Introducing Self-Sovereign Identity and Identity as Collateral in Decentralized Finance
H.M. Kroon (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
M.A. de Vos – Mentor (TU Delft - Data-Intensive Systems)
J.A. Pouwelse – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Data-Intensive Systems)
Fernando Kuipers – Coach (TU Delft - Embedded Systems)
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Abstract
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is build on smart-contract supporting blockchains, with Ethereum being the largest ecosystem. A collection of smart-contracts aims to serve as decentralized implementations of financial systems. The philosophy of DeFi dictates automation and desintermediation through exploiting nascent distributed ledger technology and cryptoanarchist ideologies. Interest in DeFi has risen in the past year, with total value locked in Ethereum based decentralized applications having multiplied fiftyfold. Lending is one of the main building blocks of finance and DeFi protocols try to provide that service. Lending services offer liquidity in exchange for counterparty guarantee. Due to the pseudonymous nature of DeFi that guarantee is limited to collateral, which is expressed in overcollateralization as a result of cryptomarket volatility. A persistent, untamperable and uniquely identifiable credit history opens the door for counterparty guarantee without liquid collateral. Uncollateralized lending lowers a barrier of entry for mainstream adoption of Decentralized Finance. This paper proposes a novel solution to cryptographically secured loans in a decentralized system by presenting a credit history linked to a persistent self-sovereign identity.