Masa Finance, a hybrid credit protocol, and decentralized credit bureau, has introduced a pioneering protocol for soulbound identities on the Ethereum mainnet, according to a report on January 17th.
This protocol will permit the issuance of uniform soulbound tokens on Ethereum, which can be utilized for various applications such as verifying the identity of customers and determining credit scores.
According to the report, the founders of Masa Finance, Brendan Playford and Calanthia Mei assert that the implementation of soulbound tokens would open up new avenues for DeFi participants to establish creditworthiness and secure loans.
Mei explained it as such:
We want to help people tap into [an] on-chain credit system with a Web3 credit score, with the data sources that we have aggregated across Web2 and Web3 representing and helping people build their creditworthiness on-chain.
Mei stated that the company is collaborating with various lending partners to offer DeFi loans to individuals who have generated a Masa credit report. She also highlighted that the tokens used in Masa’s system are not limited to traditional credit scores.
Masa: The First Soulbound Token Protocol On Ethereum
Masa, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, aims to revolutionize the way credit scores are determined in the blockchain space. The protocol, which Mei and Playford created, incorporates both Web2 and Web3 activity to determine a user’s creditworthiness.
As per the report, while Masa may be the first soulbound token protocol on Ethereum, it is not the only one in existence. Binance has introduced BAB, which serves the same purpose of proving a user’s identity, but is exclusively available on BNB Chain.
However, Masa’s credit score takes into account a vast array of information, numbering over 10,000 data points, such as FICO score, financial transaction records from Plaid and Web3 wallets, and balances on centralized exchanges, among other data sources.
The founder of Masa believes that the system will revolutionize DeFi by enabling “risk-based underwriting” that was not possible previously due to the lack of identity protocols on Ethereum blockchain networks.
Additionally, the protocol can also be used for .soul domain names, which are similar to ENS names but can be linked to various Masa identity characteristics. Users can use these domain names to verify themselves without revealing their full names.
According to Playford, .soul domain names can be transferred between wallets, but the attributes linked to them will not move with it, meaning users cannot “buy” another person’s identity or credit score.
The company is also releasing a new feature called “Masa Green,” which will enable users to mint a token to prove their identity. This feature aims to help users verify that they are real humans, not bots.
The report stated that Mei said:
This will help eliminate bots in play-to-earn games and other apps where the community wants only real humans to participate. Masa Green will be available as a fast follow within the coming weeks.
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