Attestation
The term “attestation” is gradually appearing in the technical documents and marketing materials of some Web3 projects. What does it mean? How does it differ from the similar term “verification”?
Attestation is an emerging standard in the blockchain industry. It represents a subjective form of certification that is similar to “witnessing,” “testimony,” or “declaration.” An attestation is made by an attestor who has a certain level of subjectivity, and others cannot verify its accuracy through other means. Examples of attestation include verifying the validity of a passport, verifying ownership of a specific email address, or proving one’s educational background.
According to Cornell Law School’s dictionary, attestation is similar to testimony. In contracts, wills, or other written documents, a witness is typically present to attest to the authenticity of the document and the signatures. This process can be summarized as “witnessing.”
Attestation involves subjective elements and is not purely objective.
Understanding these differences helps to comprehend why many projects use attestation as a core concept to address a social consensus problem: how to integrate existing certifiers into Web3 infrastructure and bring attestation into Web3?
How can these verifiable and declarable events be defined according to certain standards? How can these data be stored on the blockchain or implemented with more composable logic through smart contracts to better meet real-world needs?
With the increasing demand for integrating off-chain information with blockchain, the importance of attestation mechanisms and related infrastructure is growing.
Attestation is not a new concept, especially for those familiar with the Ethereum Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus, where some steps are referred to as attestation.
Although the concept of attestation is still in its early stages of development, several projects have gained widespread attention. Teams like Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS), Smart Layer, EthSign, Verax, and PADO Labs emphasize their protocols and the concept of attestation.
These case studies help provide a clearer understanding of the applications and use cases of “attestation.”
In the Ethereum consensus process, attestation refers to a validator’s endorsement of the current final state of a block, similar to voting. If a validator is deemed to have engaged in malicious behavior, passive participation, or disconnection by other validators during this process (surround vote), they will be penalized by the consensus algorithm (slashing/inactivity leak).
From this, we can see that there is some subjectivity involved in validators’ participation in Ethereum network consensus.
Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS): Universal Certification
EAS is an open-source infrastructure project used for proof on-chain or off-chain. It utilizes digitally signed structured information as a means to verify facts, prove authenticity, and establish trust in various online and on-chain interactions.
EAS operates through two smart contracts:
1. Schema Registry Contract: This contract is used to register proof schemas. Its main function is to allow users to register proof templates that define the structure and format of proof data. Users define a schema, which is then submitted to the schema registry contract for registration. Once registered, the contract assigns a unique identifier (UID) to the schema for future references in proofs.
2. Attestation Contract: This contract is used for carrying out attestations and managing the lifecycle of proofs. Users use previously registered templates to fill in specific content according to the predefined format and sign it digitally on-chain or off-chain. The signed data, along with the UID of the schema, is submitted to the attestation contract. The contract verifies the signature and UID. If the verification passes, the proof is recorded on the blockchain, and anyone can verify its authenticity.
If the status of a proof needs to be changed, it can be revoked. Revocation does not edit the proof itself but renders it invalid.
EAS builds a service layer for anyone to construct attestations conveniently above the settlement layer, enhancing the usability of the application layer.
Proofs can be conducted on-chain or off-chain. On-chain proofs are directly stored on the Ethereum blockchain, providing immutable security. Off-chain proofs are stored outside the blockchain, usually in decentralized storage solutions such as IPFS, and can be shared on-demand.
Smart Layer: Identity Verification
Smart Layer is a programmable blockchain service layer that allows existing tokens and smart contracts to have more executable logic without altering the contracts. The team refers to these tokens as “smart tokens.”
Recommended reading: “What is Smart Layer? How to combine Web3 with real-life scenarios?”
Smart Layer creates executable tokens based on TokenScript technology. Executable Tokens are NFTs or tokens with built-in executable code. They are not just static digital assets but can also perform various functions.
Smart Layer and the Devcon team collaborated to develop ticket attestations, providing NFT ticket certifications for 20,000 developers attending Devcon 6 Bogotá, EFDevconnect Amsterdam, and EDCON 2023 events. Individuals with these event tickets can generate a proof using the same email address to obtain a special pass called Smart Pass.
EthSign: Contract Signing Attestation
EthSign is a blockchain-based signing protocol that allows users to sign documents, encrypt them, and store them permanently in a decentralized, secure, and verifiable environment.
Signing with private keys is the best authentication method in the Web3 world.
EthSign enables users from different blockchain systems to sign files using their cryptographic keys. This allows Bitcoin users to collaborate with Ethereum users and users from other blockchain ecosystems for contract signing and more.
EthSign utilizes the Arweave blockchain to store signed attestations permanently, without any cost to the user.
Verax: Developer Tools
Verax is a shared registry of on-chain proofs. Its purpose is to provide a centralized place for storing on-chain proofs and offer developers a universal and scalable tool to manage and utilize these proofs. These proofs can verify the identity of an entity, ownership of digital assets, trust in a wallet, and more. They can be used to build digital identities, trust systems, reputation protocols, and other applications.
Verax aims to enhance the composability of proofs, helping developers issue Attestations compatible with other standards. It acts as a pipeline that allows different projects to store and retrieve on-chain proofs, enabling easy usage and combination of these proofs by other protocols, DApps, or users without worrying about compatibility between different standards.
PADO Labs: Privacy Protection for Proof Mechanisms
PADO is a cryptographic infrastructure designed to allow users to prove their off-chain data in a genuine and privacy-protected manner. For example, it enables users to prove their expertise as seasoned players in Web2 games without disclosing personal details.
PADO utilizes advanced cryptographic techniques, including MPC-TLS and IZK, to enable blind proofs. This means that the attester cannot see the original data, including public and private user information, but can still ensure the source of the transmitted data through cryptographic methods.
Whether it is for RWA or any off-chain related applications, transparency auditing, legal compliance, and regulation are inevitable challenges.
In this context, attestation plays a significant role in promoting the widespread adoption of Web3. Attestation can provide verification of the correlation between on-chain and off-chain assets, enhance transparency, and provide confidence to investors and participants.
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