• Polkadot creator Gavin Wood recently emphasized the importance of integrating proof of personhood into blockchain technology.
• He also suggested that this mechanism for digitally verifying an individual’s humanity could be the breakthrough sterring mass adoption.

Polkadot, the interoperability blockchain platform has been navigating through new ways of boosting market adoption. In the latest development, Polkadot creator Gavin Wood shares an interesting use case that would be crucial for the mass adoption of the blockchain platform.

In a recent interview on macro guru Raoul Pal’s podcast, Polkadot creator Gavin Wood suggests that proof of personhood—a mechanism for digitally verifying an individual’s humanity—could be the breakthrough blockchain application that drives widespread adoption.

Gavin Wood has articulated a crucial observation regarding the technology’s current limitations. Reflecting on the past few years, Wood noted that while blockchains have excelled at handling the scale of value, primarily in terms of money, they have yet to master the concept of personhood, which is integral to everyday life.

In his commentary, Wood emphasized that the recognition of personhood is a fundamental aspect of modern society, especially in Western cultures. He illustrated this by explaining how purchasing high-value items, like computer equipment over $1,000, often requires verification of personhood.

This verification process is so ingrained in daily transactions that it often goes unnoticed, yet it remains essential. Wood’s insights underline the necessity for blockchain technology to evolve beyond financial applications and address broader societal needs.

Highlighting the Proof of Personhood

Blockchain pioneer Gavin Wood recently emphasized the critical need for integrating proof of personhood into blockchain technology, reflecting on its pervasive role in Western society. He cautioned against relying on governments to determine who is or isn’t a person.

“We just do it naturally, [we]expect to be able to see a face and so many transactions rely on that. So much of our social fabric relies on [proof of personhood]that it needs to be part of blockchain before blockchain is going to be a big part of society,” Wood explained.

He highlighted the challenge of implementing proof of personhood without government intervention, criticizing approaches like Worldcoin and KYC (know-your-customer) for their excessive reliance on centralized authorities.

“I wouldn’t, broadly speaking, rely on any government stuff to power blockchain and this needs to sit at a pretty low level for it to be useful so we need to come up with quite a lot more inventive means of building personhood into blockchain,” Wood concluded, urging the blockchain community to explore innovative solutions for this fundamental issue.

As of press time, Polkadot’s native cryptocurrency DOT is trading at $6.99 with a market cap of $10 billion. As reported by Crypto News Flash, if the DOT price manages to surge past $7.4, it can approach higher levels of $10 and beyond.