Humanity Protocol Emerges from Stealth: Human Institute, in collaboration with Animoca Brands and Polygon Labs, Pioneers the Human Layer for Web3

Humanity Protocol introduces a new palm recognition technology for verifying individuals in Web3, aiming to provide a privacy-preserving alternative to more invasive biometric methods.

Feb 20, 2024

Company

Hong Kong / Dubai 20th February 2023 — Today, the Human Institute, a leading organization dedicated to amplifying human potential amidst the transformative impact of artificial intelligence, in collaboration with Animoca Brands, a pioneer in digital property rights for gaming and the metaverse, and Polygon Labs, a developer of Ethereum scaling solutions, has announced the launch of Humanity Protocol on Polygon CDK.

Founded by tech entrepreneur Terence Kwok, Humanity Protocol is guided by a council of Founding Humans including Yat Siu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, and Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder of Polygon Labs. This revolutionary protocol uses cutting-edge palm recognition technology, as a less invasive identity verification alternative to methods like iris scans, and is easily accessible through smartphones, to establish Proof of Humanity in Web3 applications.

Animoca Brands has played a pivotal role in fostering ecosystem growth and guiding the team on Web3 best practices, while also contributing its expertise in digital property rights. Additionally, the protocol harnesses the power of Polygon CDK, further enhancing its scalability and efficiency. The founding team consists of experienced technology executives and entrepreneurs, and holds numerous patents in the field of machine learning, a critical expertise for scalable and accurate identity verification.

User-centric palm recognition, seamlessly integrated into the blockchain, ensures ease of use in daily activities, prioritizing optimal accessibility. With simplicity at its core, this inclusive approach reinforces Humanity Protocol’s commitment to providing an intuitive and welcoming experience for individuals engaging with Web3 applications.

The zkEVM Layer-2 blockchain protocol leverages Polygon CDK, fortified by zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs to ensure network security, and incorporates the Proof of Humanity (PoH) consensus mechanism for identity validation. Humanity Protocol launches as a pioneering blockchain ecosystem, achieving genuine sybil resistance while integrating native verifiable credentials within its decentralized validator node network. This groundbreaking fusion paves the way for a diverse array of applications, from fully on-chain games and Decentralized Social Media (DeSO) to enterprise DeFi solutions, Fairdrops, Network States, Real World Assets (RWA), and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) systems.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, emphasized,

“Existing Proof-of-Personhood technologies can be invasive, complex, or burdensome. By leveraging the cutting-edge technology using non-invasive biometrics that lies at the core of the Proof-of-Humanity consensus mechanism, Humanity Protocol is building a user-centric ecosystem that can onboard millions to a verifiable digital identity solution that is truly decentralized and respects the principles of true digital ownership, in the process enabling better equity and inclusion for all participants.”

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, shared his thoughts on the protocol’s unveiling:

“As the world’s first blockchain ecosystem to not only be truly sybil-resistant but also to natively integrate verifiable credentials into a decentralized validator node network, Humanity Protocol lays the foundation for a wide variety of blockchain and real-world applications to be built on top.”

With the imminent launch of the Humanity Protocol Testnet, users will soon be invited to onboard and begin earning rewards.

Proof of Humanity introduces an unparalleled feature, equipping developers with unique-human authentication mechanisms while affording users complete ownership over their data and identity. Positioned as the human layer for Web3, Humanity Protocol stands out as Web3 approaches the milestone of one billion wallets created, by emphasizing its mission to onboard the first billion humans onto the blockchain.

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About Human Institute

Human Institute recognizes the profound impact of artificial intelligence on the global community. Committed to amplifying human potential, Human Institute harnesses the power of science, technology, and capital to empower humans worldwide.

Human Institute: https://www.human.institute/
Humanity Protocol: https://humanity.org/
Contact: press@cfh.xyz

About Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner, a Fortune Crypto 40 company, and one of the Financial Times’ High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2023, is a Web3 leader that leverages blockchain to deliver digital property rights to consumers around the world to help to establish the open metaverse. The company develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including original games such as The Sandbox, PHANTOM GALAXIES™, Life Beyond, and Crazy Defense Heroes, and products utilizing popular intellectual properties from the worlds of sports and entertainment, such as The Walking Dead, Power Rangers, MotoGP™, and Formula E. It has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Forj, Lympo, Animoca Brands Japan, Grease Monkey Games, Eden Games, Darewise Entertainment, Notre Game, TinyTap, Be., PIXELYNX, WePlay Media, Gryfyn, and Azarus. Animoca Brands is one of the most active investors in Web3, with a portfolio of over 400 Web3 investments, both directly and through Animoca Ventures, including Yuga Labs, Axie Infinity, Polygon, Consensys, Fireblocks, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Yield Guild Games, and many more. For more information visit www.animocabrands.com or follow on X (Twitter) or Facebook.

Contact: press@animocabrands.com

About Polygon Technology

Polygon Technology develops Ethereum scaling solutions for Polygon protocols. Polygon Labs engages with other ecosystem developers to help make available scalable, affordable, secure and sustainable blockchain infrastructure for Web3. Polygon Labs has initially developed a growing suite of protocols for developers to gain easy access to major scaling solutions, including Layer 2s (zero-knowledge rollups), sidechains, app-specific chains and data availability protocols. Scaling solutions that Polygon Labs initially developed have seen widespread adoption with tens of thousands of decentralized apps, unique addresses exceeding 327 million, 1.6 million smart contracts created and 2.9 billion total transactions processed since inception. The existing Polygon network is home for some of the biggestWeb3 projects, such as Aave, Uniswap, and OpenSea, and well-known enterprises including Robinhood, Stripe, and Adobe.