The arrival of CoSoul marks an unprecedented revolution in the workplace for digital native organisations. The digital community platform Coordinape has rolled out the soulbound CoSoul. It’s a token that allows users to create a blockchain digital CV. In other words, it’s unforgeable, impossible to sell or transfer. So, what is soulbound CoSoul and what does this new project bring to the world of Web 3?
What’s a Soulbound token?
To understand what a Soulbound token is, it is crucial to remember what an NFT is. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets that use blockchain technology. They guarantee the authenticity and rarity of a digital asset. Various fields use NFTs, such as digital art, video games and the collection of virtual objects. We explained these in our previous article.
Soulbound tokens, on the other hand, are NFTs that cannot be transferred once they have been received. Also known as soul tokens, these assets remain in a « soul wallet » ad vitam æternam. According to its co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, SBTs are a building block in the construction of a « decentralised society » (DeSoc). In a research paper entitled « Decentralized Society: Finding Web3’s Soul« , which he co-authored, Buterin reminds us of this.
What are the characteristics of Soulbound?
At first glance, you might wonder what the point of this restriction is, given that the blockchain aims to maximise the volume of transactions. However, Vitalik remains convinced that the opposite is true: he believes that there are many uses for SBTs.
Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) could be revoked by the issuer thanks to a « burn NFT » mechanism. Furthermore, an SBT doesn’t have to be linked to a legal identity. A pseudonym can legitimately possess these tokens.
If an SBT is lost, it can be recovered by the community. The user simply needs to designate a group of « guardians » to whom he or she gives the power to modify the wallet’s keys. The guardians could be individuals or institutions.
What are the possible uses?
As mentioned previously, there are many possible uses for soulbound tokens.
A university could, for instance, award an SBT to its students when they graduate. The NFT standard is not appropriate in this case, as a certification holder could theoretically resell the NFT. With Soulbound, it is impossible to sell or transfer the cryptographic evidence linked to the holding of a diploma.
Another possible application would be a company wishing to hire people who have attended a certain conference. While NFTs can be freely exchanged on a marketplace, you only need to pay a sufficient sum to claim to have attended the event. This is where the Proof-of-Attendance Protocol (POAP) comes in. In this case, the SBT aims to prove not only that you paid the price, but also that you actually travelled to attend the event in person.
In addition, a DAO seeking to create a community of environmentalists could distribute SBTs to activists taking part in specific events. In this case, it would be impossible to conceal one’s commitment thanks to the impossibility of transferring or modifying SBTs. Alternatively, a « CityDAO » could be created, where voting power (via a governance token) would be materialised by an SBT, distributed definitively to the citizens of a city.
In short, there are many uses for Soulbounds and no shortage of applications.
What’s the CoSoul project?
The CoSoul project was introduced by the web3 CAD platform, Coordinape. It’s a soul-related NFT that tracks the work history of users within digital native organisations. It’s a free and scalable asset.
It’s a free NFT, designed to run on the Ethereum Optimism layer2 network. It enables the collection of participation data, awards and verification of blockchain employment. CoSoul is not a static representation of a holder’s work history. It’s updated every month with new measures and generates illustrations that change according to the holder’s activity.
The Coordinape team expressed their excitement at the prospect of bringing the experiences of thousands of users who have collected GIVE in Coordinape since its inception on the blockchain in 2021. They said: « CoSoul is the first public manifestation of the Coordinape network and a primitive on which much more will be built. »
Introducing CoSoul
CoSoul Soulbound NFT instantly presents the work history of a holder on the line. It can be viewed in the Coordinape application and on any NFT viewing platform, and integrated into any tool that can use NFT data.
The attributes of a CoSoul will be updated each month based on the holder’s work within the Coordinape ecosystem. This process begins with an MVP metric known as Public GIVE, a normalised version of the GIVE that a user has collected.
However, it’s only the beginning. CoSoul’s design also includes an element of generative art. It creates a constantly evolving image that grows and changes as users continue to engage with decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and online communities via Coordinape.
Furthermore, CoSoul provides a public profile that showcases the art and provenance of the GIVE received by the user. It also allows users to browse any CoSoul to see where the GIVE has come from and to view more statistics and markers.
What does the future hold for CoSoul Soulbound token?
Indeed, CoSoul is designed with flexibility and security in mind. Users can engrave their CoSoul at any time. It also has social recovery functions in case users need to change their wallet.
Looking ahead, the Coordinape team plans to continue developing Soulbound CoSoul. They intend to connect CoSoul to other applications, platforms and protocols.
Although there are no eye-scanning plans, the team is focused on promoting a future of identity rooted in the history of work and human relations. Through the prism of this philosophy, Coordinape sees CoSoul as a central element in the evolving landscape of decentralised identity management.
The launch of CoSoul Soulbound marks an intriguing step forward in the world of digital organisations and decentralised identity. This innovative, soulbound, mint-free NFT, capable of evolving with a holder’s activity, offers a robust solution for tracking and verifying blockchain work history. With functionality set to grow, it will be interesting to see how this development influences the landscape of work in DAOs and web3 in general.