The Transformation of the Web3 World: The Development History of Computers and Wallets

The birth of smart contracts has brought new possibilities to the vision of global computing. With the rapid emergence of various applications, from trading to lending, from gaming to NFTs, the combination of blockchain technology and smart contracts has greatly simplified the on-chain development process and created conditions for interoperability between applications.

According to data from the platform, as of August 2022, the number of applications on various public chains has surpassed 4,000, and it continues to grow at a rate of dozens each month.

In the blockchain world, an address is the basic unit for users to interact with smart contracts. Unlike traditional addresses, on-chain addresses can be completely anonymous, requiring no identity verification, and users can create and operate multiple addresses. Having an on-chain address signifies a formal entry into the crypto world. According to official data from Ethereum, as of August 2022, the cumulative number of addresses has exceeded 200 million, with daily transaction volumes remaining above 1 million.

Blockchain and smart contracts empower users with true control over their own data and assets, which is one of the most important features of Web3. The Wallet is the key tool for achieving this management. Just as a browser is the gateway to the internet, a Wallet can be seen as the portal to the Web3 world. As the infrastructure of the crypto world, the Wallet encompasses all on-chain asset and data-related operations, including transactions, holding, transfers of cryptocurrencies, as well as staking and other derivative services.

From a historical development perspective, wallets can be roughly divided into paper/brain wallets, hardware wallets, software wallets, and other key custody solutions. For most users participating in DeFi, NFT trading, and gaming, software wallets are the most commonly used option. Taking the currently most popular software wallet as an example, its monthly active users exceed 30 million. After users install the wallet, they will receive a string of mnemonic words consisting of 12 or 24 ordered English words. A set of mnemonic words can correspond to the private keys of multiple addresses, used for account recovery and migration.

For new users, properly safeguarding the mnemonic phrase is the most important first lesson. One of the costs of decentralization is that users must take full responsibility for their accounts and wallets, as no centralized institution can help "recover passwords." Once the mnemonic phrase is obtained by others, the user's wallet is essentially out of control. After familiarizing themselves with the secure operations of the wallet, users can truly step into the vast world of Web3. Among more than 100 software wallets available in the market, how do we define an "excellent" wallet? We can look for wallet features that best meet user needs based on current trends and hot topics in the crypto world.

The Rise of Multi-Chain Ecosystems: From Monopoly to Flourishing Diversity

The DeFi boom in 2020 and the rise of GameFi in 2021 attracted a large amount of capital into on-chain participation in various financial activities. Although Ethereum ensures decentralization and security, it sacrifices speed, and the surge in computational demand has also led to skyrocketing transaction fees, making the trading costs unbearable for small fund users. In order to reduce user costs and improve speed, multiple public chains have rapidly emerged against this backdrop, changing the landscape of Ethereum's dominance.

From Ethereum-based L2 solutions, to exchange-led public chains, and to various emerging public chains compatible with EVM. Although many innovative applications were initially developed based on Ethereum, the compatibility of EVM makes cross-chain migration relatively easy. According to data platform statistics, as of August 21, 2022, the top five public chains ranked by the number of active addresses in the past seven days are a public chain of a certain trading platform, Ethereum, Polygon, Ronin, and Avalanche, among which the public chain of a certain trading platform has 2.94 million active addresses due to its game-friendly nature.

In terms of the total locked value ( TVL ) in DeFi, Ethereum remains the absolute leader, accounting for over half of the total chain TVL, but this share is gradually declining. A situation of multiple strong players has formed, and users hope to conveniently manage their multi-chain assets and achieve cross-chain operations.

Staking Becomes Mainstream: From POW to POS

Since its inception, the POW consensus mechanism of Bitcoin has faced criticism for resource waste. To address this issue, POS was innovatively proposed and quickly became the mainstream choice for major new public chains. Ethereum will also complete its transition to POS in September 2022, which is the ETH 2.0 upgrade. Ordinary users can participate in staking through DPOS( delegated proof of stake) or SaaS( staking as a service) platforms, without the need to stake a large number of tokens to become validators.

It can be said that staking is becoming the most convenient way for ordinary users to enter new public chains. While users participate in staking to ensure the secure operation of the blockchain, they also receive staking rewards. Therefore, the security and experience of staking are important factors for users when choosing a new POS public chain.

