Author: Jennifer Obem, Messari Research Analyst; Translated by: 0xxz@Golden Finance
ID fragmentation is a challenge we are all too familiar with — our digital selves are spread across countless platforms, each of which retains only a small part of our ID.
Traditional ID management systems have outgrown their predecessors, hampered by outdated technology and complex data protection laws.
But Web3 is working to address this problem head-on with some creative solutions. At the heart of many Web3 ID solutions are zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), which allow users to verify their identity without revealing sensitive information.
Interestingly, many Web3 projects did not start as ID aggregation protocols, but gradually evolved into ID aggregation protocols.
Take Galxe as an example. It was originally a credential-based user acquisition platform that helped Web3 projects attract loyal users through tasks and activities.
With over 26 million unique wallet addresses participating in Galxe-based activity and over 220 million credentials issued, Galxe recognized the opportunity to provide an ID aggregation solution.
In April 2024, they launched the Galxe ID protocol and have since issued over 150 million IDs, allowing users to link their Web3 profiles and social accounts into a single identifier.
Source: Dune-Galxe
Other projects, such as Carv, take a niche approach, catering to specific sectors with a clear need for unified ID management. Carv focuses on the gaming sector, allowing gamers to merge their Web2 and Web3 IDs into a single unique identifier, the Carv ID. As of the time of writing, over 2.9 million Carv IDs have been issued on-chain.
At the same time, solutions such as Litentry and Match ID are adopting new or existing ID standards such as W3C DIDs, while other solutions such as ENS and Lens Protocol use domain name services or social graphs, respectively. As the demand for such solutions continues to increase, new ID aggregator protocols continue to emerge.
The benefits of ID aggregation for both Web2 and Web3 are obvious——
Users have the right to own, manage and monetize their data
Businesses can access high-quality user data to provide users with more personalized products
As these protocols evolve, it will be interesting to see which approach gains the most momentum in the coming years.
