Status: Draft · Version: 0.1 · License: Apache 2.0

Economic zones, free ports, and smart cities are the fastest-growing governance structures in the world, yet they have no shared identity infrastructure. A resident verified in one zone starts from scratch in another. A company incorporated in Dubai cannot present those credentials in Colombo. Every zone builds its own siloed onboarding, its own KYC, its own credential format.

Sovrn Protocol is the identity and credential layer that connects them. A KYC verification completed in one zone can be recognized by another without re-verification, while preserving user consent, privacy, and regulatory sovereignty.

Full specification: SPEC.md

• did:sovrn: method and the .si namespace - a decentralized identifier purpose-built for multi-zone identity. The method specification is in active development for W3C registration.
• Credential schemas (W3C VC 2.0) - standardized formats for KYC verification, residency, incorporation, tax compliance, and payment confirmation, canonicalized with JCS (RFC 8785) and hashed with SHA-256
• KycAdapter interface - a provider-agnostic contract any verification provider can implement
• Cross-zone presentation format - how credentials move between independent zones with explicit user consent
• Reputation schema - portable reputation that travels with the credential holder across zones
• On-chain credential storage (planned) - SHA-256 credential hashes stored on-chain for tamper-evident verification

Any provider implementing the KycAdapter interface. Both open-source and licensed verification providers emit identical W3C VC 2.0 credentials, so a credential issued via any compliant adapter is indistinguishable at the protocol layer.

/SPEC.md       Full normative specification
/schemas       W3C VC 2.0 credential JSON-LD schemas                (forthcoming)
/adapters      KycAdapter interface and reference implementations   (forthcoming)
/examples      Example credentials, presentations, adapters         (forthcoming)
/docs          Additional specification documents                   (forthcoming)

Directories marked forthcoming will be populated as components are extracted and published.

The .si namespace in this protocol is an internal Sovrn identity namespace, not the Slovenian ccTLD (operated by ARNES). A .si name such as alex.si is not a DNS hostname and is not resolved via DNS.

Maintained by Sovrn. Schema changes go through an RFC process: open an issue with the proposed change, rationale, and backwards-compatibility analysis. Breaking changes require a major version bump.

Security issues: email contactus@sovrnplace.com. Do not open public issues for vulnerabilities. Responsible disclosure reports receive acknowledgement within 72 hours.

Demo: Link - for access password, message @AashrayaRau on Telegram.

Sovrn Protocol is implemented by the Sovrn platform, which additionally provides:

• Zone administration and application management
• AI-assisted compliance review
• Programmable escrow and multi-currency settlement
• Portable reputation that travels with credential holders across zones
• Federation onboarding for new zones
• Immutable audit trail with on-chain credential storage

For platform access or zone partnership inquiries: contactus@sovrnplace.com

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