Humanity is moving towards a digital future where our assets, data, and everything else will be available digitally. 

There is now a need for a better authentication system, one where we can prove our identity without relying on third-party centralized companies like Google. 


And here's what I believe the future will look like 

Blockchain uses private keys, which are private texts known only to the owner, for authentication. It is a system not reliant on any third party; anyone can create a private key without even using a computer and own an account on the blockchain network. 

However, this cannot be our future because your digital ownership is tied to a single text that, if known to anyone, will make them the owner.


One solution could be that the identifier of our identity should not be something digital that can be copied by anyone but something physical that is part of us, like our eyes, hands, or voice. 

However, I can't imagine a future where everyone authenticates everything with their eyes, always carrying their whole digital assets and identity with them, exposing them to kidnapping and $5 wrench attacks.


What I imagine is that there won't be a single authentication method but hundreds of authentication methods, and you can use a mix of them in any way, with no one knowing how you authenticate yourself.


The authentication methods can be in your mind, or you can write them physically or digitally encrypted. 

Even if someone somehow knows your authentication methods, it does not guarantee that they will be the same in the future, and they just know how you authenticate, not the devices or identifiers you use. 

If they get hold of all the identifiers, they still won't own your identity because you can default to social recovery. Here, we can use our society—family, friends, colleagues, colleges, workplaces—as our identifier, allowing us to migrate our identity easily.


Here, Zero Knowledge proofs will play a major role, allowing you to create thousands of mixes of authentication methods without revealing how you proved your identity. 

Someone attempting a $5 wrench attack faces a huge risk because they can't possibly know if you have any easy money available without requiring internet access or contacting anyone.


For example, you may allow $100 to be spendable using your hand, $200 by authentication using your eyes, or you may not even use your physical body but instead use a non-internet connected device with a code that allows authentication up to a certain amount. 

You may use a hand sign, voice command, or any combination of methods. The authentication might change by daytime or location—it could be anything. The best part is that no one will know how you authenticate yourself; you just do.
