The debate rages on. ChatGPT very good at expressing my opinion: 

VCDM + JSON-LD are not optional — they’re the gateway to interoperable trade, automation, and AI-ready trust.

Europe is building the world’s most ambitious trust infrastructure:
EUDI-wallets for citizens.
EUBW organisational wallets for enterprises and public bodies.
Rulebooks, trust registries, semantics, DIIP.

But there’s a catch.
If we don’t align with the global data language — the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model (VCDM) and JSON-LD semantics — then all this investment risks becoming a beautiful regional dead-end.

Let’s be blunt:

Interoperability is either international or it is nothing.
And international interoperability requires VCDM + JSON-LD.

Here’s why.

1. The world already uses VCDM. Europe cannot afford to be the exception.

US federal pilots, Canadian and Japanese identity programmes, Australian verifiable credentials, the OpenWallet Foundation, ToIP, DIF, MyData — all ride on:

• VCDM 2.0 structure

• JSON-LD semantics

• Linked Data proofs

• DID-based verification

If the EU diverges (e.g. by inventing “EU-only JSON schemas”), our wallets won’t interoperate with:

• foreign banks

• logistics chains

• regulators

• supply-chain partners

• global AI-agents

A European silo would cripple cross-border trade.

2. JSON-LD gives meaning to data — essential for automation and AI

Plain JSON = dumb structure.
JSON-LD = structured meaning.

A human knows IBAN → bank account → organisation.
An AI-agent does not — unless that information is anchored through semantics.

With JSON-LD:

• “iban” points to a globally recognised URI

• “powerToAct” points to an ontology describing delegations

• “shareholder” anchors to legal entity structures

• “employment” connects to HR and tax vocabularies

This turns credentials into knowledge objects, not documents.

Automation collapses without semantics.
AI collapses even faster.

If Europe wants autonomous AI-agents negotiating contracts, validating authority, and connecting to data spaces, JSON-LD is non-negotiable.

3. International trade requires a universal data layer

Europe is the world’s largest trading bloc.
Trade relies on:

• Certificates of origin

• Bill of Lading

• Customs data

• Tax residency

• Posted worker notifications

• Safety, conformity, sustainability declarations

• DPPs (Digital Product Passports)

Outside Europe, these will be issued as VCDM + JSON-LD credentials.

If the EU chooses another model, global partners must implement two stacks:
one for the EU, one for everyone else.
They won’t do it.
Trade will route around us.

4. Global financial interoperability depends on speaking the same credential language

Banks worldwide are aligning to VCDM for:

• KYC

• KYB

• IBAN proofing

• beneficial ownership

• delegated authorities

• vLEI integration

If Europe’s credentials aren’t VCDM-compatible, we lose:

• automated KYB

• instant cross-border onboarding

• AI-driven compliance

• seamless corporate wallet interactions

The winners will be whoever speaks the global data dialect.
That must be Europe.

5. Europe’s AI-agents will live inside wallets — and need semantics to act safely

EUDI and EUBW wallets are the control panels for AI-agents.
Agents need to:

• verify a counterparty

• check a legal mandate

• sign contracts

• authorise payments

• pull data from registries

• submit compliant forms

• operate robots

• negotiate business events

Every one of these steps requires machine-readable meaning.

VCDM + JSON-LD turn the wallet ecosystem into a coherent, global operating system for trusted automation.

6. Geopolitics: this is Europe’s chance to export trust — not retreat into itself

If we align with global standards, the EU can:

• export rulebooks

• export trust registries

• export wallet technology

• export semantics

• export governance models

• export compliance frameworks

We become a norm-setter, not a standard-taker.

If we diverge, we do the opposite:
we create a local compatibility problem and invite others to set the pace.

The bottom line

Europe is about to spend billions deploying trust infrastructure.
We get one chance to make it globally compatible.

Choose VCDM + JSON-LD, and Europe becomes the global hub of trusted digital exchange.
Choose something else, and Europe only talks to itself.