The recent DeSoc paper illustrated how Soulbound tokens (SBTs) could combat the over-financialized phenomenon in Web3, and encode a trust network where human connection and broad collaboration across differences can flourish. Amid a heated discussion about SBT and alternative solutions such as VC or ‘signed claim’, we want to give a general comparison of Soulbound Token and Verifiable Credential (VC) and explore constructing identity on the implementation level.

Identity is a subtle social construct that is often deconstructed in a group or political context. By observing the origin of identity, one can find that identity is in essence a coherent, information-composing, social-interaction-generated aggregate. In Symbolic Interactionism, human identity is conceptualized into different levels: role identity → group identity → social identity → core identity. Among them, role identity, such as occupation and education, has a weak tie with one’s self, while core identity has the most profound reflection of the self.

身份是一种微妙的社会构造，它常常在群体或政治的背景下被解构。通过观察身份的渊源可以发现，身份本质上是一个连贯的、人和社会互动所产生的、由信息组成的有机整体。在符号互动学里，人的身份由浅层到深层被分为：角色身份→群体身份→社会身份→核心身份。其中，角色身份诸如职业学历和人的自我有弱联系，而核心身份对人的自我有最深刻的反映。