What Trust Over IP Foundation does

Trust Over IP Foundation is an independent standards development organization launched in May 2020 and hosted within the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust Foundation umbrella, with its legal seat at Joint Development Foundation Projects, LLC (a Linux Foundation affiliate) in the United States. Its mission is to define a complete architecture for Internet-scale digital trust, producing open specifications, governance frameworks, white papers, templates, and educational resources rather than commercial software products. The foundation serves technology vendors building self-sovereign identity (SSI) platforms, governments implementing national digital identity programs, and enterprises requiring interoperable digital trust infrastructure.

The foundation's core technical contribution is the ToIP four-layer architecture, which combines cryptographic trust at the machine layer with human accountability at the business, legal, and social layers, structured around the Hourglass Model with the Trust Spanning Protocol (TSP) as the universal spanning layer analogous to IP in the TCP/IP stack. Key specifications include the Technology Architecture V1.0 Specification, the Trust Spanning Protocol, the Trust Registry Query Protocol (TRQP), KERI (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure) for verifiable digital identity, ACDC (Authentic Chained Data Containers) for verifiable data provenance, CESR for cryptographic encoding, and the DID:WEBS DID method. The governance portfolio includes the Governance Metamodel Specification plus templates for risk assessment, trust criteria, assurance/certification, and governance framework matrices, supported by case studies such as Bhutan's National Digital Identity program and the Good Health Pass Interoperability Blueprint.

The foundation operates a community-led go-to-market model: membership contributions from organizations and individuals, working groups across technology architecture, governance, and emerging areas, public review of specifications on GitHub, and downstream commercial implementations by member organizations that may generate licensing or royalty revenue. Pricing for membership tiers is not publicly disclosed; the foundation does not sell commercial products and does not operate a traditional SaaS revenue model. Named adopters include the Kingdom of Bhutan for its National Digital Identity program, and strategic positioning is anchored by the Linux Foundation ecosystem, a global contributor base, and recent specification releases including KERI/ACDC/CESR V1.1 in January 2026 and TRQP V2.0 in April 2026.

Name

Trust Over IP Foundation

Legal name

Trust Over IP Foundation

Website

https://trustoverip.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trust Over IP Foundation is a Linux Foundation-hosted standards body that develops open specifications and governance frameworks for Internet-scale digital trust, serving technology vendors, governments (e.g., Bhutan NDI), and enterprises building decentralized identity and verifiable credential systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Identity Standards

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Contract Frameworks & SDKs (developer kits, templates, standards) (FSAPABAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

On-Chain Reputation, Identity & Attestation for Governance (DID, badges, sybil resistance) (FSAPAHAF)

Keywords

• Decentralized identity
• Digital trust infrastructure
• Verifiable credentials
• Trust spanning protocol
• Open standards development

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Contributions: Trust Over IP Foundation operates as an independent project within the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust Foundation. Organizations and individuals join as members to contribute to and influence the development of open standards and specifications.
2. Specification Adoption: Organizations implement ToIP specifications in their products and services, potentially generating revenue through commercial implementations of the open standards.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Trust Over IP Foundation is a non-profit standards development organization that produces open technical specifications and governance frameworks for Internet-scale digital trust infrastructure. The foundation develops the ToIP four-layer architecture combining cryptographic trust at the machine layer with human accountability at business, legal, and social layers, anchored by the Trust Spanning Protocol as a universal spanning layer for digital trust relationships.

