Digital neo-banking platform Cogni introduced a new Web3 product to enhance crypto users’ experience by blending Web3 and digital banking features. The solution was developed to port Web2 know-your-customer (KYC) information into a Web3 medium.

How Does it Work?

Cogni, a New York-based neobank that offers access to Web3 products, announced on Thursday it is launching a “Web3 Passport” – a ready-made solution that transfers users’ Web2 KYC information to a Web3 environment using the Polygon PoS chain. Cogni said the passport would be available to a restricted number of Cogni users at the initial launch before expanding it to the general public in 2023 summer.

This solution, which Cogni claims to be first-of-its-kind, serves as soulbound non-fungible tokens (NFTs), entailing KYC information. The passport marks Cogni’s second Web3 product after the neobank rolled out its non-custodial, multi-chain wallet late last year.

“The Passport solves the industry’s biggest problems around trust and compliance. From a trust perspective, users and platforms will know the unique, verified identity of wallets – provided that the owner allows it – which will reduce the amount of fraud and inauthentic sellers in the web3 space.”

– Cogni said in the press release.

The “bank-level” KYC information within the soulbound NFT adheres to the KYC standards in the US and will allow the onboarding of other decentralized apps (dApps) with no need for extra steps. As such, Cogni expects to create a marketplace of dApps that can be easily accessed and connected with just a few clicks, including KYC information.

Soulbound NFTs and Their Use Cases

Soulbound NFTs refer to a particular type of tokens that are unique and cannot be transferred or sold like traditional NFTs. Unlike regular NFTs, which can be bought and sold on various marketplaces, soulbound NFTs are permanently tied to a specific user or account.

Thanks to their wide use cases, soulbound tokens have been growing increasingly popular in recent years. These NFTs are often used in Web3 games, where they serve to represent unique items or characters that can’t be duplicated or traded, or for digital identity verification purposes and proof of ownership.

Last year, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin cooperated with researchers and economists to publish a research report on how soulbound tokens can help build a rich, pluralistic ecosystem within Ethereum, also known as “Decentralized Society” (DeSoc).

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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