Over the last several years, the gaming industry has witnessed incredible growth. Expanding 23% in 2020 from the year prior, its integration with blockchain has seen play-to-earn and crypto models skyrocket in popularity.

Against this backdrop, many gamers and developers are skeptical about the benefits that blockchain can bring to games, leading to recent backlashes against some studios that are integrating NFTs. Tangible use cases that showcase the benefits and solutions that blockchain can bring will be important for demonstrating that this technology can enhance what players already know and love about gaming.

Through backending games with blockchain technology including decentralized identity (DID) solutions, players can truly own and get rewarded for their in-game assets in a way that hasn’t been possible before. In doing so, they are tied to a safe, secure online identity that will be transportable across multiple different virtual worlds.

Blockchain allows studios to take the gaming world to a whole new level. It can help ensure that in-game items are traceable and that the value they hold isn’t just locked inside a game. Tying blockchain to in-game items such as weapons, skins, and other collectibles enables them to retain a new, unique form of value, while also ensuring that value stays safe. This means that if a game is eventually deleted or sold to another company, players can always retain their value. By tying a digital record of an asset to a person’s decentralized identity, players can prove that they own the item and can carry that record out of one game if needed. In this way, DID can facilitate interactions between different blockchain-based games to offer a diverse range of benefits for players. 

DID solutions are blockchain infrastructure that can back-end a game in order to verify players’ identities, confirm traceability and validity of their in-game assets, and ultimately increase player security. As the gaming industry grows, so does the appetite for confirmation of ownership of in-game objects like treasures, trading cards, and other quest items that can be collected, and blockchain can help users to meet these needs.

We have witnessed individuality becoming increasingly important for Gen Z, who make up a large portion of the gaming community. According to reports, 87% of Gen Z play video games, with 65% having spent money on virtual items within a game in 2021. Through attaching a record of ownership to an immutable ledger on blockchain, players can truly prove that they own these items, making the process of exchange much clearer and more secure.

Players often trade in-game items such as skins, lives, and skills via forums, social channels, and commerce platforms. The reason they choose to do so outside of the games themselves is that many games do not enable the exchange of items for real currency nor do they have the infrastructure to truly verify items. Easy-to-navigate, quick KYC checks using DID are one option that can be used in games to enable fair exchange and protect players from scams and other malpractice. This means that players who are trading can confirm their identity, while remaining aware of the legitimacy of the person they are dealing with. What’s more, if players decide to take themselves out of the gaming economy to trade via social channels or forums, they can still request DID verification to prove the legitimacy of who they are trading with. Thus ensuring that they are safe both in and out of the game.

Web3 will eventually enable players to seamlessly traverse between different games and virtual worlds that make up the metaverse. In practice, what this could mean is a player would be able to take their avatar from a game like Call of Duty and bring it into World of Warcraft to complete a quest. There, they might buy a sword and later sell it to a player in Decentraland, where they could use money to buy a virtual plot of land. The possibilities are endless but in order for this to become a reality, players need to have an interoperable digital identity that will allow them to traverse through many virtual worlds with a consistent identity including their wallet, assets, and personal information. Decentralized identity enables this.

DID solutions also mean that players own and have full control over their own personal data, enabling them to log in securely to different systems without exposing their private information. This level of security is a crucial element for gaming, ensuring that every transaction within a game is verifiable, securely recorded and stored, and most importantly cannot be altered. Players pour countless hours into building their gaming profiles, skills, and collecting items. DID can help gamers to secure these gaming assets while also protecting their privacy and preserving their valuable time. Solutions are designed to allow players to create a stronger version of their online identity and with complete control, the DID holder can decide what information they choose to share with a private key that grants access to the verified user only.

