The credential exchange layer: Verified Trust Communities (VTCs) and Verified Relationship Credentials (VRCs) built on W3C Verifiable Credentials. We are reviewing how the Trust Tasks framework (trusttasks.org) defines and standardizes trust task execution, and our current implementation is complementary to that work.
Layer 3 is the credential and governance layer — where the authenticated relationships established in Layer 2 are used to perform meaningful trust tasks: issuing credentials, verifying membership, delegating authority, and participating in governance.
The core primitives at this layer are:
Together, VTCs and VRCs enable a trust graph that is sovereign (no central authority), private (relationships are disclosed only to parties who need to know), tamper-proof (cryptographically signed), and traversable (the graph can be queried to answer trust questions like "is this person a member of this community?" or "does this agent have authority to act on behalf of this person?").
The Trust Tasks framework is an independent effort to define and standardize how trust tasks are executed using W3C Verifiable Credentials. We are reviewing this work for potential integration, and our current VRC-based approach is complementary — the personhood ceremony and M-of-N credential issuance already align with the Trust Tasks model.
Visit trusttasks.org →
Full Layer 3 integration — general VTC governance, membership join/approve
flows, and broad credential issuance — has not started yet. But a small, purpose-built slice of
the VTC/VRC data model has already been implemented, driven by Layer 1's need for a decentralized
way to attest key rotations (see the Layer 1
rotation work): a minimal governance document, an M-of-N co-signed VRC
type, and createVtc() / issueVrc() / verifyVrc().
This is intentionally narrow — an admin list and a signature threshold, not a general governance engine — and was built to unblock Layer 1's Witness VTC, not to preempt Layer 3's own design. The broader Layer 3 integration below is still planned:
A VTC is a governance-bounded cluster of VTAs. Think of it as a digital cooperative: members join by meeting defined criteria, participate according to shared rules, and can be removed if they violate those rules. VTCs can represent anything from a small family group to a large professional association or a decentralized autonomous organization.
VTCs are defined by their governance rules — who can join, what credentials are required for membership, what actions members can take, and how disputes are resolved. These rules are encoded in the VTC's DID Document and enforced cryptographically.
A VRC is a W3C Verifiable Credential that proves a relationship between two VTAs. Unlike a traditional credential (which is issued by one party to another), a VRC is bidirectional — both parties sign it, and both parties hold a copy. This makes VRCs tamper-proof and non-repudiable: neither party can deny the relationship without invalidating their own signature.
VRCs can encode many types of relationships: membership in a VTC, delegation of authority, endorsement, employment, family relationship, or any other trust relationship that needs to be cryptographically provable.
VRCs are built on the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model — an open standard for cryptographically verifiable claims. This means VRCs are interoperable with any system that supports the VC standard, including existing identity wallets, credential issuers, and verifiers.
An R-Card is a W3C Verifiable Credential that represents a VTA's public profile information — the digital equivalent of a business card for the trust graph. R-Cards support per-claim disclosure control with four visibility levels: always public, discretionary (visible only to VTAs with an established relationship), never disclosed via R-Card, or available only through a zero-knowledge proof. R-Cards are exported in JCard format for interoperability with existing VC systems.
A trust task is a defined, repeatable action that requires trust — for example, "verify that this person is a member of this community," "confirm that this agent has authority to sign this document," or "check that this organization meets these compliance requirements." Trust tasks are the unit of work at Layer 3, and they are executed using VRCs as the evidence of trust.