Gamers to Web3 Builders- How Soulbound Tokens Found Their Soul
Visualize an environment where your educational achievements, employment background and participation in various events are all permanently recorded, not on platforms like LinkedIn or in university records, but stored on the blockchain. There’s no central authority involved, no falsifying of credentials and no commercialization of achievements. This is the vision that Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) aim to bring to life, often referred to as the backbone of a new form of internet identity.
The concept of "soulbound" was first introduced in gaming, notably in "World of Warcraft" where certain items were linked to a player’s character and could not be traded. These items represented achievements and status. They were earned, not purchased.
Fast forward to May 2022, when Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum alongside economists Glen Weyl and Puja Ohlhaver, released a significant paper titled "Decentralized Society: Finding the Soul of Web3". This paper introduced the idea of Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) as fundamental components for a Decentralized Society (DeSoc)—a vision for a Web3 environment focused on identity, trust, and reputation.
In contrast to standard Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which are transferable, SBTs are non-transferable, meaning they cannot be bought or exchanged. This feature of non-transferability is vital to their function, confirming authenticity and reputation in a manner that is resistant to fraud and manipulation.
The Technical Foundation- How SBTs Work
At their core, SBTs are unique, publicly verifiable digital tokens that are permanently bound to a specific identity or entity called a "Soul"—which is usually a crypto wallet but could represent a person, institution, or organization.
SBTs are issued by other Souls (like universities, companies or event organizers) and stored on the blockchain. This ensures immutability and authenticity. Unlike traditional NFTs, SBTs focus more on where they come from and what they mean, than their tradable value.
While a universal technical standard for SBTs doesn't exist yet, there are active discussions around features like recovery mechanisms in case a wallet is lost and integration with Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) to enhance privacy and portability.
Here’s how an authority executes the issuance of an SBT*.*
Tokens And Their Implementation
Understanding SBTs requires examining their relationship to existing token standards and the specific technical modifications that make them non-transferable. Most traditional NFTs are built on established Ethereum standards like ERC-721 (for unique tokens) or ERC-1155 (for both fungible and non-fungible tokens) which support transferability through functions like transferFrom().
What We Do: Override and disable all transfer-related functions in the smart contract
Why We Do It: To protect the key benefit of permanent binding from being lost
Impact: Creates non-transferable credentials while maintaining wallet compatibility
here’s a code snippet which will help you understand better. (PS: You should know Solidity for this).
contract SoulboundToken is ERC721 {
function transferFrom(address from, address to, uint256 tokenId)
public override {
revert("SBT: Transfer not allowed - tokens are soulbound");
}
function mint(address to, uint256 tokenId, string memory uri)
external onlyAuthorizedIssuer {
_mint(to, tokenId);
_setTokenURI(tokenId, uri);
emit SBTIssued(to, tokenId, msg.sender, block.timestamp);
}
}
Emerging Standards
The blockchain community is developing formal standards for SBTs:
EIP-4973 (Account-bound Tokens): Proposes a new interface specifically for non-transferable tokens, eliminating transfer functions entirely rather than disabling them
EIP-5192 (Minimal Soulbound NFTs): Focuses on a lightweight approach with a simple "locked" state indicator
EIP-5114 (Badge Bound Tokens): Emphasizes achievement and certification use cases with built-in metadata standards
Each approach has trade-offs between compatibility, gas efficiency and functionality.
The blockchain ensures authenticity and prevents forgery, while the public nature enables easy verification without compromising privacy through zero-knowledge proofs and similar privacy-preserving technologies.
Currently, there's no universal SBT standard, though the blockchain community actively discusses technical requirements. Some proposed standards like EIP-4973 (Account-bound Tokens) and EIP-5192 (Minimal Soulbound NFTs) aim to formalize these concepts, but adoption remains fragmented across different implementations.
Real-World Applications- SBTs in Action
SBTs may sound theoretical, but they’re already finding powerful real-world use cases:
Educational Credentials: Instead of PDFs or paper degrees, imagine receiving a Soulbound Token from your university that verifies your degree preventing credential fraud and streamlines hiring and admissions processes.
Decentralized Identity (DeID): SBTs can form the foundation of a verifiable digital identity,one that is owned by the user and not controlled by corporations. This can enable trust-driven lending in DeFi by proving credit based on reputation and past behavior.
Proof of Attendance/Participation (POAP): Whether it’s a blockchain conference, online workshop, or community project, SBTs can serve as unforgeable digital badges for participation, building both individual reputation and community trust.
DAO Governance: In Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, SBTs can be used to tie voting power to verified contributions preventing Sybil attacks where one person creates multiple fake accounts to manipulate decisions.
Legal and Compliance: The Singapore High Court recently used an SBT to issue a freezing order, demonstrating how these tokens can support law enforcement and compliance in the digital age.
Health Records: SBTs could store privacy-preserving medical histories enabling individuals to securely share their health data with trusted entities.
Employment and IP: SBTs can document job history, project contributions or ownership of intellectual property in a tamper-proof way.
NFTs versus SBTs
| Feature | NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) | SBTs (Soulbound Tokens) |
| Transferability | Transferable – can be bought, sold, or traded | Non-transferable – permanently bound to a "Soul" |
| Purpose | Focused on ownership of digital assets | Focused on identity, trust, and reputation |
| Tradable Value | Often has monetary/trading value | Has utility and meaning, not tradable |
| Ownership | Owned by the wallet, can change hands | Bound to a specific Soul (identity), cannot be sold |
| Use Cases | Art, collectibles, gaming assets | Degrees, certificates, memberships, participation proof |
| Issuer | Anyone can mint and issue | Issued by verified entities like universities, DAOs |
| Forgery Risk | Can be misused if not verified properly | Reduces forgery due to issuer credibility and immutability |
| Revocability | Can be burned or sold | Designed to be permanent, with possible recovery mechanisms |
| Identity Linking | Not inherently tied to user identity | Tied directly to identity (wallet = Soul) |
| Philosophy | Ownership of assets | Representation of who you are |
The Future- SBTs and the Digital Horizon
The journey of SBTs is just beginning. Developers and researchers are exploring:
Privacy-Preserving Technologies: Tools like Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) could allow users to prove they have certain credentials without revealing sensitive information.
AI and Adaptive Identity: Combining SBTs with machine learning could help build smart identity systems that evolve with user behavior, detecting fraud and improving personalization.
Web2 to Web3 Bridges: SBTs could become a vital link between today’s centralized platforms and tomorrow’s decentralized identity networks allowing smoother transitions and data ownership.
Sectoral Transformations: From finance to education to healthcare, SBTs have the potential to restructure trust in the digital world.
Navigating Challenges- Hurdles in Adoption
As promising as SBTs are, several challenges remain:
Privacy Concerns: Public blockchain data is visible to all, raising issues around personal data exposure.
Scalability: Popular blockchains often suffer from high gas fees and congestion which could hinder mass adoption.
Interoperability: Without standardization SBTs may remain scattered across platforms.
Revocability & Recovery: What happens if you lose access to your Soul or your credentials change?
These are solvable problems, but they require collaboration across technical, legal, and ethical domains.
Conclusion
Soulbound Tokens are more than just another blockchain innovation—they're a foundational technology for building a more trustworthy, accountable, and inclusive digital future. By solving the fundamental problem of establishing trust in decentralized systems, SBTs address one of Web3's most significant challenges which is moving beyond pure speculation toward meaningful utility.
