Solidus Network
Solidus vs cheqd Network
cheqd built the clearest commercial thesis for an SSI L1 — pay-per-credential micropayments — and did:cheqd beat did:solidus into the W3C registry by years. Our wedge isn't a better token story; it's a shipped vertical product cheqd, by its own account, doesn't sell.
Solidus is a public testnet: no mainnet, no token, no external audit, and no paying customer. Every claim below is checkable; none of them are a substitute for the certifications an incumbent already holds.
What cheqd Network does better
- did:cheqd was registered in the W3C DID Method Registry years before did:solidus — concede this outright, it is the clearest lead in this comparison.
- cheqd Trust Registries are shipped and productized on-chain — issuer trust-list management Solidus has not built yet.
- Cosmos SDK production maturity: a battle-tested codebase, an active validator set (~50–100 validators), and a live $CHEQ token economy with real infrastructure customers — Animo Solutions, Genobank, and a Hovi India government pilot.
- Active DIF and Trust Over IP Foundation working-group participation, sustained since 2021 — longer standards-body track record than Solidus has.
Where Solidus is different
- did:solidus is registered in the W3C DID Method Registry (PR #713, merged 2026-07-04) and resolves against a live testnet — checkable by a stranger in under a minute.
- Solidus is a DIF Associate Member with its logo live on identity.foundation, alongside cheqd's working-group participation.
- cheqd's own positioning is L1-infrastructure-for-SSI-vendors; it has no direct-to-fintech verification product. Solidus ships 7 live products on testnet, including one aimed at that exact vertical.
Side by side
| Feature | Solidus | cheqd Network |
|---|---|---|
| DID method registered in W3C registry | did:solidus — registered 2026-07-04 | did:cheqd — registered years earliercheqd Network wins |
| Trust registries | Not shipped | Shipped — on-chain Trust Registriescheqd Network wins |
| Consensus | HotStuff BFT | CometBFT (Cosmos SDK) |
| Token / validator set | None — public testnet, 4-node dev committee | $CHEQ live, ~50–100 validatorscheqd Network wins |
| Standards-body participation | DIF Associate Member | Active DIF + Trust Over IP Foundation participation |
| Named infrastructure customers | None — no paying customer | Animo Solutions, Genobank, Hovi (India gov pilot)cheqd Network wins |
| Direct-to-fintech verification product | 7 live products on testnet, incl. verify | None — sells infrastructure to SSI vendors, per its own positioning |
| Production maturity | Public testnet, unaudited | Cosmos SDK, battle-tested, live since 2021cheqd Network wins |
Check it yourself
curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/w3c/did-extensions/pulls/713 → merged: true, merged_at 2026-07-04. Compare that entry against cheqd's own did:cheqd registration in the same public registry.