To facilitate identification on the Web3, Synaps has developed the decentralised identity protocol Anima. Launched on April 12, this decentralized identity brings a major innovation to the protection of personal data and can be used to instantly validate your KYC when registering to platforms.
Synaps presents its decentralised identity protocol Anima
Anima is a protocol for creating a decentralised digital identity (dID). This can be used endlessly on the various services requiring identification or a Know Your Customer (KYC) process.
This Web 3.0 protocol is developed by the French company Synaps, which itself already specialises in providing KYC solutions.
Synaps has many clients such as the French companies Just Mining and Deskoin and supports many launchpads such as Polkastarter, Solanium, Solstarter, Starterra or BHero, to take just a few examples.
We will therefore see how Anima offers additional time savings and comfort of use when interacting with blockchain applications. Moreover, thanks to encryption and decentralised storage, this protocol offers protection to our personal data and respects our privacy.
The current KYC issue
Current KYC checks are not pleasant for either the user or the service provider.
They represent a cost for the application that has to implement the check. A cost of operation, of course, but above all an additional cost of customer acquisition. Indeed, having to repeat the procedure of sending identity documents, proving one’s place of residence and taking a selfie to confirm that one is human may scare people away.
Once this is done, you will then have to wait for the whole process to be validated before you can fully interact with a protocol.
Moreover, as a user, we can quickly feel spied on and legitimately wonder what will be done with our data, even though Web 3.0 is supposed to give us back control over it.
And all these constraints could become even more pronounced as the regulatory framework around blockchain and crypto-currencies gets tougher.
The solution provided by Anima
Significant time savings
Anima is a decentralised identity based on KYC requirements. This certified identity can thus be used to instantly validate KYCs and not have to go through them again. The first advantage of Anima is therefore a considerable saving of time.
To use the example of Florian Le Goff, CEO of Synaps, it is as if we only had to go through one airport checkpoint for our entire activity on Web 3.0. In other words, one could also see one’s Anima as the wristband, which is provided to us at the entrance of a festival and then clears us from a new ticket check.
By creating your Anima, you create your digital double, as it were, representing your identity on the Internet.
This provides comfort to the user who will no longer have to repeat all the steps of KYC checks with each new protocol. As Anima is the authentication tool, decentralised applications remain in compliance with regulations, without scaring away potential customers.
How to create your decentralised identity with Anima
First, go to the Anima application, then click on “Create an Anima” at the top of the page.
Figure 1: Creating your Anima
You will need to make an initial signature with your MetaMask wallet, then you will be directed to the menu below where you will need to click on “Create an Anima” again:
Figure 2: Create your Anima menu
You will then have to go through the usual KYC procedure. Once your documents have been verified, you will then be able to access your Anima
Figure 3: KYC verification
At the time of writing, the solution only works on MetaMask, without a hardware wallet, but we are still in the early stages of the protocol and more digital wallets will be added. The team said that Ledger wallets will be supported soon.
Secure data
The other aspect of Anima, and certainly the most important, is data security and by extension, regaining control over it.
Firstly, it should be noted that Synaps, developing the Anima protocol, does not have access to our decentralised information. Indeed, it is encrypted with the public key of our wallet and can only be decrypted with its private key so that only we have access to it. This encrypted information is then stored on the decentralised storage network Aleph.im.
Anima is created on the Ethereum blockchain (ETH), but there is no need to worry about gas charges, as it is only a signature and not a transaction.
Figure 4: Anima management menu
As can be seen above, the data we provide is effectively encrypted and the only way to access it is to perform a signature with our wallet.
Disclose the bare essentials
As a continuation of this data security, Anima acts as a protective overlay between our personal information and the various applications we use. Thus, we only reveal what is necessary.
To take a concrete example, token launchpads are closed to citizens of certain countries. In this case, we are obliged to carry out a KYC by transmitting our identity documents to prove that we are resident in a country authorised by the platform.
With Anima, this is no longer compulsory, because without having to reveal our nationality, a signature on our private key allows us to authenticate that we are not a resident of such and such a country, because this verification has already been done beforehand.
Beyond the blockchain and cryptocurrency aspect, this is an innovation that can be exported in many areas. The restriction to certain countries is indeed not the prerogative of our ecosystem and we think, for example, of access to websites where a majority is required to access them.
Conclusion on Anima and its technology
In preparation for a future token launch, Anima has also set up affiliate links, to encourage users who have already decentralised their identity to share this new feature with their network. This will generate a count that will be considered in a future airdrop.
As we have seen, the Anima solution, powered by Synaps, is a real innovation. If it is accepted by the various players in the sector, it will offer real convenience in the face of current KYC.
Moreover, it could be one of the ambassadors of decentralised identity solutions offering us control over our personal data, in the exact opposite of what has been done on the Internet until now.
Anima is first and foremost a way to reconcile privacy and compliance to allow everyone to share only what is necessary.
