# anoncreds

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/anoncreds/
Last updated: 2026-08-29
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

---

A verifiable credential format, originating in Hyperledger Indy and now a standalone specification, built around zero-knowledge proofs for strong selective disclosure and predicate proofs (for example proving age over a threshold). Widely used in ledger-based SSI ecosystems.

AnonCreds is the most privacy-capable credential format in production use, supporting predicate proofs so a holder can prove "over 18" without revealing a birth date, and unlinkable presentations so two verifiers cannot correlate the same holder. The trade-off is ecosystem weight: it needs its own revocation registry machinery and has less tooling than SD-JWT, which is why most government programs including the EUDI Wallet went with SD-JWT and mdoc instead.

See also: [verifiable credentials](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/verifiable-credentials/), [zero-knowledge proof](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/zero-knowledge-proof/), [selective disclosure](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/selective-disclosure/), [SD-JWT](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/sd-jwt/)