You either like it or hate it. Vitalik Buterin recently announced his vision for a decentralised society, in which individuals collect “soulbound tokens” (SBT) - a term inspired by World of Warcraft - as achievement badges.

I was actually captivated by the title. It reminded me of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Honestly, given the harsh realities the world is grappling with these days, I thought we could all benefit from a dose of romanticism, a mind leap to a dimension where things seem magical and brimming with possibilities.

But what are soulbound tokens anyway? Here, Vitalik thinks out of the box by suggesting how soulbound tokens could be NFTs awarded by colleges, certification bodies and even event organisers. It will serve as a Web 3-based resume, in which the soulbound tokens a person possesses will reveal his academic qualifications, professional credentials and personal interests. It’s like a more snazzy version of LinkedIn, except that the tokens you own are backed by official organisations. Sounds like a great way to prevent impostors from using fake university degrees since all transactions will be available on the Ethereum blockchain, with the cryptographic signature of the institution easily verifiable.

This sounds like a game changer if enough institutions can come on board. I think this will definitely narrow the playing field between dyslexic and non-dyslexic people. Dyslexic people won’t have to crack their brains to craft their resume since many of them have difficulty with spelling words and putting across ideas in a coherent manner. This will aid their job search.

Dyslexic employers also don’t have to struggle with the reading of written applications. Soulbound tokens include images, which is easier to plow through than chunky text. Actually, I’m sure any human resource department personnel will rather read an infographic-like SBT since it’s more visually appealing.

So I welcome the idea of soulbound tokens. What about you?