Implementation of a Post-Quantum Anonymous Verifiable Credential Framework

Verifiable Credentials (VCs) can play a crucial role for the identity layer of the Internet. VCs allow Holders to share cryptographically verifiable claims issued by trusted Issuers for authentication purposes. However, plaintext VCs can compromise the privacy of the Holder, as they must disclose entire VCs even when only partial information is required. To address this growing concern, the concept of anonymous credentials has been introduced. In addition, with the advent of Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computers, many cryptography fields, including that of anonymous credentials, face significant security challenges. This threat urge the design, development, and the implementation of Post-Quantum Anonymous Verifiable Credential frameworks. This paper contributes to this challenge by presenting the analysis and selection of a practical PQ Anonymous Credential framework, the adaptation of the framework to the VC concept introduced by the Self-Sovereign Identity Model, and the software implementation with 128 bit security with the initial performance evaluation.