W3C publishes draft update on tracking the status of digital credentials

The W3C Verifiable Credentials Working Group published the First Public Working Draft of Bitstring Status List v1.1 on 24 September 2026.

The specification describes a mechanism for publishing the status of verifiable credentials, including whether a credential has been suspended or revoked. It uses bitstrings, a compact sequence of binary values, to represent the status of multiple credentials.

What is a bitstring status list?

A verifiable credential can be valid when it is issued, but later needs to be suspended or revoked. For example, a digital certificate could be withdrawn after it expires or if the issuing organisation determines that it should no longer be accepted.

A status list provides a way for verifiers to check this information. Instead of publishing a separate status record for every credential, the Bitstring Status List uses a sequence of bits. Each position in the sequence can correspond to a credential’s status.

In simple terms, it works somewhat like a long row of switches: one position can indicate that a credential is valid, while another value can indicate that it has been suspended or revoked. This allows status information to be published in a relatively small format.

The specification describes the mechanism as privacy-preserving, space-efficient and high-performance. The privacy element is important because checking a credential’s status should not unnecessarily reveal information about which credential is being used.

The new document is a First Public Working Draft, meaning it is still under development and is not a final W3C standard. The Working Group is inviting feedback on the proposal through its GitHub repository.

The draft is part of the W3C’s work on the broader Verifiable Credentials ecosystem, which provides a standardised way for digital credentials to be issued and presented and for their authenticity and status to be checked.