decentralized-identity/ion
The Identity Overlay Network (ION) is a DID Method implementation using the Sidetree protocol atop Bitcoin observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
23/100
- Activity 0
- Release rhythm 8
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: n/a
- age_days: 2778
- days_rel: n/a
- days_push: 1104
- n_releases_24m: 0
Adoption not part of the score
1229 stars · 166 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
ION is a public, permissionless Decentralized Identifier (DID) network implementing the Sidetree protocol as a Layer 2 overlay on Bitcoin. It is a Node.js-based collection of microservices (with Bitcoin Core, IPFS/Kubo, and MongoDB dependencies) that anchors tens of thousands of DID operations per on-chain transaction and resolves DIDs at scale without a separate consensus mechanism.
Use cases
- run a node to resolve ION DIDs without trusting third parties
- create and manage decentralized identifiers anchored to Bitcoin
- build decentralized public key infrastructure (DPKI) at scale
- issue and update DID documents permissionlessly
- support decentralized package managers or app stores via DID registry capabilities
- integrate DID resolution into identity or credentialing applications
When to choose
- you need scalable, permissionless DIDs anchored to Bitcoin with no new tokens
- you want to self-host a DID resolver for trust minimization and performance
- you need censorship- and tamper-resistant identifiers controlled only by their owners
- you are building on the DIF Sidetree specification and need a production-stable Bitcoin instantiation
When to avoid
- you need a simple managed DID service without operating Bitcoin Core, IPFS, and MongoDB infrastructure
- your project requires a DID method on a chain other than Bitcoin
- you cannot dedicate a machine with ~1TB storage and ongoing node maintenance
- you need active feature development rather than a maintenance-mode network
Facets
service · maturity maintenance
security cryptography networking http-server database security blockchain microservices self-hosted privacy apis windows self-hosted did sidetree decentralized-identity dpki bitcoin layer2 ipfs mongodb verifiable-credentials identity-overlay-network cryptocurrency linux nodejs docker
3 sources
- readme: https://github.com/decentralized-identity/ion · fetched 2026-08-28 · d856c4a1a4b4
- homepage: https://identity.foundation/ion · fetched 2026-08-29 · 956ddd79340e
- site_page: https://identity.foundation/ion/install-guide · fetched 2026-08-29 · 22fd88d52158
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| decentralized-identity/ion | main | 23 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="decentralized-identity/ion")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem