Messari: An overview of the Web3 ID aggregation protocol landscape

Author: Jennifer Obem, Messari Research Analyst; Translated by: 0xxz@黄金财经

ID fragmentation is a challenge we are all too familiar with - our digital selves are scattered across countless platforms, each of which retains only a small part of our ID.

• Traditional ID management systems have fallen behind the times, hampered by outdated technology and complex data protection laws.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 is zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), which allows 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 started as a credential-based user acquisition platform that helped Web3 projects attract loyal users through tasks and activities.

• With more than 26 million unique wallet addresses participating in Galxe-based activities and more than 220 million credentials issued, Galxe recognized the opportunity to provide an ID aggregation solution.

In April 2024, they launched the Galxe ID protocol, and since then, over 150 million IDs have been issued, 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 areas 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 unique identifier, the Carv ID. As of the time of writing, over 2.9 million Carv IDs have been issued on-chain.

• Meanwhile, solutions like Litentry and Match ID are adopting new or existing ID standards such as W3C DIDs, while others 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 clear -

• Users are empowered to own, manage, and monetize their data

• Businesses can access high-quality user-owned data to provide users with more personalized products

As these protocols develop, it will be interesting to see which approaches gain the most momentum in the coming years.