SoK: Credential-Based Trust Management in Decentralized Ledger Systems

TL;DR

This paper systematically reviews credential-based trust management systems in decentralized ledger environments, analyzing their designs, mechanisms, and evaluation criteria to identify challenges and future research directions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive taxonomy and evaluation framework for credential-based DTMS, bridging theoretical concepts with practical implementations.

Findings

Identifies key architectural patterns and credential mechanisms.

Highlights critical challenges in trust evaluation and system scalability.

Suggests promising research directions for future DTMS development.

Abstract

Trust management systems (TMS) are crucial for managing trust in distributed environments. The rise of decentralized systems and blockchain has sparked interest in credential-based decentralized trust management systems (DTMS). This paper bridges the gap between theory and practice through a systematic review of credential-based DTMS. We analyze existing DTMS solutions through multiple dimensions, including their architectural designs, credential mechanisms, and trust evaluation models. Our survey provides a detailed taxonomy of credential-based DTMS approaches and establishes comprehensive evaluation criteria for assessing DTMS implementations. Through extensive analysis of current systems and implementations, we identify critical challenges and promising research directions in the field. Our examination offers valuable insights for researchers and practitioners working on DTMS, particularly in areas such as access control, reputation systems, and blockchain-based trust frameworks.