GM,
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Wallet Awards
Every year, I receive invitations from various companies, schools, or government agencies to share practical applications of blockchain and cryptocurrency. In almost every presentation, I airdrop cryptocurrency to all attendees, hoping everyone can have a firsthand experience. In 2023, I distributed nearly 1,000 transactions of cryptocurrency. The amounts varied, but from past experience, it's usually best not to dwell too much on the total amount spent 🤣.
Most people still don't have a cryptocurrency wallet on their phones, so guiding everyone to install a wallet has become an essential prerequisite for my lectures. New wallet apps emerge periodically, bringing different innovations. I personally try them out in advance, and if I find the experience satisfactory, I use them as teaching materials during lectures. However, wallets that work well for me might encounter issues when used for educational purposes.
Wallets serve as the gateway for people to enter the Web3 world. Well-designed wallets allow even those encountering cryptocurrency for the first time to quickly get started. This article, the 2023 Wallet Awards, selects three wallets that I believe have the most distinctive features in the past year. These are recommended for those interested in entering the cryptocurrency world, and it also serves as a record of the development trajectory of wallets. Looking back in several years, one might wonder how such designs were considered user-friendly and innovative. Now, let's announce the winners of the 2023 Wallet Awards.
The Most User-Friendly: OKX Web3 Wallet
In 2023, I consider OKX Web3 Wallet to be the most user-friendly!
The OKX Web3 Wallet not only has a simple creation process but also deeply integrates various DeFi applications, allowing users to quickly enter the Web3 world. I haven't used OKX Web3 Wallet for teaching yet, but unless there are surprises, it will likely make its debut in my first lecture of 2024.
The design of the OKX Web3 Wallet is somewhat unique. It's not a standalone wallet app but is built into the OKX exchange app. In other words, you can't search for it on the App Store or Google Play. However, when you open the OKX exchange app, you'll see two tabs at the top: one for the exchange and one for the Web3 Wallet.
Even if you don't have an OKX exchange account, you can directly create a Web3 wallet, bypassing centralized services and entering the decentralized world. The creation process is quite simple, with just two steps: click "Create Wallet" and choose "Mnemonic" to complete the process. Even a monkey could do it! After creating the wallet, click "iCloud Backup" to encrypt the mnemonic and back it up to the cloud. Your wallet is now 95% secure, sufficient for the majority of situations. Deal with the remaining concerns when you have too many coins.
However, if you want to experience the ultimate wallet creation process, you can log in to your OKX exchange account in advance. At this point, you can choose to create a "Keyless Wallet" when creating the wallet. Those familiar with technology would know that this involves using Multi-Party Computation (MPC) mechanism. However, lack of technical knowledge doesn't affect usage at all; just click, and the wallet is automatically created without the need for additional key backups.
This is truly a frightening level of simplicity. In reality, what the "Keyless Wallet" does is split the private key and represent these fragments in different ways. During transactions, you need to assemble different private key fragments to complete the transfer. In other words, the "Keyless Wallet" doesn't truly have no private key; rather, it lacks a complete private key. Taking OKX Web3 Wallet as an example, it turns the user's OKX exchange account into one of the private key fragments. This is why users must log in to their OKX account before creating a keyless wallet.
However, the "Keyless Wallet" is not entirely without risks. In extreme situations, if something catastrophic happens to the OKX exchange, similar to the FTX incident, and users cannot log into their OKX exchange accounts, the "Keyless Wallet" may face difficulties sending transactions due to the inability to assemble the required private key fragments. Similarly, some MPC wallets online allow users to log in with Google or Facebook accounts. While convenient, in the event of an account being blocked or deleted by Google or Facebook, accessing the assets might become problematic.
In addition to its straightforward creation process, I also appreciate the deep integration of DeFi applications in the OKX Web3 Wallet. It not only recommends suitable DeFi applications based on the assets in the wallet but also allows users to switch and display DeFi yields on different blockchains. This feature enables users to identify where to invest their funds for the highest return and the risk index.
Creating wallets and managing DeFi investments are fundamental requirements in Web3, essential features that no wallet can avoid. Being able to make a simple dish taste delicious is a demonstration of competence. Therefore, I consider the OKX Web3 Wallet to be the most user-friendly wallet in 2023!
Next up is the most innovative wallet.
