A Web3 Revolution is on the Horizon
Since its inception in 2009, the Bitcoin blockchain has been changing the world’s financial and technological landscape. Once worth as little as two pizzas, Bitcoin’s currency price has grown to over $100,000 USD for one BTC, catching the attention of individuals and institutions alike. Mix in the core principles of blockchains, like decentralization and self-custody, and you have an entirely new platform and philosophy that allows for security, transparency, and technical stability. You may think that blockchains are a concept of the future, but in reality, governments, businesses, financial institutions, and individuals have been signaling that they are ready for adoption. This doesn’t mean your website, social profiles, and email addresses are going away, but it does mean that you will need to extend your brand protection to a new ecosystem where Web3 digital identities are at the core of any action.
What Is a Digital Identity?
From logging into websites to verifying your bank account, your digital identity is the backbone of how you interact online. You use a digital identity to login to websites, to send communications via email, and to converse with people from all over the world. Think of all the things your digital identity is associated with online: your social security number, healthcare records, personal conversations, and so much more. Everything you do online hinges on your identity in some form or another, and all these data points connect to form your unique identity.
Enter the Era of Web3 Digital Identities
A Web3 digital identity is a modern evolution of your online presence- one that’s decentralized, secure, and built to work with blockchain technology like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Rather than relying on centralized databases or third-party platforms, Web3 gives you more control over your identity. Instead, the principle of self-sovereign digital identities rules supreme.
In its simplest form, a Web3 digital identity is a human-readable identifier like an email address or website name, but for blockchain technology. It replaces the long, complex strings of alphanumeric characters that represent your presence on the blockchain, almost like how IP addresses identify users and machines today. Not only do Web3 digital identities help keep track of blockchain actions, but they help facilitate actions by making the process more user-friendly. It’s much easier to send BTC to “hello.locker” than something like “HA7RND9CAB4800CHBD4.”
Identity is Tied to Ownership on the Blockchain
The key innovation with Web3 digital identities is that they are tied directly to digital wallets. These wallets act as the anchor for your online identity, storing everything from cryptocurrency and NFTs to on-chain credentials and access keys. Because of this, your Web3 digital identity isn’t just a username- it’s proof of ownership, membership, and history.
- You can use your Web3 identity to send and receive digital assets like Bitcoin.
- You can verify your on-chain activity, like NFT ownership.
You can prove you hold certain tokens, which can unlock special access to communities, content, or financial tools.
Web3 digital identities give individuals more power and privacy. They remove the need for countless logins and give users control over what parts of their identity they share and when. It’s a shift from “you are the product” to “you are in control.”
How do I get a Web3 digital identity?
Some domain names can also be used as a Web3 digital identity, while others cannot. A handful of Web3-specific extensions exist, such as .btc or .eth, but these are generally limited to their associated blockchain ecosystems and can’t be used for traditional websites or email addresses. For those looking to keep their identity consistent across both Web2 and Web3, certain domain extensions now offer built-in Web3 functionality in addition to standard DNS use. For example, the .locker extension was created with digital ownership in mind and includes an optional Web3 onramp. When registering a .locker name, users receive instructions on how to claim their Web3 digital identity and connect it to a digital wallet if they choose. This approach is designed to make it easier for individuals to explore Web3 while maintaining a traditional online presence. For those interested in exploring how Web3 identities work in practice, .locker provides one example of how traditional domains and blockchain functionality can come together. 
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