What are Stamps?
An introduction to Gitcoin Stamps—the identifiers that a Passport is comprised of.
If you've already created a Passport, you can start collecting evidence that you are a real individual human. This is done using Stamps.
Stamps are verifiable credentials, meaning they represent proof of ownership or activity on other platforms. Collecting these Stamps together in one place allows Gitcoin Passport to aggregate your online identity in one place. The more Stamps you collect, the stronger your evidence and the more access and influence you will have across the web.
When you sign in to the Gitcoin Passport app you will be presented with a selection of Stamps and a score in the upper right corner of the page.
Although each individual Stamp has a unique verification process, the underlying flow is similar:
- The Passport app guides you through connecting to the various identity providers. You will be asked to grant the Passport app access to some of your account data. This data is never stored or exported by Gitcoin Passport - the app simply checks the data exists.
- The Passport app communicates with our server to issue a Stamp. This credential represents your ownership of the connected account. Your account details are encrypted - the only information that is shared by your Passport is the credential representing your account ownership, not any details about the accounts themselves.
- The Verifiable Credential will be saved into your Passport and will be available to any 3rd party app where you present your Passport to get access to protected materials or communities.
For example, if you decide you'd like to verify the ENS Stamp, you will need to purchase an .eth address from ENS. Once you've done so, go back to the Passport App and 'Connect Account'. You will be prompted to sign a message in your wallet before the Stamp is verified in your Passport.
Some Identity providers have their own verification process that can take some time to complete. But once you're verified there, collecting the Stamp for that service should be quick.
Stamps expire and need to be renewed every 90 days. This helps Gitcoin Passport be confident in your unique humanity and makes it more challenging for Sybil users to attack the system. The expiration and renewal cycle also enables humans to re-use Stamps and credentials w/ new wallets if they ever lose access to the wallet they used to create a Passport.
If you are a returning user your Passport information will automatically be retrieved and displayed in the Passport app. You will be presented with the option to "one-click verify" your existing Stamps. This automatically renews all your Stamps, preventing them from expiring and requiring manual reverification.
- Watch Gitcoiners explain Stamps on The Green Pill podcast: