Self
Founded 2016 Β· 2 employees on LinkedIn Β· 2 known investors
SELF provides decentralized identity infrastructure enabling users to store and manage their own credentials in a non-custodial wallet, eliminating the need for companies to maintain centralized identity databases. The platform offers passwordless authentication and privacy-preserving verification for KYC, AML, and age verification across industries.
Also known as SELF Β· SELF ID Β· selfid.com
Investors Β· 2
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeedNov 2025Source β
Source: company announcements and press reports β follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026SELF (SELF ID) operates a decentralized digital identity platform built on W3C-compliant Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials. The company frames identity as a matter of data co-ownership between individuals, data providers and businesses rather than a pure authentication problem, and describes the collection of a user's credentials as a "Digital Genome." Individual credentials in the system are referred to as "Molecules," created from Templates that define credential structure and rules, while other network objects such as Identities, Challenges, Responses and Templates each receive their own DID so they are globally addressable, cryptographically secure and independently verifiable.
The platform's core interaction model involves attestors, holders and verifiers/requesters. An attestor β for example a KYC provider, financial institution, employer or university β issues a Molecule certifying information about a holder, who reviews and accepts it into their Digital Genome. A verifier issues a Challenge specifying the credentials it needs (such as proof of age, address or certification); the holder assembles a cryptographically signed Response using selective disclosure so only the required data is shared. Verification is described as instantaneous and independent of contacting the original issuer or querying a centralized database. Products include the SELF App, a self-controlled identity wallet available on the App Store and Google Play for managing multiple DIDs and Verifiable Credentials, and Connect Your SELF (CYS), a passwordless authentication protocol covering sign-in, KYC and age checks. Variants marketed as "Sign In With Your SELF" and "Continue with your SELF" are positioned for enterprises that want CYS privacy benefits alongside existing single sign-on providers.
Founding story
The company's own materials state it was founded by crypto inventors and investors, including co-founders of a widely ranked cryptocurrency, motivated by the aim of giving individuals control of their digital lives.
Business model
SELF sells identity infrastructure to businesses as an integration layer, positioning itself as an alternative to building identity systems in-house. Businesses integrate once to support onboarding, KYC, AML and age verification without storing sensitive user data, while users hold credentials in their own wallet. The company also describes enabling attestors to monetize data by issuing verifiable credentials and users to share, distribute and monetize their own data.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
SELF positions itself against centralized identity databases and traditional single sign-on: it removes the centralized data "honeypot" so companies do not store sensitive records, and users hold their own keys, avoiding platform lockouts, data monetization and single points of failure. Selective disclosure allows proving attributes such as age or accreditation without exposing underlying data, and credentials verified once can be reused across services to avoid redundant KYC.
Technology
The platform is built on W3C-compliant Decentralized Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials. Every network object β Identity, Molecule (verifiable credential), Challenge, Response and Template β carries a unique DID. Templates define credential structure and rules; selective disclosure lets holders reveal only required attributes; and every credential creation, challenge response and attestation is secured with cryptographic proofs that any network participant can verify without contacting the issuer or a central database. A non-custodial mobile wallet stores the user's credentials.
Go-to-market
The company markets a business-facing integration offering with consultation requests and a sales pipeline driven through its own Connect Your SELF flow, alongside consumer distribution of the SELF App via the Apple App Store and Google Play. Documentation is published publicly for integrators.
Businesses and platforms needing identity verification and onboarding, including DeFi platforms, exchanges, insurance providers and financial institutions as requesters; KYC providers, financial institutions, employers and universities as attesters; and enterprises with existing single sign-on deployments. End users are individuals managing their own credentials.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Selfselfid.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Self do?
- SELF is a decentralized identity platform letting users hold credentials in a non-custodial wallet for privacy-preserving verification.
- Who are Self's investors?
- Self's investors include Core Venture Capital, Red Beard Ventures.