Clear DefinitionsSoulbound Identity
1 min read
Pronunciation
[sohl-bound ahy-den-ti-tee]
Analogy
Like a membership card that cannot be sold or transferred, proving your personal affiliation permanently.
Definition
An on-chain identity mechanism that issues non-transferable (soulbound) tokens or credentials to represent an entity’s reputation, credentials, or memberships.
Key Points Intro
Soulbound identities create persistent, non-fungible proofs of on-chain credentials.
Key Points
Irrevocability: credentials cannot be transferred or sold
Composable: multiple soulbound tokens can represent various traits
Governance: used in permissioned DAOs and access control
Privacy: can leverage zk-proofs to protect sensitive details
Example
A DAO grants soulbound membership badges to contributors, enabling weighted voting based on reputation tiers.
Technical Deep Dive
Implementations extend ERC-721 or ERC-734 with invariant transfer restrictions. Credential issuers sign claims off-chain; users submit proofs to mint soulbound tokens. On-chain registry contracts map DIDs to token sets. zk-SNARK verifiers confirm off-chain attestations without exposing personal data.
Caveat
Non-transferability complicates key rotation and can lock credentials if keys are lost.
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