The uniqueness of Soul Bound Token (SBT) technology
Soulbound tokens (SBTs) are a concept introduced by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and his co-authors to further develop a decentralised society and reverse the ownership of our own identities through digitalisation.
What are Soulbound tokens ?
Soulbound tokens (SBTs) are unique digital tokens, similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), that are created with the aim of digitizing the representation of a person, their characteristics, achievements and more. For example, a Soulbound token could represent a digital degree certificate issued directly by an academic institution on the blockchain. In this example, "Soul" is the academic institution (as the issuer) and "Soulbound token" is the digital certificate (token).
The name "Soulbound" comes from the idea that tokens are "bound" to "souls" by being issued by a specific institution. This linkage creates a necessary level of authority, as the authority issuing the certificate will have a certain level of trust among the public.
Despite the link to the authority, which may not be decentralised, the Soulbound token is owned by the individual and remains in their respective DeSoc wallet - also referred to as a "soul". Full control remains in the hands of the individual, removing any dependence on a centralised authority and thus creating the basis for a strong decentralised community.
What role will soul-bound tokens play in a decentralised society?
Digital certificates already exist, but they are often not accepted on their own and require proof that they come from the issuing authority. In addition, digital certificates are usually issued separately by different centralised platforms and need to be requested or paid for.
In a decentralised society, Soulbound token holders can regain this autonomy by accessing their tokens quickly and easily, while ensuring transparency and reliability through the immutability of the blockchain.
Examples of SBT use cases:
Medical Records: a medical "soul" (a decentralised wallet dedicated to a user's medical information) will store a user's medical records as trusted digital SBTs that can be quickly accessed when needed. As these tokenised assets are issued directly by the medical centre with full transparency on the blockchain,there would be no need for auditing and they would be considered trustworthy. This would eliminate the need to prove your identity every time you need to present a medical card (for insurance purposes, as an example).
Educational Certificates: As with medical cards, an educational "soul" would contain SBTs that were issued directly to the user by the educational institution. These could be college diplomas, grade transcripts, certificates of proficiency, degrees, and more.
Looking to the future, the Web3 reality remains an exciting prospect for this technology, with VR games combining with a decentralised meta-universe, and digital art and currency paving the way for a decentralised economy. However, until now, these decentralised structures have relied on centralised platforms such as cryptocurrency exchanges and NFT trading platforms to provide trust and ease of access.
Soulbound tokens represent the next stage of building a decentralised society (DeSoc) with legitimacy and the right level of trust.