How Do We Prove Our Existence in the Metaverse?

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The DNA of Web 3 has to include self-sovereign identification.

We'll be engaging with the metaverse and Web 3 as frequently as we do with the present version of the internet in no time. Unlike Web 2, though, this next-generation web will feel a little more alive.

Web 3 has the potential to feature a "self-sovereign identity layer" that will serve as our main metaverse passport. Many of the internet's current problems will be solved by self-sovereign identification, and it may even allow us to reconsider how we represent – and verify – who we are.

You own the data you create or bring online if you have a self-sovereign identity. It's "sovereign" because you may choose to disclose specific components of that data only to the extent necessary to achieve a desired outcome.

With Web 3 connecting so many diverse aspects of our digital and physical lives, exact control over how we are portrayed across these domains is essential.

The terminus is where you go to get goods, services, or join online communities. From a fundamental standpoint, self-sovereign identity is made up of several components.

It's private, but it's also accessible and expandable

Companies are first and foremost concerned with their customers. Everything they do, from the initial design to marketing, is based on one major question: Can this help attract more users? Can this assist us in bringing them on in a frictionless manner? Is there a more straightforward approach to "acquire" them? As a result, corporations must consider clients in the metaverse as they develop their "Web 3 strategy."

The way a company handles identification will have a big impact on how they interact with customers. Many potential clients will be turned off if the procedure is lengthy, intrusive, and repetitive. The onboarding process must be simple to use and, most all, as quick as feasible.

It becomes too much when consumers are required to enter information numerous times or upload multiple pieces of identification, then wait 48 hours or more for these papers to be accepted, then have further processes to complete.

It's a business risk to persuade customers to abandon their acquisition funnel. Crypto firms are acutely aware of the importance of know-your-customer regulations, if only to keep unscrupulous actors out. Of course, some will fall through the cracks; it's part of the job.

When it comes to identity solutions, a Web 3 developer's objective is to provide the highest degree of trust without getting in the way of user acquisition. In this case, composable, reusable, and cross-chain identification solutions are essential.

Web 3 will benefit from a one-click ID verification process.

Identities at many levels

But, in the metaverse, who are we?

So, who do we aspire to be? Identity doesn't have to be a life-or-death situation. For example, you may present yourself as a professional on LinkedIn, less formal on Twitter, and an anonymous degen on Discord.

We can customize our public-facing identities in the metaverse using self-sovereign identification systems. We have a say in how we are portrayed.

Companies typically know who the person behind the avatar is on social media sites today. When we create an account, we submit verified information, but we have no say over how that information is utilized. The data is stored, controlled, and repurposed on these Web 2 platforms.

Our identities will be reducible to verifiable information on a blockchain if Web 3 identification standards are applied to the metaverse – potentially utilizing non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which may be anonymous. We'll figure out which data points a counterparty needs to evaluate and which we wish to disclose.

Tokenized identification is also always authenticated, eliminating the need to generate logins, passwords, and backup solutions for websites with firewalls on a regular basis.

At any time, these levels of identification may be deployed dynamically across all platforms. This is how a linked metaverse should be constructed.

NFTs as social identity building elements

On Web 3, our crypto wallets are increasingly representing us, and the NFTs in those wallets constitute a true, if illegal, digital identity. On the blockchain, we are what we do. Without using words, NFTs can indicate what communities we care about, our ambitions, and our beliefs – and they can do so in a dynamic, ever-changing fashion. (A picture is worth a thousand words.)

NFTs are a visual language that is ideal for today's internet users who are obsessed with high-resolution photos and video. Are NFTs the last step towards web-based representational identification, or merely a pit stop on the way? Beyond JPEGs, what's next?

Humans are tribal creatures that seek to join and integrate into communities of like-minded people who share our interests. We yield to our inherent inclinations to join tribes, set communication norms, and defend one another, just as we have since the birth of civilization.

The fundamental (or, if you're a member of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, primitive or simian) yearning to join is expressed in NFT groups. Things get bizarre when groups emerge without the limits of physical place. Our identities are becoming increasingly ambiguous.

The metaverse's horizon looks boundless from a bird's eye view of this rudimentary yet technological enterprise, as does our power to remake ourselves. As a result, we must endeavor to maintain people's right to self-identify by including those technical capabilities into Web 3.0's DNA.

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