With the global gaming market set to reach $250B by 2025, the appetite from players looking to truly own their in-game assets and hold a secure interoperable identity across multiple virtual worlds will only increase. Decentralized identity can build an entirely new ecosystem of true ownership within video games, whilst adding security, protecting private information, and adding trust. This would alter the entire industry for the better, creating a more transparent arena where players can rest assured that their assets and real and virtual identities are safe. If utilized correctly, decentralization will shape the future of gaming. 

Over the past year, there has been a notable increase of awareness and interest towards decentralized identity solutions. Decentralized identity solutions help users, amongst other things, to control their digital identity without the input of intermediaries. As well as the individual user benefits, decentralized identity solutions have the potential to create seamless, accessible, and verifiable ecosystems. Decentralized identity holds the potential to solve many issues across the DeFi sphere and more.

What is decentralized identity?

To begin with, it is important to define what we mean by decentralized identity or DID. A DID can be provided to anyone or anything, be it a person, organization, or device. In contrast to typical identifiers such as drivers licenses or passports, DIDs have been designed so that they do not rely on centralized registries, identity providers, or certificate authorities.

For example, key pairs used for creating digital wallets are siloed to the blockchain where they are created. DIDs on the other hand can operate across a variety of platforms including different blockchains. Together with verifiable credentials (VCs), people can create a more robust version of their identity, linking real-world credentials like your college degrees and certifications, social media accounts, and government-issued documents such as a driver’s license or passport under one secure ID.

Rather than creating crypto whales, integrating DID into crypto protocols can ensure that participation is open to all and money can be more evenly distributed around ecosystems.

While identity issuers and verifiers may interact to discover information related to a DID, the design enables the DID holder to have complete control over their identity and data, choosing what information, if any, they wish to share with any other party. What this looks like in reality is that users who make use of decentralized identity protocols, can securely manage their digital identity by storing it on a phone or cloud service with a private key that grants access to the verified user only. 

What are some of the challenges that DID seeks to solve?

Right now crypto mainly revolves around monetary use cases. Exemplifying these are decentralized apps (dApps), which favors capital over membership or contributions made to ecosystems. Plutocratic (one-token-one-vote) systems reinforce an unfortunate cycle that makes most dApps speculative and only beneficial for those with capital.

A more desirable and egalitarian model would be to create an ecosystem that offers one-human-one-vote use cases. DID can play a role in this, by seeking to provide humans active within the crypto ecosystem with the ability to verify their identity and use their on-chain reputation to create more accessible, secure, and rewarding experiences.

Rather than creating crypto whales, integrating DID into crypto protocols can ensure that participation is open to all and money can be more evenly distributed around ecosystems. As well as this, one-human-one-vote protocols, backed up by DID can help to more accurately quantify participation in governance, unshrouding the makeup of certain protocols that give members votes based on capital. 

DeFi

When it comes to DeFi, DID can help fix some of the issues associated with airdrops. If projects only airdropped to users verified using DID protocols, they would ensure the fair distribution of tokens across participant pools. Members would have to be authenticated, reducing the potential for bots to drain airdrop contracts, which is a pressing issue for some in the DeFi space.

DID protocols allow for credit evaluation systems to verify users scores and background based on data stored on blockchain. This means that users can access credit-based lending, whilst still maintaining control of their identity. Through DID, all parties are able to access decentralized financial systems, not just whales.

Reputation systems that measure on-chain behavior can help to split out responsible borrowers from degens, essentially making the whole system more robust and reliable. DID can facilitate giving users a self-sovereign credit score that they can use to access credit, borrow, and invest.

NFT

There are exponential benefits wrought from implementing DID solutions in the realm of NFTs. NFTs, which have experienced an unparalleled surge of interest in recent months have many potential use cases, but have been mainly popularized by their usage in digital art. By deploying DID solutions with NFTs, buyers and sellers will be able to verify the creator or any given digital artwork, as well as the collector.

This ensures that representative value will be transferred to the creator or seller. DID could also be implemented to help keep NFTs in the hands of the communities that support them, instead of scalpers who mint tokens for speculation, raising the price of tokens, making it near impossible for those without capital to access them. 

