# Identity
**Domain:** Institutional design / Participant state
**Doc Type:** Developed Wiki Node
**Maturity:** Developed
**Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]]
## Definition
**Identity** is the persistent representation by which a system recognizes an actor across actions and time. Depending on the arena it may be a legal person, athlete registration, account, wallet, decentralized identifier, pseudonymous handle, or verified credential.
## Significance
Identity makes ranking, sanction, reputation, appeal, and reintegration attachable to a participant. A cryptographic address establishes continuity of control more readily than it establishes a legal or biological person; attribution requires an evidentiary bridge.
## Sources
- [[articles/gamification/Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed|Lex Sportiva and Winning Without Bloodshed]]
- [W3C Decentralized Identifiers](https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/)
## Routes
[[wiki/Actor Continuity|Actor Continuity]] · [[wiki/Role Assignment|Role Assignment]] · [[wiki/Attribution Stack|Attribution Stack]] · [[wiki/W3C Decentralized Identifier|W3C Decentralized Identifier]]