Humanity Verification

Humanity Verification in the BURST Ecosystem

One of the critical challenges in decentralized systems is ensuring that each participant is a unique individual without compromising privacy or introducing centralized authorities. BURST addresses this challenge with a robust, incentive-driven, and community-based verification system for proof of humanity.

The Humanity Verification Process

1. Open Access to BRN Wallets

   • Anyone can create a BRN wallet at any time, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility to the BURST ecosystem.
   • However, to activate the wallet and participate in the system, the wallet must be verified as belonging to a unique individual.

2. Community and Random Endorsements

   • Verification requires endorsements from two types of validators:
     a. Circle Endorsers: A minimum of x verified individuals from the wallet creator’s known circle must endorse the wallet.
     b. Random Endorsers: A smaller number (y, relatively low) of randomly selected verified individuals also need to endorse the wallet.
   • The inclusion of random endorsers prevents coordinated fraud among groups, adding an additional layer of security.

3. Staking for Accountability

   • All voters must stake an equal amount of BRN tokens to participate in the verification process.
   • This stake ensures that voters are financially invested in the integrity of their decision.

4. Doubt Resolution Through Quorum Voting

   • If a significant percentage of random voters raise doubts about the wallet’s legitimacy, a resolution process begins:
     a. A new, randomly selected group of verified individuals votes on the wallet’s legitimacy.
     b. The endorsers in this round are rewarded if their collective decision matches the consensus, incentivizing honesty and thorough evaluation.
   • If the quorum required for validation is not reached, additional rounds of voting occur with new random endorsers.

5. Failure to Verify

   • If a wallet fails to meet the quorum after multiple iterations, it is marked invalid, and the endorsers lose their staked tokens.
   • This penalty discourages false endorsements and ensures that endorsers are cautious and truthful.

6. Delegated Verification

   • Many individuals may delegate specialized checkers to verify a person’s identity and ensure they do not already possess a BRN wallet.
   • Checkers can form a professional ecosystem around humanity verification, backed by contractual insurance to mitigate risks of incorrect assessments.

7. Ongoing Challenges to Validity

   • At any point, individuals can raise concerns about an existing wallet’s legitimacy, even decades after its verification.
   • Such challenges are resolved using the same randomized consensus mechanism, ensuring the system’s integrity remains intact over time.

Initial Verification Through Government ID

• The first wave of verified users can establish their identity using government-issued identification.
• Over time, BURST aims to transition away from reliance on government IDs, exploring alternative decentralized methods that are more inclusive and accessible.

Incentives for Truthfulness and Transparency

• Both endorsers and random validators are incentivized to remain truthful:
  a. Accurate endorsements lead to rewards.
  b. False endorsements result in penalties, including the loss of staked tokens.
• This design encourages honesty, accountability, and a thriving economy centered on verification services.

Record Keeping and Delegation Economy

• Proper record-keeping ensures transparency and traceability in the verification process.
• A secondary economy may emerge around delegated checkers, offering services to validate identities on behalf of endorsers while maintaining accountability.

Benefits of BURST’s Humanity Verification System

• Decentralized: Removes reliance on central authorities or single points of failure.
• Fraud-Resistant: Combines endorsements from personal circles and random validators to deter collusion.
• Scalable: Enables ongoing validation and challenges, adapting to a growing and evolving user base.
• Incentive-Aligned: Uses economic stakes and rewards to promote integrity and reduce the risk of abuse.

By leveraging a community-driven, randomized consensus approach, BURST’s humanity verification system ensures fairness, accountability, and inclusivity, establishing a solid foundation for its unique economic model.