Japanese financial group Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC) is moving to explore the benefits of Web3 by issuing soulbond tokens (SBT).

Proposed by Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, SBTs refer to digital identity tokens that represent the characteristics or reputation of a person or entity, or a “soul.” Such tokens are non-transferable and designed for the decentralized society and Web3.

SMBC officially announced on December 8 an initiative focused on the practical use of SBT in partnership with digital asset firm HashPort.

The companies plan to conduct research on SBT to discover its practical uses for communities, jobs, knowledge-sharing services, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

According to SMBC, the development could be specifically useful for people who take on more and more diverse roles and personalities within society. The company stated:

“It is expected in this new society that each individual can control what personality they display in each community in which they participate. SBTs meet these new social needs through the use of multiple ‘souls.’

One of the practical uses of an SBT could be a situation where a user has a working adult role and a music fan role. “If this user wishes to prove his skills and employment history by changing jobs, he can simultaneously prove his identity and the career information associated with them by allowing his employer to reference the SBTs,” SMBC said.

The company also noted that the partnership with HashPort may have practical use in the future and is a significant initiative to fuel the growth of the Web3 economy in Japan.

“The two parties will also consider launching NFT-associated content businesses and developing infrastructure for the Web3 economic zone to foster the expansion of token business both in Japan and abroad,” the announcement states.

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A major financial institution in Japan, SMBC is part of the Mitsui Group, which is one of the largest corporate groups in the world. Several companies within Mitsui have been actively exploring blockchain and cryptocurrency tools in recent years.

In February, the Japanese trading house Mitsui reportedly planned to issue a gold-linked cryptocurrency called ZipangCoin. Previously, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank launched asset-backed security tokens in partnership with Securitize in March 2021.