All terms
A token that cannot be transferred, used to represent something earned rather than bought.
A soulbound token is permanently bound to one address. Because it cannot be sold, it can represent things that should not be purchasable: a completed course, a verified membership, a reputation score, a contribution record.
The tradeoff is that permanence is unforgiving. Lose access to the wallet and the credential is gone, which is why decentralized identity work usually pairs these with recovery mechanisms.
A conference could issue attendance tokens that prove you were there and cannot be traded to someone who was not.
That non transferable means non fakeable. Anybody can issue one, so the value is entirely in who issued it and whether that issuer is worth anything. A credential nobody recognizes is a token that cannot even be sold.
Common questions
What is a non transferable token for?
What happens if I lose the wallet?
Where to go next
More web3 terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.