Verifiable credentials provide a tamper-secure way for users to prove their identity online, without sacrificing their safety, privacy, or security during the process. They are the digital equivalent of the paper documents we carry in our wallets and use to prove who we are in the physical world. The W3C has approved verifiable credentials as a web standard approved by the W4C in 2019. They offer a few advantages that we don’t get with paper records such as sharing an ID card.
Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/07/26/verifiable-credentials/