The Learner Credential Wallet was developed by the Digital Credentials Consortium, a network founded in 2018 at MIT by leading universities across North America and Europe collaborating on the development of software and tools that promote the adoption of W3C Verifiable Credentials and aligned standards like Open Badges 3.0 in higher education. In 2026 the organization began operating under a new name, the Digital Credentials Commons, joining Strada Education Foundation to continue scaling open standards and technologies in close collaboration with a broad network of partners education, training, and technology partners.
The DCC published its foundational white paper in 2020, identifying the need for shared, trusted infrastructure to serve as the framework for a digital credentials ecosystem. At that time, the critical missing component was a digital wallet. With support from the United States Department of Education, the DCC developed the Open Source Learner Credential Wallet specification and reference implementation. The team piloted the wallet at Georgia Institute of Technology, San Jose City College, and College Unbound, allowing them to understand practical wallet usage across a diverse range of institutions.
The LCW was designed primarily as a proof of concept. It serves as an open source, free-to-use tool that demonstrates the overall functionality of the VC ecosystem, rather than an out-of-the-box, full-service product. While the DCC team leads development and maintenance of the source code, the organization encourages others to use it as a model for creating wallet solutions that meet their specific context or use case needs. Arizona State University's Pocket serves as one such example.
Beyond the LCW, the DCC has developed other core pieces of VC infrastructure including: