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This comprehensive explanation has been generated from 38 GitHub source documents. All source documents are searchable here.
Last updated: October 7, 2025
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For authoritative documentation, please consult the official GLEIF vLEI trainings and the ToIP Glossary.
A digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange, with ownership records stored in a digital ledger using strong cryptography to secure transactions and control coin creation. KERI explicitly does not require cryptocurrency's total global ordering, as its idempotent key event operations eliminate the need for double-spend protection.
Cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to function as a medium of exchange, where individual coin ownership records are stored in a digital ledger or computerized database. The system uses strong cryptography to:
Cryptocurrencies rely on distributed ledger technology (typically blockchains) to maintain transaction history and ensure that digital value cannot be spent twice simultaneously—the fundamental double-spend problem.
KERI has been explicitly designed without the need for consensus-based distributed ledgers that cryptocurrencies require. This represents a fundamental architectural difference:
Cryptocurrency Requirements:
KERI's Design:
KERI's design choice to avoid cryptocurrency-style consensus has several important implications:
KERI focuses on identifier control and key management, not value transfer. This separation of concerns allows:
While KERI doesn't provide cryptocurrency functionality, it can integrate with crypto systems:
The most important feature of cryptocurrency is double-spend proofing—ensuring value cannot be spent twice. KERI's key event operations are idempotent, meaning:
This idempotency eliminates the need for the complex consensus mechanisms that cryptocurrencies require, making KERI:
While KERI itself does not provide a currency system or native token mechanism, KERI-based systems can be easily extended with money or token functionality. The protocol's architecture does not preclude integration with cryptocurrency systems—tokens can be built on top of KERI's identifier infrastructure.
For example, ACDCs (Authentic Chained Data Containers) could represent ownership claims over cryptocurrency assets, with KERI providing the cryptographic root-of-trust for proving control authority over those claims.