Most Innovative: Safe Multisig Wallet
In 2023, I consider the most innovative wallet to be the Safe Multisig Wallet!
The Safe Multisig Wallet has surpassed my understanding of cryptocurrency wallets in 2023; it is essentially an intelligent account for people in the digital world. An article published last month, "Gnosis Pay: The Visa Financial Card that Directly Deducts from the Wallet1" has even become the number one on the Blocktrend popularity rankings.
The most remarkable aspect of Gnosis Pay is that it allows a Visa financial card to directly deduct funds from an individual's cryptocurrency wallet, bypassing banks or centralized exchanges. This is an unprecedented innovation in payment methods.
Autonomy and custodianship represent two completely different logics. Wallets emphasize individual management, and each transaction must be signed with a private key to be valid. However, this differs from people's consumption experiences. People are accustomed to placing money in centralized bank accounts, entrusting it to others, and avoiding a hands-on approach for every transaction, leaving it to the bank for deductions.
The logic of wallets makes it challenging to enable Visa to directly deduct funds from a personal wallet automatically; usually, prior authorization is required. If you only want to buy a cup of coffee, having to open an app manually to approve a Starbucks deduction or paying additional on-chain transaction fees when swiping a card might discourage card usage.
Balancing asset autonomy and consumption experience is the most significant challenge. Gnosis Pay achieves this using the Safe Multisig Wallet. The Safe Wallet is essentially a piece of code for a smart contract and inherently lacks a private key. Each successful application for a Gnosis Card is akin to creating a new wallet through a smart contract. The Safe Wallet hides the complex authorization process, enabling a familiar payment experience—swipe the card first, request payment later—rather than needing authorization before swiping.
Before the advent of Gnosis Card, the Safe Multisig Wallet was an advanced tool understood by only a few players in the crypto space, serving to prevent the loss of private keys or assets. Still, Gnosis Pay's innovative application of the Visa financial card to the Safe Wallet turns it into a user-friendly tool even for crypto novices. Therefore, I consider the Safe Multisig Wallet to be the most innovative wallet of 2023!
Next, it is the most generous wallet.
Most Generous: Coinbase Wallet
In 2023, I consider the most generous wallet to be the Coinbase Wallet!
The Coinbase Wallet is the instructional wallet I prefer. Its basic functions are sound, but the wallet creation process is a bit cumbersome, requiring users to agree to terms of use that are often not thoroughly read. After experiencing the OKX Web3 Wallet, one might find that the Coinbase Wallet creation process could be more streamlined.
However, recently, Coinbase Wallet introduced a new feature that compelled me to continue using it—fee-free transfers of USDC on specific blockchains. The currently supported blockchains include Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, and Avalanche, a total of 5 blockchains. As long as you use the Coinbase Wallet to transfer USDC stablecoins on these blockchains, Coinbase Wallet will automatically cover the on-chain transaction fees for you2.
While this is probably just a short-term subsidy, it has been tremendously helpful for my speeches and the promotion of cryptocurrencies. I dare not review how much money I have given away over the past few years, starting when ETH was only $80 per token. With the increase in coin prices, I might become someone even sillier than the protagonist of Bitcoin Pizza Day3.
I've also considered switching to distributing stablecoins in USD to control costs. However, I anticipate that participants, upon receiving cryptocurrencies, will distribute them to their friends and family. In reality, very few people do this. More often, people come to return the money after class, stating that they won't need it in the future. But whether it's to introduce friends and family to crypto or to repay me, gas fees are required. Therefore, I still choose to distribute ETH.
The new feature in the Coinbase Wallet has given me a reason to switch to distributing USDC. Participants can now diffuse the USDC they receive during the lecture, even if there's no ETH in their wallets, thanks to the subsidy. Additionally, the transaction fees on Arbitrum and Optimism are approximately 10 NTD per transaction, which is considerably cheaper than Ethereum. However, if I airdrop 10 NTD, the transaction fee is also 10 NTD, making it less cost-effective.
With the Coinbase Wallet subsidy, people can fully experience the convenience of cryptocurrency transfers, saving even the spare change from miner fees. Therefore, I consider the Coinbase Wallet to be the most generous wallet of 2023!
These are my recommendations for three wallets. If you enjoy this style of article or want to see recommendations for other aspects of 2023, feel free to leave a comment or reply. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! ❄️
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