The increasing incidents of data breaches and personal data misuse highlight the urgent need for robust identity management systems. Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) emerges as the future solution for digital identity management, underpinned by anonymous credentials (AC) and the distributed ledger technology (DLT) for security measures. However, current SSI models only achieve partial decentralization and none of them can fully meet the complex security requirements of real-world applications. In this paper, we address these limitations by constructing a Decentralized Anonymous Credential (DAC) scheme inspired by large universe attribute-based cryptographic primitives. Building on this foundation, we design a distributed identity management system (DisIMS), a comprehensive SSI system built on blockchain, achieving attribute flexibility, anonymity, unlinkability, revocability and selective disclosure. Compared to earlier blockchain-based identity management systems, our DisIMS allows users to selectively link previous transactions to generate verifiable eligibility proofs for the current transaction without leaking their real identities. We also implement DisIMS on both permissioned (Hyperledger Fabric v2.5) and permissionless (Ethereum Sepolia testnet) blockchains. Experimental results show that batch verification outperforms single verification by reducing execution times by approximately 76% to 81% on Hyperledger Fabric and 50% to 71% on Ethereum, based on 200 tests with 10 to 50 credentials containing 50 attributes each, which demonstrates DisIMS practicality for real-world batch verification scenarios.

Recent years have witnessed a marked increase in both academic proposals and industrial adoptions of blockchain technology. However, a majority of the projects remain at the stage of prototype proposals and their real-world deployment has not met the anticipated level. This gap can be attributed to three major barriers - technical difficulties, human factors, and social context. Most of the existing research leans towards addressing the technical challenges, leaving the human and social aspects inadequately explored. Moreover, a lack of practical insights in the existing blockchain software engineering frameworks further exacerbates the adoption problem. To address these gaps, we introduce a Blockchain-oriented Software Engineering Approach for Higher Adoption Possibility (BOSE-HAP) . This approach emphasizes collaboration, reflective thinking, and iterative development, aiming to bolster implementation consistency and stimulate industry adoption. We have applied this approach in the design, development, and launch of a blockchain credentialing product, CValid.org , in the context of a university-level summer school. The product achieves industry-accepted System Usability Score and has seen successful real-world deployment. In addition, this study embed usability considerations throughout the process, involved a total of 112 stakeholders across different development stages, with 25 of them participating in our in-depth interviews and usability testing. Drawing from our firsthand experience and industrial-grounded findings, we deliver eight reflections and propose five best practice suggestions relevant to blockchain adoption. We believe these insights will provide invaluable guidance for both academic researchers and industry practitioners involved in the field of blockchain technology.