DAO

DAOs are groups of people working towards a common goal with a shared bank account. Without tools to measure community needs and member contribution, they can fail to assess the needs of their members or fairly incentivize good contributors.

DAOs using token-based governance prioritize the views and needs of large token holders who may not be active contributors, leaving out groups of people that may be active contributors but not hold large amounts of tokens. DID can enable governance mechanisms that more accurately measure community opinion.

The more the lines are blurred between digital and physical life, the more our online identities will grow and evolve in complexity.

It is crucial that DAOs recognize members who are making impactful contributions and reward them accordingly. DIDs can surface member contributions more clearly allowing for incentives to be used to reward and retain good people.

Furthermore, as DAO members become proficient in their roles, DIDs can allow them to create verifiable resumes to present their contributions to other DAOs who may then assess their value up front and incentivize them accordingly. 

What are some projects developing DID protocols?

Ontology brings trust, privacy, and security to Web 3.0 through decentralized identity and data solutions. They’ve developed a comprehensive identity infrastructure including an identity wallet that allows you to easily create digital identities, a composable, cross-chain reputation protocol, and a DeFi protocol that leverages your decentralized identity and self-sovereign reputation to enable undercollateralized loans. Learn more about Ontology at https://ont.io

Bright ID is a social identity network that allows you to prove that you’re only using one account. Creating your digital identity is as simple as installing an app and verifying your identity by joining a connection party. You can enjoy the benefit of your unique identity straight from the app. Learn more about BrightID at https://brightid.org

Idena is the first proof-of-person blockchain based on democratic principles. Every user has a crypto identity — one single person with equal voting power and mining income. Every unique human that operates an Idena validator node can start mining Idena. To verify you are a unique human, you do not need to disclose any personal data (no KYC). You join a validation ceremony and solve a series of flip-tests (human-made CAPTCHAs). Learn more about Idena at https://www.idena.io/ 

Serto is a decentralized identity platform making it easy for everyone to exchange data in a trusted, private and scalable way. Easily verify the issuer of any piece of data. Turn free-form data into verifiable credentials, issue them to partners and customers, and integrate data from other parties into your processes — all in a trusted way. Learn more about Serto at https://www.serto.id/

Gitcoin connects the community developing digital public goods, creating financial freedom, and defining the future of the open web. They’ve developed the Proof of Personhood Passport, a transportable proof of personhood identity for the web3 space that allows you to earn rewards by proving your personhood on any integrated dApp, leveraging the same identity you already use on Gitcoin Grants. Learn more about Gitcoin at https://gitcoin.co/ 

What does the future hold for DID? 

The prominence of decentralized identity solutions within and outside the blockchain and crypto industry is likely to grow exponentially in the coming years. The more the lines are blurred between digital and physical life, the more our online identities will grow and evolve in complexity. If these identities are stored among multiple centralized systems, they will become harder to manage. Decentralization solves these problems, and the impact it will have on the future will likely be significant.

Humpty Calderon is the Head of Community at Ontology.                     

It is a given that connected devices need reliable, distributed ledger, technology-based digital identity solutions. That is an essential requirement for the Internet of Things (IoT). In the machine economy, devices must be able to recognize and communicate with one another; robust identity management solutions are key to effectively securing data and processes. But what about the multitude of analog “things” all around us? Surely they can also benefit from the advent of digital identity. 

Imagine the following: You are just back from a grocery run or a walk in the park with your pooch when you suddenly realize the family heirloom ring that has been getting a little too loose around your finger is not there anymore. You retrace your steps, scan the ground and check the gutters and molehills, but you come back empty-handed. So many aspects of our daily lives have moved online, with precious things like passwords, pin codes and login certificates safely stowed away in appropriate security solutions. You can retrieve them at any time and manage them centrally. Why can’t you have the same for your family ring or other analog valuables?

