When Attestations Stop Feeling Like Data and Start Acting Like Permissions
While working with Sign Protocol, the thing that caught me off guard wasn’t how easy it is to create attestations, but how quickly they start behaving like access control. You are not just recording something. You are quietly deciding who gets to do what next.
Schemas make this clearer. Once you define a structure, every attestation under it becomes part of a rule system. It reminded me more of permission layers than simple onchain records. Especially when you realize these attestations can live across chains, but still reference the same logic.
There’s also a practical angle. Keeping heavy data off-chain and storing only references keeps gas costs low. You are not paying for storage every time, just for the proof. That changes how often you are willing to write data.
Still early though. The flexibility is strong, but I’m not sure most teams will design clean schemas from the start. It feels like something that gets messy before it gets useful.