Blockchain Commons: Tech Overview 2026

Description

Blockchain Commons builds open infrastructure for digital identity and assets and for coercion-free communication, with no single server or platform required. In this 20-minute tour, Lead Researcher Wolf McNally walks through 17 technologies, from visual hashing and human-readable encoding to threshold signatures and anonymous coordination, and highlights reference apps and other developer tools. From the foundations of Uniform Resources and dCBOR encoding, Wolf builds up to Gordian Envelope (a smart document format with selective disclosure), XIDs (a decentralized identifier), Gordian Clubs (autonomous encrypted groups), Hubert (anonymous dead-drop coordination), and FROST (Schnorr-based threshold signing), while also spotlighting digital identification techniques such as LifeHash icons, Bytewords, and Object Identity Blocks. Every technology is open source, with working code you can download now. TRANSCRIPT: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/videos/transcripts/overview-2026/ DEVELOPER PAGES: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/ RESEARCH REPO: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/research/ SUBSCRIBE TO ANNOUNCEMENTS: https://www.blockchaincommons.com/subscribe/ MORE ON THESE TECHNOLOGIES: * LifeHash: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/lifehash/ * Bytewords: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/bytewords/ * Object Identity Blocks: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/oib/ * Uniform Resources: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/ur/ * Multipart URs: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2024-001-multipart-ur.md * SSKR: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/sskr/ * dCBOR: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/dcbor/ * Gordian Envelope: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/envelope/ * Known Values: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/Research/blob/master/papers/bcr-2023-002-known-value.md * Provenance Marks: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/provemark/ * GSTP: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/envelope/gstp/ * Encrypted State Continuations: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/envelope/esc/ * XIDs: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/xid/ * Gordian Clubs: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/clubs/ * Hubert: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/hubert/ * FROST: https://developer.blockchaincommons.com/frost/ * Garner: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/garner-rust RELATED REFERENCE APPS * Gordian Seed Tool for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gordian-seed-tool/id1545088229 * Seed Tool CLI: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/seedtool-cli-rust * dCBOR CLI: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-dcbor-cli * Envelope CLI: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/bc-envelope-cli-rust * FROST Hubert CLI: https://github.com/BlockchainCommons/frost-hubert-rust Speaker: Wolf McNally 0:00 intro 1:18 lifehash — visual hash identification 2:09 bytewords — human-readable binary encoding 2:46 object identity blocks (OIB) — standardized UI for digital objects 3:32 uniform resources (URs) — self-describing data as text 4:33 multipart URs — animated QR codes with fountain codes 5:38 SSKR — sharded secret key reconstruction 6:10 gordian seed tool — reference seed vault app 6:52 seed tool CLI — command-line seed operations 7:21 dCBOR — deterministic binary encoding 9:11 gordian envelope — smart documents with selective disclosure 10:55 known values — compact predicate registry 11:44 provenance marks — tamper-evident publication chains 12:45 GSTP — sealed transaction protocol 13:29 encrypted state continuations (ESC) — stateless session management 14:36 XIDs — extensible identifiers 15:22 gordian clubs — autonomous encrypted groups 16:09 hubert — dead-drop protocol over distributed storage 17:15 FROST — threshold signatures without a coordinator 18:18 garner — tor onion service tooling 18:59 developer resources and getting involved #BlockchainCommons #Gordian #OpenSource #DecentralizedIdentity #DigitalPrivacy #SelfSovereignIdentity #Cryptography #dCBOR #FROST #Bitcoin