Jan L. Camenisch

Also known as Jan Leonhard Camenisch

Jan Camenisch is a Zurich-based cryptographer whose work on anonymous credentials and privacy-preserving authentication reached industry standards and open-source blockchain software. After an electrical engineering degree in 1993 and a computer science PhD in 1998, both at ETH Zurich, he joined IBM Research – Zurich in 1999, where he led the Privacy & Cryptography research team. His Direct Anonymous Attestation protocol of 2004 became a Trusted Computing Group standard, and he was the main inventor of Identity Mixer. Honors include the 2010 ACM SIGSAC Outstanding Innovation Award, the 2017 IACR Fellowship and, with Anna Lysyanskaya, the 2024 Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography. After joining DFINITY in 2018 and becoming its CTO, he is a staff researcher at Category Labs.

Now at: Category Labs
Born: 1968
Badges: Bridge
Loyal

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

1993–1998

Degrees at ETH Zurich

He earns an engineer's degree in electrical engineering in 1993 and a PhD in computer science in 1998, both at ETH Zurich.
1999–2018

Privacy research at IBM Zurich

After a post as a research assistant professor of computer science at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, he joins IBM Research – Zurich in 1999. He works as a Principal Research Staff Member, leads the Privacy & Cryptography research team and is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology.
2004

Direct Anonymous Attestation and Identity Mixer

His Direct Anonymous Attestation protocol of 2004 becomes a Trusted Computing Group standard and is embedded in TPM chips worldwide. He is also the main inventor of Identity Mixer, a cryptographic protocol suite for privacy-preserving authentication that is integrated into Hyperledger Fabric and forms the cryptographic core of Sovrin.
2010–2013

ACM SIGSAC and IEEE awards

In 2010, he receives the ACM SIGSAC Outstanding Innovation Award. In 2013, the IEEE Computer Society honors him with a Technical Achievement Award while he is a research staff member and project leader at IBM Research-Zurich.
2017–2018

IACR Fellow and Beckman Award

The International Association for Cryptologic Research names him a 2017 IACR Fellow for contributions to the theory and practice of privacy-preserving protocols and impact on government policy and industry. In 2018, he receives the Kristian Beckman Award of IFIP Technical Committee 11 and is elected an ACM Fellow.
2018

DFINITY and the Internet Computer

In October 2018, he leaves IBM Research and joins the DFINITY Foundation to lead its new Zurich Research Lab. As CTO of DFINITY, he and his team design, build, launch and evolve the Internet Computer Protocol, and he holds that title in 2024.
2024

The Levchin Prize

In 2024, he shares the Levchin Prize for Real-World Cryptography with Anna Lysyanskaya for the development of efficient anonymous credentials. Anonymous credentials rest on Camenisch–Lysyanskaya signatures, which let users prove they hold required attributes without revealing other information.
As of October 2026

Staff researcher at Category Labs

He is a staff researcher at Category Labs, based in Zurich, where he works on cryptography, privacy and blockchain after a brief period at Subzero Labs.

Career

NowCategory LabsStaff Researcher
From 2018DFINITY FoundationChief Technology Officer
Until 1999Aarhus UniversityResearch Assistant Professor
1999–2018IBM ResearchPrincipal Research Staff Member; Privacy & Cryptography Research Team Leader