All you need to know about soulbound token, an NFT that Ethereum co-founder calls the future

Amid all the NFT hype, there are certain things in life that are not transferable. For example, your birth certificates, Aadhaar or PAN number, college degrees, etc. But what if these important documents could be represented by NFTs and at the same, be attached to you for life.  Hence, get ready to enter the nextgen solution in the crypto space - the soulbound tokens. 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently co-wrote nearly a 40-page paper explaining how Ethereum's future will now revolve around an ecosystem called a Decentralized Society. And the main aspect of this theoretical future is soulbound tokens. All that you need to know about this futuristic technology. 

What are soulbound tokens or SBTs?

Explaining this, Buterin said in the bulletin, SBTs are also non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that a person can earn based in part on their job and education history. Unlike regular NFTs, they're non-transferable (though people can revoke them if they choose.) SBTs would represent a person's reputation and accomplishments, a kind of "extended resume".

How SBTs can help us in reallife?  

To explain simply, these are more like how we share information about ourselves on our CVs. But in this case, one Soul can be issued or attested by other Souls. For example, a company can provide a recommendation letter for an employee as SBT.

So, when universities starts issuing degrees as SBTs, employers began giving SBTs to workers then these credentials would make it difficult for scammers to impersonate someone. 

“The idea is to bolster people's social identities by customizing them with unique, non-exchangeable badges. In theory, the tokens could help solve some of the problems ravaging decentralized finance, like scams and theft,” Buterin said. 

What happens if we lose SBTs? 

The SBTs will be stored in Soul wallets.  So if you lose the key to your soul address, it can be easily recovered. In case, you lose the key, a Soul would require the consent of a Soul community member to recover it. 

Users can curate a set of “guardians” and give them the power to change the keys of their soul wallet. These guardians could be close friends, family members, trusted institutions, etc. These guardians could authenticate the owner of the soul address through a conversation, a face-to-face meeting and numerous other methods, he said in the bulletin.

When will SBTs be available?

Hopefully, the SBTs will be available for early use on the Ethereum blockchain by the end of this year. This is all part of his larger plan to create a “decentralized society” by 2024.