Abstract: A system and method for authenticating access in a decentralized manner to a secure resource over a communication network using a distributed transaction-based state machine is disclosed. The system and method provided rely on an attestation contract executed by the distributed transaction-based state machine to attest to identity of a user attempting access to a secure resource rather than the traditional approach of relying on a pre-shared key stored at the secure resource. Identity authentication is delegated to the distributed transaction-based state machine and the result is observed by the secure resource to determine whether to grant access.