The Bank of Japan issued a Bank of Japan Review Series report surveying Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and their potential role in securely and reliably proving identity using digital technologies, with a focus on emerging use cases relevant to financial practices. The report describes VCs as versatile, machine-readable digital certificates that use digital signatures to support authenticity and prevent tampering, noting their use in contexts such as COVID-19 vaccination certificates and wider exploration across domains. It also outlines ongoing standard-setting activity for VCs, including the International Organization for Standardization’s October 2024 publication of an international standard for the verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI), and provides an overview of VC use cases and trends in related standards development. The publication is an English translation of a Japanese original released in March 2026 and reflects the authors’ views.
Bank of Japan 2026-04-10
Bank of Japan publishes review of verifiable credentials and evolving standards for digital identity including ISO vLEI
The Bank of Japan published an English translation of a Review Series report on Verifiable Credentials and their potential role in securely proving identity using digital technologies, with a focus on emerging financial use cases. The report outlines the characteristics of Verifiable Credentials, surveys applications such as COVID-19 vaccination certificates, and reviews standard-setting activity including the International Organization for Standardization’s 2024 standard for the verifiable Legal Entity Identifier.