Unlike your email password, your ring currently only lives in the analog world. You could tag it with a tracking device that connects to your phone, such as Apple’s AirTag, but this raises privacy and security issues, perhaps many more than it actually solves — not to mention, it is a bulky and odd accessory for a piece of jewelry. More importantly, we own a non-trivial number of analog valuables, and slapping trackers on each one at $40 a pop is not practical. The time has come to talk about the digital identity of analog things and finally invite our prized offline possessions into our increasingly virtual world.

What is decentralized digital identity?  

Decentralized identity, or DID, refers to a digital identifier for something existing in the physical world. This digital identifier is placed on an immutable distributed ledger and includes a detailed description of attributes, capabilities and ownership. In practical terms, this means there is a reliable record that establishes you as the owner of your now-lost family ring. It describes the ring closely and makes it instantly identifiable. With your credentials, you can prove you are the owner; a miniature QR or barcode — or another kind of scannable identifier — attached or lasered onto the object is all it takes. Depending on the item, digital tags with additional capabilities are another viable option.

Compared to a simple tag or another tracking device, digital identity has a few other key advantages. It is stored safely because of its distributed ledger technology (DLT) backing, and it can establish ownership without leading directly to the owner. If you do not wish to publish your personally identifiable information on the ledger — a wise decision at any rate — you can create your own verified digital identity and associate your analog belongings with it. In the example of your lost ring, you have proof that you own the ring and can also use pseudonymization to make it harder for unwanted third parties to trace your valuables back to you.

Conspicuous ownership of inconspicuous value  

Analog things hold different kinds of value — monetary, emotional, practical — and can attract unwanted access and potential theft from bad actors at any moment, for any reason. Establishing a robust system of DLT-based digital identity for valuable physical objects has the added benefit of discouraging theft, as confirming a stolen object’s provenance on the ledger would automatically negate the option to resell it.

To further discourage misappropriation attempts, you can create different verifiable credentials associated with your digital identity. You also choose with whom you share this sensitive information — if anyone at all. Thanks to selective disclosure, you can establish your ownership of analog objects reliably, without sharing any more information than necessary. For instance, a public record on the ledger can list you as the owner of a white porcelain vase with blue floral motifs that is 20.5 inches tall and weighs 14.8 pounds.

In a different verifiable credential, you can specify the vase is a Qianlong — a collector’s item worth millions of dollars. This information does not need to be public, but you can share it with potential buyers if you decide to part ways with your prized collectible. DLT-powered digital identity affords you complete control over how much information you make public and how you compartmentalize so that it matches your individual ownership, identification and security needs.

Identification and authentication on a global scale  

Cross-platform communication remains a challenge in the digital realm, even more so on the analog side of things. Verifying the identity and ownership of an item across state borders and language barriers can be a prolonged, slow and expensive process that involves multiple steps and certified professionals’ services. In the case of especially valuable objects or real estate, verification involves notaries, translators, independent assessors and even consulates and embassies. A system of unified digital identity can replace lengthy approval and authentication chains with a simple DLT solution that instantly confirms an analog item’s ownership and characteristics anywhere in the world.

However, digital identity is not only useful for cross-border transactions. Today’s supply chains span the globe, and tracing materials and product components across continents is an arduous task that remains, against all odds, surprisingly analog. Shipment tracking is still often done by hand and on paper. The possibility for human error is high, and mistakes carry over and multiply across the shipment’s lifecycle. An immutable digital identity can speed up and automate many logistics processes. Special items that require particular handlings, such as temperature control or motion stabilization, can be paired with sensors that monitor their shipping conditions. In the end, items will arrive at their destination with an immutable record of their transportation quality and safety.