Product overview

Trust Over IP Foundation is a standards development organization hosted under the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust Foundation. Rather than a traditional software product company, they produce a comprehensive suite of specifications, governance frameworks, templates, and educational resources for Internet-scale digital trust infrastructure. The core deliverable is the ToIP Technology Architecture Specification defining a four-layer model combining cryptographic trust at machine layers with human accountability at business, legal, and social layers. Key technical specifications include the Trust Spanning Protocol (analogous to IP for digital trust relationships), Trust Registry Query Protocol, KERI, ACDC, and CESR specifications. The governance portfolio includes the Governance Metamodel Specification and accompanying templates (Risk Assessment, Trust Criteria Matrix, Trust Assurance, Governance Framework Matrix). Foundational documents include white papers on ToIP principles, digital trust, SSI, and AI trust. Educational offerings include the Bite-Size Trust video series and case studies like Bhutan NDI.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ToIP Technology Architecture Specification Normative architectural requirements for the ToIP technology stack defining how cryptographic trust at machine layers combines with human accountability at business, legal, and social layers. Available as an open specification for technology organizations, governments, and enterprises implementing digital trust infrastructure.
• Trust Spanning Protocol (TSP) Specification The first protocol explicitly designed as a universal spanning layer for digital trust relationships between any two parties, analogous to how IP serves as a spanning layer for data packets between networks. For technology vendors and governments building interoperable digital trust infrastructure.
• Trust Registry Query Protocol (TRQP) Specification A simple and consistent way to programmatically query authoritative ecosystem sources for information about entity authorization and cross-ecosystem recognition. For technology implementers building trust registry lookup functionality.
• KERI (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure) Specification An identity system-based secure overlay for the Internet that provides verifiable authorship (authenticity) of any message or data item via secure cryptographically verifiable attribution. For developers and vendors building decentralized identity systems.
• ACDC (Authentic Chained Data Containers) Specification A protocol providing granular provenanced proof-of-authorship of contained data via a tree or chain of linked protocol elements, delivering a verifiable chain of proof-of-authorship. For systems building verifiable credential infrastructure.
• CESR (Composable Event Streaming Representation) Specification KERI's encoding protocol for cryptographic primitives, providing universal encoding with dual text and binary domain representations via composable conversion. For developers building KERI-compatible identity systems.
• DID:WEBS Method Specification A DID method that combines the ease of discovery of did:web with the security power of KERI for decentralized identity resolution. For implementers building decentralized identifier resolution infrastructure.
• Governance Metamodel Specification Specifies the required, recommended, and optional components of a ToIP-compliant governance framework document set. For governance architects and trust framework operators building compliant digital trust ecosystems.
• Risk Assessment Worksheet Template A guided template to help complete a ToIP-recommended Risk Assessment in advance of a governance framework construction. For governance architects and framework designers.
• Trust Criteria Matrix Template A container to organize and operationalize the accountability of governance framework mandates. For trust framework operators and auditors.
• Issuers Requirements Guide for Governance Frameworks of Verifiable Credentials A Working Group Approved guide for including ToIP recommended issuer requirements within a governance framework conforming to the Trust Over IP governance metamodel. For organizations issuing verifiable credentials.
• Good Health Pass Interoperability Blueprint ToIP Approved deliverable for an open, inclusive, cross-sector initiative focused on reopening global travel through digital credentials. For governments and travel industry stakeholders.

Quantifiable outcome

• The ToIP Architecture enables cryptographic trust at machine layers combined with human accountability at business, legal, and social layers

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrust Over IP Foundation is an independent project hosted within the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust Foundation umbrella. The Linux Foundation provides organizational infrastructure, governance support, and cross-project collaboration opportunities for ToIP.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• GS1: The global standards organization for supply chain identifiers (barcodes, EPCIS). ToIP's supply chain provenance and verifiable origins use cases overlap directly with GS1's existing traceability standards, making it both a complementary and competing standards venue for digital trust in goods.
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): The premier internet standards body responsible for protocols like TCP/IP, TLS, and HTTP. ToIP's Trust Spanning Protocol ambition to be a 'universal spanning layer' directly adjacent to IETF's domain means IETF is the incumbent infrastructure whose standards processes ToIP must interoperate with or be adopted into.

Direct peers

• Sovrin Foundation: A non-profit organization that governed the Sovrin Network for self-sovereign identity using verifiable credentials. Though its operational scope has changed, Sovrin is a historical peer in the same decentralized identity governance space and uses overlapping technology (Indy/Aries).
• OpenID Foundation: An open-standards body that develops identity and authentication protocols (OpenID Connect, OAuth). ToIP competes for influence on how digital identity, authentication, and trust are standardized — particularly for enterprise and government adoption where OpenID has deep installed bases.
• Open Wallet Foundation: A Linux Foundation project developing open-source interoperable wallets for digital credentials and identity. Sister project under the Linux Foundation umbrella with overlapping membership and complementary scope on the credential-presentation side of ToIP's stack.
• Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF): An engineering-focused standards organization developing foundational infrastructure for decentralized identity, including DIDs, DIDComm, and Sidetree protocols. As a peer standards body in the same decentralized identity space, DIF competes with ToIP to define the interoperability layer for verifiable credentials and SSI ecosystems.
• W3C Credentials Community Group: The W3C group that developed the Verifiable Credentials Data Model and core DID specification. As the most widely adopted identity standards body, WG/W3C represents both a competing standards venue and a complementary reference architecture for ToIP's verifiable credential specifications.
• Kantara Initiative: A non-profit standards and certification organization focused on digital identity, privacy, and consent receipt frameworks. ToIP and Kantara both operate at the intersection of identity governance and technical standards, with overlapping member communities in government and enterprise.

Others

• Trust over IP Foundation Working Group on AI Trust: Internal ToIP community initiative around AI-trust extensions to TSP. Listed as adjacent context rather than a separate peer — illustrates how ToIP's own working groups generate the future spec roadmap that competing decentralized identity bodies will need to respond to.

Emerging players

• IDunion: A German-based consortium building production SSI infrastructure using Hyperledger Indy/Aries. IDunion is an emerging deploying consortium in the European government digital identity space, partially overlapping with ToIP's verifiable credentials and governance framework work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/trustoverip
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC7gD2mHX_AXzkTHelj2nYEA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trust-over-ip-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Trust Over IP Foundation