A Novel DID Method Leveraging the IOTA Tangle and its Integration into OpenSSL

TL;DR

This paper introduces Over-The-Tangle, a new DID method utilizing the IOTA Tangle as a trust anchor, and discusses its integration into OpenSSL for enhanced identity management.

Contribution

It presents the first implementation of a DID method leveraging the IOTA Tangle and proposes its integration into OpenSSL using Providers for improved flexibility.

Findings

Successful real-world testing of the DID method with a private gateway node

Efficient DID control achieved through synchronization with IOTA Tangle mainnet

Enhanced DID method agility enabled by OpenSSL integration

Abstract

This paper presents, for the first time, a novel Decentralized IDentifier (DID) Method called Over-The-Tangle and discusses its design and working principles that leverage the IOTA Tangle as the Root-of-Trust for identity data. The results of a long lasting experimental test campaign in real-world settings suggests the adoption of a private gateway node synchronised with the IOTA Tangle on the mainnet for efficient DID control. Moreover, the paper promotes the integration of the DID technology into OpenSSL through the use of Providers. A novel DID Operation and Provider is presented as a solution for building DID Method agility in OpenSSL.