced in this upgrade is our 'resources' module which enables users to anchor “resources” to the @cheqd_io network...

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In self-sovereign identity (#SSI) ecosystems, “resources” are often required in tandem with @w3c #VerifiableCredentials, to provide supporting information or additional context to verifiers (recievers of credentials) receiving Verifiable Presentations.

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Our objective in building resources on @cheqd_io is to improve the way resources are stored, referenced and retrieved for our partners and the broader SSI community, in line with the existing W3C #DID Core standard.

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In doing so, this module paves the foundation for:

✅ Secure on-ledger schemas
✅ Credential Definitions
✅ Full AnonCreds support on cheqd
✅ Fully referenceable documents with DIDs
⏳ Schema overlays and evidence schemes
⏳ Privacy preserving revocation registry

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Interesting eh.... but what are the problems with how resources like those above are currently stored?

It largely comes down to the fact that existing resources used, such as schema & revocation lists, are often stored and referenced using centralised hosting providers.

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Using centralised providers to store resources may have a significant difference in the longevity and authenticity of Verifiable Credentials for a few reasons:

1. Single points of failure
2. Link Rot
3. Tamper-evident changes & censorship resistance

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1. Single points of failure

Even for highly-trusted and sophisticated hosting providers who may not present a risk of infrastructure being compromised, a service outage at the hosting provider can make a resource anchored on their systems inaccessible.

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The high centralisation of cloud providers and history of noteworthy outages demonstrates this.

In Q1 of 2022, the three largest players in the cloud (AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure) dominated with 65 per cent in nearly all regions (outside of China).

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2. Link Rot

“Link rot” happens when URLs become inaccessible over time, either because the endpoint where the content was stored is no longer active, or the URL format itself changes. This graph from an analysis by The New York Times shows the degradation over time of URLs.

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For this reason, keeping an up-to-date version of the links themselves is crucial.

Furthermore, a study of link rot found at least 66.5% of links to sites in the last 9 years are dead.

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3. Tamper-evident changes and censorship resistance

The centralised way that resources are currently stored and managed is not immutable, and as a result, it is liable to tampering.

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As we move towards a new web infrastructure with #Web3, and as more projects leverage blockchain and distributed ledgers, it’s important not to port the previous issues of the web, and instead find novel ways to better manage information, with longevity in mind.

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Find out about all of the above including how this compares with @Hyperledger Indy’s approach to Schemas and CredDefs on-ledger and learn more about the implementation in our blog post, written by @ankurb , @Tweetddale and @rosspower

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blog.cheqd.io/our-approach-t…

Thanks to our testnet partners for their support with this upgrade and we look forward to following with a @cheqd_io mainnet upgrade in the coming weeks where we'll share more information on this upgrade

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