One-stop entry: Following the rapid evolution of Web3

Although the application portfolio of DeFi is dazzling, DeFi is just one application scenario in the vast Web3 world. DAOs, games, metaverses, and many more scenarios yet to be imagined and created will together build the blueprint for the future of Web3. More than 50 years after the birth of the internet, few industries can continuously emerge with exciting knowledge, technology, and demand like Web3, making one marvel at the rapid development of Web3.

In the Web3 era, the previous method of "logging in with various social accounts" will all be replaced by wallet login. It can be said that the wallet is the first entry point into the Web3 world. In the face of the dazzling and ever-changing Web3 industry, users need a wallet that allows them to directly enter and explore, then reach various applications for a "one-stop" experience.

Build a One-Stop Super App for Web3

In summary, we have identified the demand for a high-quality Wallet from the current market trends, which includes a seamless multi-chain experience, convenient staking channels, and exploration of the Web3 world. In addition to meeting all of the above needs, some Wallets also feature beautiful user interfaces. Moreover, such Wallets support basic functions such as fiat deposits for mainstream Wallets, wallet imports, connecting hardware Wallets, and asset price displays.

Compared to mainstream wallets, some emerging wallets are more comprehensive in functionality:

• Platform support: browser and mobile
• Multi-chain support: EVM and non-EVM, L1 and L2
• Hardware Wallet Support
• NFT Display: Supports displaying and setting the background
• Fiat Currency Purchase
• Staking Support
• Browser features: supports DApp, news, market aggregation

Multi-Chain Asset Management

Users can choose to create a new Wallet or import an existing Wallet, and they can also choose to observe others' addresses. Importing a Wallet only requires selecting the original Wallet and pasting the mnemonic phrase. To ensure the highest level of security, some Wallets also support hardware Wallet connections, ensuring that the private keys are kept offline and secure.

After entering the Wallet account, users can see multi-chain assets, ENS domain displays, as well as direct access to staking entrances and shortcut buttons for multiple DApps. Some wallets support more than 25 public chains, including EVM series ( such as Ethereum, Avalanche, BNB Chain ), non-EVM series ( such as Solana, Near, and Cosmos ), as well as L2 solutions ( such as Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and StarkNet ).

Some wallets support the display of NFTs on multiple mainstream public chains, allowing users to view all NFTs on one interface and set their favorite NFTs as the home screen background.

Some wallets collaborate with payment service providers to support direct purchases of cryptocurrencies using debit and credit cards. For multi-chain wallets, native cross-chain bridge support is essential. Users can convert assets between different EVMs and non-EVM( such as Solana and NEAR, among others, ).

Some wallets provide price tracking features for various cryptocurrencies, including native assets of major public chains, as well as staking tokens and even tokens of yield aggregators. Users can easily operate directly from the wallet homepage with just a few clicks.

Simplified Staking and Yield Aggregation

Some wallets have greatly simplified the staking process, allowing users to complete operations directly within the wallet without having to access other protocols or DApps. For example, users only need to click the staking button, enter the amount they want to stake, review, and confirm the transaction to complete it. The whole process is quick and simple, without needing to leave the wallet to access other DApps.

This simplified staking feature is applicable to multiple mainstream public chain assets, and users can also choose different staking service providers. Some wallets collaborate with DeFi protocols to support various staking derivatives.

Some wallets natively support yield aggregation protocols on different public chains, allowing users to easily obtain optimized yield strategies. Compared to the cumbersome steps of accessing protocol websites and connecting wallets, users can directly obtain yields with simple operations within the wallet.

Exploring the Web3 World

Some wallets provide users with an exploration interface to learn about the latest developments in different ecosystems, including updates, news, ecosystem-specific native integrations, and DApp recommendations across various industries.

The exploration page is usually divided into several sections:

• Overview:

  • Latest Update
  • Weekly special topics, focusing on hot issues in Web3
  • General News
  • High-quality DApp collection ( such as DeFi applications, NFT platforms, and marketplaces )

• Ecosystem section:

  • Updates on various ecosystems
  • Native integration of protocols within the ecosystem
  • High-quality DApps classified by industry ( such as lending, DEX, GameFi, yield aggregators, etc. )

Through this design, users can comprehensively understand the development dynamics of the Web3 world in one interface, discover new applications and opportunities, and thus participate more deeply in this rapidly evolving field.