Here's part 1 of the Telegram AMA:
1. Can you please tell us about the POI Platform in detail?
The POI Platform is a p2p decentralized identity verification platform that verifies someone is a living person and that lets participants stake against their identity.
The POI Platform is proposed to exist as an independent platform governed by a community DAO(LOCK DAO), utilizing SelfKey credentials.
The Selfie Game is a unique component of the POI Platform, which may let participants challenge other participants’ POI identity through gamification, which would reward participants who are honest and hardworking and penalize those who are dishonest or fake.
Unlike other “proof of personhood” platforms, which are not extendable with KYC - the POI Platform is built on top of SelfKey credentials and can be extended to additional credentials and more ‘traditional’ KYC concepts such as a valid government ID.
2. Will this new project have an impact on SelfKey?
The POI Platform may help SelfKey towards its vision of a self-sovereign future. For instance, when Relying Parties (for example, a DAO doing an airdrop) doesn’t want to require the use of government documents but still wants to ensure their users are unique, living humans - they might utilize a POI Credential.
Hence, the POI Platform may open up new partnership opportunities, further securing the existing SelfKey ecosystem, help prevent Sybil attacks, and perhaps other benefits that may potentially emerge through concepts like improving DAO governance and incentivizing user work, participation and voting in a more decentralized fashion."
3. How does the POI Platform help SelfKey’s growth?
The POI Platform, LOCK token, Living Avatar NFTs are all proposed to coexist alongside the SelfKey ecosystem and should help contribute to its growth.
The POI Platform will require participants to stake against their POI Credentials. The POI platform might also help mitigate Sybil attacks.
In addition, the SelfKey POI paper proposes the POI Platform and the LOCK token to be a community governed project, with the introduction of LOCK DAO. LOCK token holders with valid POI Credentials will form the LOCK DAO and are aimed to improve upon existing governance mechanisms in crypto.
The ideas proposed in the SelfKey POI paper may also be adopted by other projects and adapted to their needs which may ultimately result in the implementation of more evolved governance and voting mechanisms. This could mean that SelfKey could continue to grow and may open up opportunities for huge, game-changing partnerships such as DAOs, social networks, and more.
4. What’s different about this POI system?
The POI Platform exists within the SelfKey credentials system, which also supports KYC using traditional government documents performed by certifiers (or credential issuers) on the SelfKey Network.
This enables the Relying Party using the POI Platform to be extensible with other SelfKey credentials and does not rely on a strictly POI-based (biometric, P2P) approach but can be tailored by individual projects on an as-needed basis.
In other words, if a Relying Party wants to make sure their users are unique but does not want to use identity documents for this, they might solely use the POI Credentials.
However, if another Relying Party wants to require a credential that states the user is not on a sanctions list, then it is possible to require this credential - allowing relying parties to have flexible identity requirements. The POI Platform is one more module in a modular system to solve identity verification issues in crypto, the Metaverse, and finance as a whole.
The POI Platform may initially function in one particular use case, with the goal that the system may evolve over time to handle ever-changing attack vectors.
5. Can we stake KEY to get LOCK? How can KEY holders stake KEY to get LOCK tokens?
The LOCK token is proposed to be a new type of utility token called “work tokens.” The only way to earn LOCK tokens is when participants do work on the POI Platform, which would help strengthen the network, such as validating other participants’ credentials or securing one’s own credentials.
In addition, the credentials on the POI Platform utilize KEY as a form of bond or collateral, meaning all credentials are backed by KEY tokens. The KEY token stake may also serve as a disincentive mechanism that protects against bad actors where KEY tokens will be forfeited in the event that the credentials submitted were discovered to be fake.
6. What benefits can a KEY holder get from the POI Platform?
A participant of the POI Platform is required to stake KEY tokens to obtain a POI Credential. Effectively this means participants of the POI Platform would need KEY tokens and a set of credentials in order to earn LOCK tokens. KEY remains the primary token of the SelfKey ecosystem, with LOCK imbuing certain governance rights for performing work to secure the POI Platform.
7. How does Staking work in the POI Platform?
A POI Credential would only be valid once the participant stakes KEY tokens against it. Staking and slashing could serve as incentive and disincentive mechanisms that discourage bad actors to attack the system, which may help the POI Platform mitigate Sybil attacks and ensure it to be more secure and robust while rewarding hardworking and honest participants with LOCK tokens and governance rights.
Here's part 2 of the Telegram AMA:
8. When will LOCK be launched?
After the smart contract is audited, the POI Platform is launched, with enough time for participants to register, and after this, the LOCK DAO would deploy the LOCK token.
9. Is there a limited supply for earned LOCK tokens? How many LOCK tokens are you planning to produce?
There will initially be a limited supply, and as the LOCK is controlled by the LOCK DAO / the community, the contract allows the option to burn or mint tokens as the community votes.
10. How can we get the POI Credential?
The SelfKey POI paper proposes an initial idea of how a POI Credential could be obtained, which is as follows:
* The participant of the POI Platform takes and uploads a selfie.
* Then the system, upon performing some automated checks via machine learning algorithms, and accepting the selfies, issues a temporary credential to the participant.
* The credential is only finalized when the participant stakes KEY tokens as collateral for the new credential.
11. What are Living Avatar NFTs?
Living Avatar NFTs, are a unique set of custom-minted NFTs that participants with a POI Credential and staked identity are eligible for.
Living Avatar NFTs could help a participant of the POI Platform to prove their identity on a social network or even within the Metaverse.
The Living Avatar NFTs would further strengthen the POI Platform as it offers participants complete control of what can be revealed about themselves and makes a simple profile picture a unique piece of personal expression.
Finally, all the data that the user chooses to reveal are backed by verifiable credentials on-chain.
12. What are some of the use cases of the Living NFTs on the POI Platform?
Some of them that we have proposed in the Whitepaper are:
Living Avatar NFTs may be used for identity verification, enabling participants to verify their identity by safeguarding their privacy on social networks or in the Metaverse.
Users will have complete control over what data they would be revealing on the NFT and what data should remain private. Users of the Living Avatar NFTs might want to, for instance, show their residency, citizenship, or other related verifiable credentials with a corresponding NFT.
Living Avatar NFTs may serve as an incentive for participants to go through the POI or other credentialing processes. Users can determine exactly how much (or how little) to reveal about themselves and could obfuscate their avatar. With this feature, and if more user-generated NFT’s start to emerge - there is potentially almost no limit to what users could verify about themselves or customize in their avatar.
NFT Avatars will have a crucial role to play in the Metaverse, and SelfKey is at the forefront of this emerging Metaverse Identity market.
13. Can we sell these NFTs on other markets?
The idea of the Living Avatar NFTs are to represent a participant's identity. Therefore the NFT as it is is not transferable.
However, they could be composed of multiple collectible NFTs that enhance the Living Avatar (e.g. laser eyes, backgrounds, etc.), which could be freely tradeable on other markets.
14. Where does KEYFI fit into the POI Platform?
KeyFi is an independent and separate project. The KeyFi platform brought a unique utility for KEY holders by enabling access for users with SelfKey credentials.
Now, just like the KeyFi platform, the POI Platform brings utility for those with KEY and POI Credentials. KeyFi may use the POI Platform, but this would be subject to community vote by the KeyFi DAO.
