On-Chain Identity — ENS, Soulbound Tokens & Your Web3 Resume

Source: Dev.to

Your Ethereum address looks like:

0x8f3a...d91c

Great for machines, terrible for humans.

No founder wants to say “Send it to 0x8f3a…” in a pitch. No friend wants to triple‑check every character when paying you back for coffee.

DAY 24 is about turning that ugly 0x into a name, profile, and reputation layer that actually feels human.

The problem: Wallets are usernames nobody can remember

Blockchains gave us ownership but forgot one thing: identity UX.

Right now

• Your address is your “username”.
• It’s long, random, and easy to mistype.
• It tells nothing about who you are or what you’ve done.

Compare that to Web 2

• Emails + usernames + profiles.
• LinkedIn‑style resumes.
• Domain names instead of IP addresses.

Web 3 needs something similar, but user‑owned and composable.

Enter ENS and Soulbound Tokens (SBTs).

ENS: Turning 0x addresses into names

ENS (Ethereum Name Service) is like DNS for Ethereum.

Instead of sending money to 0x8f3a...d91c, you send to ribhav.eth.

Under the hood, ENS does a simple job:

human name  →  machine address

Example: ribhav.eth → 0x8f3a...d91c

Why this matters

• Fewer “oops I sent to the wrong address” moments.
• More trust in payments and tips.
• Better branding for builders, DAOs, and projects.

Think of ENS as:

• Your crypto email (name.eth).
• Your Web 3 domain (can point to IPFS sites, profiles, etc.).

A starting point for your on‑chain identity.

One ENS name can store:

• ETH address
• BTC, SOL, LTC addresses
• Website, Twitter, Telegram
• Text records (bio, links to your portfolio)

So ribhav.eth can become a tiny, decentralized business card.

Soulbound Tokens: Badges that can’t be sold

ENS gives you a name.
Soulbound Tokens (SBTs) give you a reputation.

A Soulbound Token is:

• Non‑transferable – once minted to your wallet, it stays there.
• Used to represent credentials, achievements, memberships.

You can think of them as:

• On‑chain diplomas.
• Attendance badges for events.
• DAO role or contributor badges.
• Reputation points you can’t buy on OpenSea.

In a world where everything is tradable, SBTs are the things that prove who you are, not what you can flip.

Real‑world protocol examples (identity in the wild)

All are early examples of identity + reputation as primitives, not just add‑ons.

ENS + SBTs = A Web 3‑native resume

ribhav.eth   ← ENS name

Your wallet holds SBTs for:

• “Completed 60 Days of Web 3” badge
• POAPs from hackathons and conferences
• “Community Moderator” SBT from a protocol
• “Audited Smart Contract Course” SBT

Now when someone looks up ribhav.eth, they don’t just see a random 0x and some ERC‑20 tokens. They see:

• A history of contributions
• Proof that you actually did the things you claim

That’s a Web 3 resume: machine‑readable, verifiable, and composable.

Why this matters for builders

For devs and founders, on‑chain identity solves real problems:

• Better UX for users – Send money to alice.eth, not 0x1234….
  Easier onboarding for non‑crypto friends.

• Less Sybil/spam in communities – Require certain SBTs or Passport scores to join gated Discords or governance channels.
  Example: “Only wallets with a ‘Hackathon Participant’ SBT can vote on this feature.”

• Reputation‑aware apps – Lending based on on‑chain reputation instead of only collateral.
  Airdrops targeting real contributors, not pure farmers.
  DAOs rewarding long‑term contributors, not “join today, dump tomorrow.”

For future DevRel work, this is huge: you can design programs where contributions mint SBTs. Your community doesn’t have to “trust your word” — they can check wallets.

Risks and open questions

On‑chain identity sounds powerful, but it also opens a box of tricky questions.

We’re very early on standards, best practices, and culture here.

The future of on‑chain identity

Some directions that feel almost inevitable:

• Standardized SBT schemas (e.g., ERC‑5192 extensions) for education, employment, and community roles.
• Selective‑disclosure protocols (e.g., zk‑SNARKs, Verifiable Credentials) that let you prove “I have a valid SBT” without revealing which one.
• Decentralized recovery mechanisms (social recovery, ERC‑4337 account abstraction) to protect against lost keys.
• Cross‑chain identity bridges so your ENS/SBT profile works on Polygon, Arbitrum, Solana, etc.
• Composable reputation layers that aggregate SBTs, POAPs, and on‑chain activity into a single “identity score” for DeFi, DAO voting, and beyond.

The journey from a raw 0x string to a human‑friendly, reputation‑rich identity is just beginning. By combining ENS and Soulbound Tokens, builders can give users a name they’re proud of and a verifiable record of what they’ve accomplished—making Web 3 feel a lot more personal.

Cross‑chain identity

• Today, ENS is mostly Ethereum. Tomorrow, we’ll see identities that work seamlessly across L2s, app‑chains, and even non‑EVM ecosystems.

Reputation‑backed finance

Imagine under‑collateralized DeFi loans where part of your credit score comes from SBTs and Passport‑style stamps.

• Your long‑term participation and repayment history become on‑chain signals.

Jobs and hiring

Instead of sending a static PDF, candidates could just share an ENS and a viewer link.

• Recruiters filter for real contributions to open‑source repos, DAOs, or protocols.

Social and gaming

Game achievements as SBTs, portable across titles.

• Social feeds ranked not just on follower count, but on provable, earned reputation.

The big shift – Identity stops being something platforms hold about you and becomes something you carry with you into every app.

Reflection: From “just another NFT” to “this is my story”

At first, ENS felt like a vanity flex (vitalik.eth vibes) and SBTs sounded like a buzzword.

The shift happened when it clicked that:

• ENS = your name on the door
• SBTs = the certificates hanging inside the office

The address is still there in the background, but your identity becomes:

• Easier to remember
• Harder to fake
• Richer than a list of tradeable JPEGs

As someone trying to break into DevRel and community roles, this changes how I think about credentials:

Instead of another PDF resume, imagine saying:
“Here’s my ENS. Everything I’ve done is visible on‑chain.”

Key Takeaway

On‑chain identity is more than a fancy .eth flex — it’s your Web3‑native username plus a verifiable, portable resume of what you’ve actually done.

What to do next

If you’re learning

• Search your handle on ENS and see what’s free.
• Sketch your ideal “SBT resume”: which skills, courses, and communities would you want as non‑transferable badges?

If you’re building

• Ask: “What part of my product could benefit from identity or reputation?”
• Could you issue SBTs or POAPs for early testers, contributors, or community mods?

Join the journey

• Share your ENS (or dream ENS) in the comments.
• Tell us one SBT you wish existed for something you’ve done.
• Jump into Web3ForHumans on Telegram and we’ll brainstorm Web3 resumes together.

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Further Reading

• ENS – What is ENS?
• Ethereum Name Service (Beginner Guides)
• Soulbound Tokens (Concept & Use Cases)
• POAP – Proof of Attendance Protocol
• Gitcoin Passport – Identity as a Public Good