Web3 identifiers
Description
Via J.P. Morgan:
"Identifiers are ‘tags’ that we use every day. Names, email addresses, account numbers, social handles are all forms of identifiers. In the context of blockchains, a person’s ‘public’ blockchain address is their primary identifier for any blockchain-based interaction, and is typically a unique string of alphanumeric text.
Ethereum Naming Service (ENS), Unstoppable Domains, Lens handle, and several other naming services offer ways for users to add human-readable names to their public addresses. These services create a simplified and human-centric Web3 experience, because public addresses can be difficult to remember and share.
ENS is a naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain that enables users to represent their 42-character Ethereum public address using their ENS name. For instance, Jane Smith can create custom ENS identities to represent her personal and professional life. ENS not only encompasses Ethereum public addresses but it can also encompass addresses of several blockchains, Twitter handles, website URLs, email addresses, and Discord handles.
Lens is another system that enables the creation of identifiers in Web3. A key part of someone’s Lens profile is their Lens ‘handle’. A Lens profile enables a user to represent themself on the Lens social graph, and enables others to search for and discover their profile on the various Lens-based applications. Examples include Lenster, a decentralized and permissionless social media application, and Lenstube, a decentralized video sharing social media platform.
Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) are alphanumeric identifiers that represent entities, users, documents, credentials, objects or anything else that can be uniquely identified. DIDs are a recognized standard within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - an international community that works together to develop web standards to ensure its long-term growth. DIDs are the fundamental buildings blocks of the self-sovereign identity (SSI) ecosystem and their utility lies in their uniqueness, their provability, and their portability. The uniqueness of DIDs prevents confusion between subjects. Conceptually, we can compare this to a government-issued identification number. For example, there might be thousands of Jane Smiths, but each one would have their own DID. Referring to them by DID rather than by name prevents cases of mistaken identity. The portability of DIDs is one of their most powerful and important features and centers around the idea that a DID is owned and controlled by the ‘subject’ of the DID. This means no one can delete a person’s DID, and people are free to use their DIDs across different platforms and even move their DIDs and associated data from one platform to another."
(https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/documents/Digital-identity-assessing-web3s-building-blocks.pdf)
Identity attribute
Via J.P. Morgan:
"Identity attributes are facts and data points about an individual and/or entity that contribute to ‘who they are’. The degree you earned, the school you went to, and the company you work at are all examples of identity attributes that you may want or need to share with others to prove who you are or to prove something about you. They are attestations to a given fact or set of facts.
Proof of Humanity
Via J.P. Morgan:
"(PoH) The most essential identity attribute is one that proves that you are, in fact, a person. In an increasingly online-based world, where physical in-person interaction is often non-existent, bots and scam accounts create significant risks for people and online service providers. PoH is an Ethereum-based social identity verification system that uses various protections to authenticate a person during enrolment. PoH enables users to prove that there is a live, real human linked to a specific public Ethereum address. This proof can then be used to open online accounts, to vote or to join an online community. Following a photo upload and video verification, a person will need to be vouched for by another human that has already been registered with PoH. This provides a strong web of trust to this identity verification framework and adds to one’s set of identity attributes, by enabling them to prove that they are real. "
(https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/documents/Digital-identity-assessing-web3s-building-blocks.pdf)
Soulbound Tokens
Via J.P. Morgan:
"(SBT) Proposed by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, SBTs represent a person’s digital identity attributes on-chain. SBTs are encompassed within the Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) 5114, Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4974, and several others. SBTs are a permanent, non-transferable form of a non-fungible token (NFT) that can be seen as an evolution of POAPs (see section below). Entities and individuals, referred to as ‘souls’, can use their Ethereum-enabled wallets to hold and view their SBTs. The SBT could represent a fact about an individual, such as a person’s degree or their professional certification. A collection of these tokens, issued by different institutions and individuals, would form a publicly-verified, on-chain identity of a user. Once a SBT is issued to the wallet of a soul, the SBT is bound to that wallet and represents an attribute linked to the soul controlling that wallet. Unlike verifiable credentials covered in the below section, SBTs are public in nature and can be viewed by anyone."
(https://www.jpmorgan.com/onyx/documents/Digital-identity-assessing-web3s-building-blocks.pdf)