Today, Japan’s second-largest bank, SMBC, announced that it will focus on soulbound web3 tokens as part of the partnership formed in July with blockchain startup Hashport.

Soulbound tokens are non-fungible (NFT) tokens that are non-transferable and associated with a person. An individual might have multiple soulbound tokens, for example, as a participant in a game with game progress associated with the token. The person’s real world identity does not necessarily have to be associated with it. But one would include an actual identity on a soulbound career token, essentially a credential. One might have another soul-bound financial token that could be used for credit history.

SMBC is discussing a joint venture with HashPort to create a “safe and secure web3 economic zone.” He plans to test soulbound tokens (SBTs) with Hashprot support until March 2023. After that, he wants to move testing forward to focus on professional SBTs and will look at fan communities built around SBTs in partnership with other companies. .

For career-oriented soulbound tokens, there is a cross between verifiable credentials and sovereign identity. But they are not exactly the same.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin is particularly interested in soul-linked tokens as the foundation of a decentralized society and wrote a white paper on the subject.

Meanwhile, SMBC is not the only Japanese financial institution exploring web3. Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, has made a significant investment in Animoca Brands’ Japanese subsidiary for NFTs and the metaverse. Nomura has created Laser Digital for its digital asset interests. And SBI has a subsidiary of NFT.