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Security research · Decentralized identity

Accountable Soul Derivation (ASD)

Dependable accountable anonymity for decentralized identity via zero-knowledge credential binding and threshold tracing

Running · From January 1, 2026
  • Zero-knowledge
  • Decentralized identity
  • IEEE TDSC

Ongoing research on dependable accountable anonymity for decentralized identity using Groth16 proofs, threshold tracing, and on-chain governance.

Accountable anonymity pipeline

  1. Step 1

    Anonymous proof

    Users prove credential membership without revealing identity across contexts.

  2. Step 2

    Bound tracing

    Threshold-ElGamal ciphertext is bound inside the same zero-knowledge statement.

  3. Step 3

    Governed opening

    Threshold authorities open traces only through an auditable on-chain process.

Research objectives

  • Close the escrow-binding gap by embedding trace ciphertexts directly in the zero-knowledge relation.
  • Provide privacy by default with threshold-governed, auditable tracing when misconduct is suspected.
  • Support dependable decentralized identity use cases such as DAO voting, access control, anti-Sybil reputation, and one-per-human resource distribution.
  • Demonstrate practical deployability on EVM-based verifiers.

Methodology

  1. 01

    Formalize system and threat models for accountable anonymity under issuer, verifier, and threshold-authority roles.

  2. 02

    Implement integrated Groth16 circuits (~20k R1CS constraints) with indexed-Merkle lifecycle non-membership checks.

  3. 03

    Deploy on-chain registries for registration, revocation freshness, trace-request auditing, and authority rotation.

  4. 04

    Evaluate circuit complexity, proof generation time, verification gas, and dependability under authority failure and revocation churn.

Expected outputs

  • ASD framework with Circom circuits and Solidity contracts.
  • Security analysis with game-based proofs for uniqueness, accountability, anonymity, and lifecycle soundness.
  • Benchmarks for proof generation, on-chain verification, and gated threshold tracing.
  • Reproducibility artifacts accompanying the manuscript.

Overview

Accountable Soul Derivation (ASD) is a decentralized identity framework that cryptographically couples anonymity with conditional accountability. It addresses the escrow-binding gap — a vulnerability where anonymous membership proofs and tracing artifacts are verified separately, allowing malicious actors to submit invalid ciphertexts and achieve unaccountable anonymity.

ASD uses a unified Groth16 zero-knowledge proof to bind credential membership, context-isolated derivation, key-image uniqueness, and a threshold-decryptable tracing ciphertext inside one on-chain verifiable statement. The implementation uses Circom and Solidity, with in-circuit hash-to-point and map-to-curve gadgets over Baby Jubjub.

Team

Project lead: Abdullah Ibne Hanif Arean

Collaborators: Mehadi Hasan, Niamul Hassan Samin, Alfe Suny, Prof. Mamun-Or-Rashid

Publications and datasets

  • Manuscript submitted to IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (Q1), 2026
  • Title: Dependable Accountable Anonymity for Decentralized Identity via Zero-Knowledge Credential Binding and Threshold Tracing
  • Authors: Abdullah Ibne Hanif Arean, Mehadi Hasan, Niamul Hassan Samin, Alfe Suny, and Mamun-Or-Rashid

Project updates

Milestones, fieldwork notes, and lab announcements will appear on our notices page.

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