Such solutions are not limited to the logistics industry. The world is on the cusp of the post-COVID-19 era and the return to international travel it promises. Many of us will take to the sky in search of new, exciting destinations, but our bags will occasionally not travel with us. According to pre-pandemic statistics, airlines around the world misplace about 25 million bags per year. Chances are it has happened to you as well, and you know first-hand what a pain it is to track down and reclaim your lost luggage. Pairing your bag with a DID would make it instantly findable — no more looking for one black hard-shell suitcase among thousands. Airlines could also tag your bag at check-in with a DLT-enabled sensor that would give an audio or visual warning to luggage handlers if they are about to put your suitcase on the wrong plane. 

A digital afterlife for analog things 

Analog things get lost or misplaced — it is in their nature. Whether we are talking about production, logistics or personal items, such incidents are often costly and distressing. In our increasingly digitized everyday lives, our analog possessions are in danger of remaining disconnected permanently. Instead of leaving them behind, we can pair them with a digital identity that affords them the electronic afterlife they deserve without intruding on their nature.  

DID does not require analog objects to become digitized, and it does not need expensive sensors or hi-tech tags to work correctly. Instead, it offers an affordable, reliable and versatile way to take offline items out of the digital blindspot.  

This article comes from cointegraph.

Link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/decentralized-identity-can-bring-the-analog-world-into-the-digital-one

Decentralized identity is a function of blockchain technology that delivers real-world benefits to users quickly and easily, allowing them to benefit from things such as easier logins, faster credit checks and an overall smoother online experience.

The proliferation of websites, e-commerce hubs and social media platforms means we can all have a huge database of logins, passwords and usernames to remember. As these increase, the use of password managers has become commonplace (as has the use of one-time passwords and two-factor authentication) to effectively allow websites and services to double-check our identity.

The result is that the end-user now faces an almost overwhelming number of hoops to jump through if they lose their password or two-factor authentication application or access to their smartphone.

The whole process of transacting online has become much more complicated. However, with the advent of blockchain, businesses are now in a far stronger position to provide their customers and end-users with a much more streamlined identity verification process, which removes many hurdles and comes with the added benefit of not placing users at risk of harmful privacy or data breaches. 

Growth area

Digital and social media have become an indispensable part of everyday life for people all over the world: “More than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark.” However, data misuse remains a major problem. This is a huge issue for all stakeholders in the digital economy: individuals, enterprises and governments.

Today’s digital identity frameworks are centralized, suffer from a growing lack of trust, are not portable, and don’t give consumers any control over their own personal information. Trust has been eroded further by high-profile data and privacy breaches, for example, the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica privacy breach that led to the personal details of millions of the social media site’s users being harvested to build voter profiles.

Identity theft, online fraud and data breaches cost the global economy trillions every year, and that number is growing as the use of digital services increases. Additionally, 1.7 billion people around the world lack access to financial services, and a further 1 billion have no legally-recognized identity. This poses a unique challenge to ensure these people are not left behind and do not miss out on the economic benefits of the digitized world. 

Decentralized ID is the solution

Decentralized identity, or DID, can be built into different applications to enable blockchain users to benefit from the many advantages of being able to transact and communicate data and assets over a secure, decentralized blockchain network — thereby reducing the risks stated above. 

In the digital world, identity is key to everything that people do online, and as individuals trying to succeed in the digital world, being able to prove who they are is critical to inclusion, equality and opportunity.

For businesses, being able to operate without the extreme costs of data security is an economic benefit on top of the value gained in consumer trust. The onboarding of customers alone costs banks a huge sum in administration costs. 

However, by using a DID alternative, there is an immediate gain in efficiency and ongoing cost saving. This will provide both banks and the largest of enterprises with the scales of economy that were not previously possible. This is why our government (in Vietnam) understands the importance of having blockchain implemented, and Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, made cryptocurrency and blockchain among the top five national priorities as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution recently.

What is clear is that the problems of data and privacy breaches are not going to disappear. With more and more people using smartphones, computers and laptops, and social media use forecast to grow to 4.4 billion by 2025, unfortunately, there will be ample opportunity for malicious actors and hackers to try and siphon off even more personal information and put the identities of everyone online at risk.

