Soulbound
A soulbound token or artifact is a blockchain-recorded item that is bound to a single holder and not designed to be transferred. Where ordinary tokens change hands freely, a soulbound item works as a persistent record about its holder: a credential, membership, achievement, or identity marker rather than an object of exchange.
Origin of the term
Vitalik Buterin introduced the term to blockchain usage in a January 2022 post, borrowing it from World of Warcraft items that bind permanently to a character. The idea was developed into soulbound tokens (SBTs) in the May 2022 paper Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul, and Ethereum later specified a minimal non-transferable token interface in EIP-5192.
Use in BZA1
The BZA1 artifact standard on the BTX network applies the concept to artifacts that are claimed to a specific holder and intended to remain bound to that holder, supporting uses such as access gating and sign-in rather than exchange between owners.
Sources
- Soulbound (Vitalik Buterin, 2022)
- Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul (SSRN, 2022)
- EIP-5192: Minimal Soulbound NFTs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals, 2022)
Cite this entry
"Soulbound." postquantum.wiki. Updated July 11, 2026. https://postquantum.wiki/soulbound@misc{pqwiki-soulbound,
title = {Soulbound},
howpublished = {\url{https://postquantum.wiki/soulbound}},
year = {2026},
note = {postquantum.wiki, updated 2026-07-11}
}