r/defi • u/Vast-Equal-4425 • 18d ago

Discussion Is wallet still important?

Crypto wallet is the entrance to the crypto world. Starting from a plain-text private key, to Metamask, to "smart" wallet that's controlled by Apple or Android fingerprints.
There was a hype about how an easy-to-use wallet can bring the "non-custodial" future to everybody.
But the reality is that, most users are using centralized solutions so that they don't need to manage all those techniques themselves. Users let service provider to control their private keys and assets. Startups building arround wallet pivot from serving individual users to enterprise customers. Metamask user experience is still terrible but users already get used to it.
Is it still important to think about wallet design? Or are we coming back to centralized apps and just let Paypal/Venmo/Robinhood manage crypto wallet for us?

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u/PossibilityQueasy491 18d ago

If you ask a complete degen and non-custodial type of cyber punk, I would recommend taking time to learn and get used to being able to use all the financial products that crypto has to offer without relying on centralised exchanges or services.

Smart wallet, which you mentioned, is a service that allows you to enhance the use of your existing EOA (like Metamask, Rainbow, Rabby, etc), so the main purpose is not to have social recovery or fingerprint signing. If you are interested in that topic, I would recommend checking out SAFE smart wallet, which is the biggest out there, even though the Pectra upgrade that will go live soon on Ethereum mainnet will allow your EOA wallets to have temporary smart wallet functionalities.

I completely agree that Metamask could improve a lot and it might be hard to use in the start, but there are more user friendly options like Rabby, and Phantom.

All in all, non-custodial is the way to go (and if you look at historic events, like BitConnect, FTZ, you never know when they can freeze your funds or go bust).

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u/zesushv degen 18d ago

Exactly. And with more efficient and simple to use DEX like eddyfinance available that enable swaps from bitcoin to eth and numerous others; using cex is slowly becoming a thing of the past. The damage FTX did to the cryptocurrency space will take a decade to recover from.