Mobiup launches authentication verification stamp based on Soul-bound Tokens to help fight fraud on Instagram
The concept of a soul-bound token has been taken a step further by a crypto start-up, Mobiup. The company is working on solving identification problems that result in fraudulent activities on social media through an authentication verification seal built with the concept of the soul-bound token (SBF). The authenticator practically helps users to identify Instagram profiles that are authentic and those that are fake.
Decentralized Identity Solutions
The authentication verification seal from Mobiup is designed to give users of Instagram the option of setting a seal on their profiles that enables other users to ascertain the content creators, companies, and artists that are genuine and those that are fake.
Profiles that have been authenticated will have a blue seal attached to them. This seal is in the form of an NFT and is designed to make things difficult for fraudsters. The solution is rather useful, as many people, including Cardano’s Co-founder, steal NFT images and use them on their social media profiles.
Mobiup stated:
“The profile that is validated will have a blue seal of verification in its feed, on the original profile it will be flagged as a digital collectible, which will not be possible to find on a fake profile.”
Identification seal in the form of a Soul-bound Token
To become verified, Instagram users have to apply for the seal first. This is done by sending the data requested by the authenticator. After it is approved, the particulars are recorded on the blockchain, then the owner receives a soul-bound token (SBF) in their wallet. The SBF is not transferable, and only the owner can have access to the seal.
“It cannot be transferred to another person, only the one connected to your wallet. Each badge will have its own url that anyone can check on the Authenticator website.”
The concept of a sou-lbound token was proposed by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum. It involves making an NFT to be locked with the wallet.
Such tokens are not transferable and can’t be traded. This makes SBTs best suited as certificates of authentication. This digital value is what Mobiup has utilized in building an NFT that authenticates the ownership of an Instagram profile. This is a practical solution to the need of many content creators faced with the possibility of having their social profiles hacked or cloned.
A certificate of authentication
An NFT that acts as a certificate of authentication, placed as a seal on the account of the owner, is a fool-proof method of securing such accounts.
“The Authenticator is an initiative that aims to make life as difficult as possible for fraudsters. This is a problem that exists not only with content creators, but with hotels, restaurants, artists and even ordinary people,” said Rodrigo Caggiano, product director at Mobiup.
Caggiano said that the company already has a waitlist of 500 people in queue for the authentication seal. A social media influencer Caia Vicentino, who has shown interest in the authentication seal, said that there had been a constant war over profile ownership with fraudsters causing a lot of havoc to content creators.
Fighting fake profiles and hackers
“The war against fake profiles is far from over. This month alone I lost count of how many followers contacted me to say that they identified a fake with my name. Most of these scammers are after unsuspecting investors, that’s why I always communicate on my networks that I don’t get in touch and never ask for data via Instagram” said the influencer who already has the seal of authentication by the authenticator
The Mobiup team believes that the community of users has a role to play in the fight against fraud using the blockchain.
“We want to make a genuinely WEB3 product, make a movement where the verified community increasingly boosts the product to show the mainstream the power of blockchain solutions and show the society that NFTs are not cards that will make the user rich overnight” said Rodrigo Caggiano.
Millions of fake profiles
There is an active network of hackers and other malicious players that prey on social media profiles. In 2020 an estimated 270 million Facebook accounts were hacked or faked.
Authenticator was built in collaboration with Pug Club, Web3 Fast, and a team of other Web3 marketing experts. Some social media influencers who contributed through feedback are Caio Vicentino, Alexandre Senra, João Hazim, Felipe Dantas, Angelo Whosoever, Igor Brasil, Benito Napolitano, and Max Schiller.