Blockchain can and is delivering a solution to this. We expect DID to become a major use case for blockchain in the next five years and believe this represents the perfect opportunity for the technology to demonstrate that its time has come. What’s more, it is able to deliver a safer, faster and less centralized alternative to the status quo.  

This article comes from cointegraph.

Link: https://cointelegraph.com/news/decentralized-identity-is-the-way-to-fighting-data-and-privacy-theft 

There is much controversy around the topic. While many have questioned the right of governments to promote vaccination plans in this way, others have questioned the fairness in requiring them when less wealthy countries may be unable to commit to significant vaccine plans at this point. At this stage though, in order to ensure the swift recovery of the global economy, plans must be put in place that will help the world to reopen in a safe and secure manner. There is huge pent up demand for air travel, with a recent study by Redpoint Global showing that nearly half of vaccinated Americans plan to travel this summer. Vaccination passports will play a part in these plans and they must be administered in the right way in order to ensure we aren’t taking away one problem and creating another.

The options for verification vary greatly. In Denmark for example, as well as using QR codes and identification features to allow holders to enter public spaces, they will accept paper verification, while in Iceland they are accepting American travelers who can produce ‘vaccination cards’. The risks of physical passes are strong; they are highly susceptible to forgery and much easier to copy than digital entities. The innate value of a COVID-19 passport is high, meaning that criminals will be incentivized to forge and sell fakes or stolen ones on the black market. A recent event in Ireland, whereby scammers used fake vaccination appointment calls to steal sensitive personal information, reflected how criminals are on the lookout for opportunities to use the current crisis as a means to conduct illicit activity, make money and steal personal information. In order to ensure their ability to do so is limited we must look to digital identity solutions. 

That isn’t to say that digital solutions don’t have their flaws. Covid-19 tracker apps and online vaccination passports pose inherent safety risks. Placing public health information onto large internal databases requires individuals to have significant trust in the parties they are sharing their information with. Unless controlled properly, users will be required to hand over significant amounts of data to third parties, with little oversight of how it is being used and who is controlling it. Recently, tech giant Microsoft offered its technologies to assist with the vaccination program in the United States. While its resources are significant, there are inherent moral and technological risks associated with involving a massive conglomerate into public health matters, as they may become privy to highly sensitive public health information.

Decentralized identity solutions offer an ideal solution to the data privacy and identity risks associated with COVID-19 passports and other verification methods. End-to-end solutions that run on blockchain enable private information to be shared securely, while users remain in full control of their data. Growing privacy concerns, as exasperated by intricate global supply chains and the challenges of the pandemic, mean that we must look to decentralized identity and blockchain technology to help us manage the huge swathes of sensitive information necessary to keep the world open. Reflecting its faith in the benefits of using blockchain for COVID-19 passports, the state of New York recently launched a blockchain passport built in conjunction with IBM. Using this technology, the passport allows individuals’ information to exist on the platform but requires them to give verification to anyone trying to access it. Its immutable format means that third parties involved in the platform, such as IBM, will not be able to access or see this sensitive information. 

In essence, blockchain ensures that data remains immutable, secure and cannot be edited or (to some extent) copied. Using this technology, hospitals will be able to upload vaccine statuses and health information, but only the owner (i.e the person who is vaccinated), will be able to give access to the data, making it inherently compliant with GDPR and other regulatory requirements. These solutions can be integrated onto any platform, while remaining decentralized and secure. This therefore makes it possible for different applications and unconnected jurisdictions to use the same function despite using different platforms. It is important to note that individuals must also take responsibility for protecting their sensitive data by investing in decentralized identity solutions. Through these technologies, users can securely manage their digital identity by storing it on a phone or on a trusted cloud storage with a private key that grants access to the verified user only.