Understand Humanity Protocol in 3 Minutes: How does Web3 verify "that you are a real person"?

In the Web3 world, there is a long-standing, yet critically important issue: identity.

Since creating on-chain addresses is nearly free, a single person can easily generate hundreds or thousands of identities. This directly leads to scenarios such as DAO voting, airdrop incentives, and decentralized social platforms being manipulated through “fake accounts,” a problem collectively known as Sybil Attacks.

Previous solutions have been less than ideal.

KYC sacrifices privacy, centralized identity violates decentralization principles, and behavioral models are not sufficiently reliable. So the question becomes: can you prove you are a real and unique human without revealing any personal information?

What problem does Humanity Protocol solve?

The goal of Humanity Protocol is clear: It doesn’t care about who you are, but instead verifies “whether you are a real, unique human participant”.

It aims to provide a layer of Sybil attack-resistant identity infrastructure for Web3, achieving identity verification without storing any personal information.

Core technology: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK)

The core technology of Humanity Protocol is zero-knowledge proofs. Simply put: You can prove that you “meet certain conditions” without revealing any private information.

In this system, the verification process focuses solely on “human uniqueness,” avoiding sensitive data such as names, documents, or biometric features. It also does not store personal information on-chain or off-chain, greatly reducing privacy leakage risks.

What is the role of zkProofers?

zkProofers are decentralized verification participants. They assist in generating and validating zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring that identity verification does not rely on any single entity but is collectively performed by a distributed network.

This step guarantees the system’s decentralization and resistance to censorship.

What is the purpose of the $H token?

$H is the native token of Humanity Protocol, mainly used to incentivize network participants.

zkProofers earn $H rewards by participating in identity verification, directly linking “verification activity” with economic incentives. The protocol’s long-term viability depends on whether the demand for verification, costs, and token incentives can reach a sustainable balance.

and Mastercard’s collaboration—what does it mean?

Humanity Protocol is not limited to the Web3 scene.

Currently, its human identity system Human ID has integrated with Mastercard’s open financial infrastructure, used for technological integration in digital identity. This is not a card issuance partnership, but an exploration of how to prove “you meet certain conditions” to traditional financial systems with privacy protection.

This opens a new pathway for Web3 identity systems to enter the mainstream financial world.

What applications does it have?

The use cases for Humanity Protocol are diverse, including: DAO governance, fair airdrops, decentralized social platforms, Web3 gaming, on-chain reputation systems, and more. Any scenario requiring “one person, one identity” could potentially adopt it.

In one sentence

Humanity Protocol aims to solve one of the most fundamental and challenging problems in Web3: Proving you are a real person without sacrificing privacy and decentralization.

By utilizing zero-knowledge proofs, decentralized verification, and token incentives, it offers a relatively comprehensive solution. Whether it can achieve large-scale adoption remains to be seen, but this direction is worth ongoing attention.