We can not ignore the fact that knowing how to work with wallets on Internet Computer is essential to use games.
Before that, we want to know if you already went to see our Youtube channel where we launched already 2 videos where we talk about some games, and if you didn’t, we invite you to go now!
Well, now, let’s get down to business. Wallets on Internet Computer.
First, let’s see what a wallet is
Cryptocurrency wallets are wallets that keep your private keys (the passwords to access your cryptos) secure and accessible, allowing you to send and receive your tokens. Unlike a normal wallet, which holds real money, they do not technically store your crypto. Your tokens live on the blockchain, but can only be accessed using the famous private key.
Your keys prove that you own your digital money and allow you to transact. If you lose your private keys, you lose access to your money. That is why it is important to keep these keys safe because there is no way to ask for a password reset by email.
There are two main types of wallets, Hot Wallets (online) and Cold Wallets (hardware). In this article, we are going to focus on the first type, since in Internet Computer there are several options to choose from, from the wallet in which you can participate in the governance of the wallet to a wallet that is itself a canister.
It’s on fire
Let’s start this list by talking about the two most used hot wallets so far which are Plug and Stoic, one developed by the web3 studio Psychedelic and the other one by Toniq Labs (who we will talk about again later)
Plug is a wallet for browsers and mobile (iOS and Android) and also works as an identity/authentication provider for many Internet Computer dApps, compatible with ICP of course, and with cycles and with many native IC tokens.
Let’s start by saying that all Plug code is open source and available on GitHub; not only the extension code but also the Plug Controller and Plug Inpage Provider that power Plug’s functions and all its interactions with Internet Computer. All security, permissions, and privacy claims are verifiable in the code.
And something very interesting about all of this is that Plug does not require any personal information to function, nor does it collect or request any of it from users.
Plug only supports 12-word recovery phrases using the SECP256K1 curve, which was agreed upon by the DFINITY Foundation as a future-proof option; and it allows Plug the ability to export its Plug identity to DFX.
the Toniq Labs wallet is a self-custodial wallet for Internet Computer. It provides basic token storage, as well as mining and distribution.
In it you can:
- Manage tokens, stake ICPs and reload canisters with cycles.
- It also authenticates your identity on Internet Computer dApps.
- Wallet creation can be done with II, SeedPhrase, google, github, twitter or facebook.
- You can mine and distribute tokens from your application.
Stoic supports all these tokens, without the need to load the token canister manually.
NNS and Internet Identity
As you may already know, Internet Identity is the native authentication framework of Internet Computer, the one we use to access the NNS (Network Nervous System) and as such it gives us such security when using it that it is impossible not to have it as the first option when saving our tokens.
A brief overview of the NNS is enough to know what it is all about:
NNS is the open algorithmic system that governs the Internet Computer blockchain. Its innovations go beyond being able to be a wallet, and the most notable include its ability to update the Internet Computer protocol and software running on node machines, incorporate new node providers, add node machines to the blockchain network, and create new blockchain subnetworks to increase capacity.
Anyone can participate in the NNS by staking ICP on one or more neurons. The NNS implements liquid democracy: neurons can follow other neurons a delegated voting power. So in addition to looting our tokens we are part of the decision-making of Internet Computer, not bad eh?
Multichain wallet
On its own, ME, from Astrox, is a multi-chain smart wallet powered by advanced cryptography, using biometric technologies such as fingerprint and facial recognition, it is able to creatively reset wallets on new devices without the need for seedprahses, and supports multiple blockchains and multiple currencies.
As a connection bridge between users and dApps, ME also innovates in the design of the authorization mechanism, proposing three authorization login modes with different levels of privacy: “ordinary/pseudonymous/anonymous”, so users can decide whether third-party dApps can track behavioral data on or through the apps, quite a novelty!
ME also allows:
- Allow users to register and log in with an easy-to-remember username.
- Secure connection to multiple devices, eliminating the need for mnemonics.
- The option to log in with biometric computers and cell phones.
- Connect multiple NNS wallets.
- Change username and wallet instantly without the need for a seedprhase.
Finally let’s learn more about Volt, the new wallet from Toniq Labs.
Volt gives new features and abilities to your main wallet. Volt uses your own wallet canister, which means you own it! There is a small initial cost of 0.25 ICP to refill the canister with initial cycles.
And that’s not all, you can create it directly in Entrepot and access amazing advanced features such as:
- Binding offers
- Auctions
- Secure transfers (approved by the receiver)
- Trading of NFTs from other marketplaces (interoperability)
Volt interacts with a bid canister, which enables bid binding on Entrepot, and an auction canister, which enables auctions on Entrepot (all in native ICP). This gives incredible functionality to our wallet (supercharged wallet).
So Volt is a wallet, including a frontend. You are the owner, so you can use any existing wallet solution to log into your frontend as the owner and make changes to your wallet/app configuration.
This is similar to using an iPhone in the Apple Store, except it is fully decentralized, low fees, not controlled by Apple, etc.
This is a computer “in the cloud” that is your own, that will eventually have a thriving ecosystem of dApps to integrate.
As Bob Bodily said:
Finally let’s talk about NFID, a pluggable authentication infrastructure that streamlines the interconnection of identities with cryptocurrencies in less than a minute. NFID automatically generates a new key for each new account without users taking any additional action.
Adivinaste: poderes cósmicos fenomenales.Por último vamos a hablar de NFID, una infraestructura de autenticación conectable que agiliza la interconexión de las identidades con las criptomonedas en menos de un minuto. NFID genera automáticamente una nueva clave para cada nueva cuenta sin que los usuarios realicen ninguna acción adicional.
In their own words:
A wallet is a unique key. An Internet Identity Layer is a “meta-wallet” that manages application-specific wallets and gives the user privacy-preserving superpowers by supporting zk proofs and transfers between those wallets. Our mission with NFID is for it to become the identity layer of the Internet.
An interesting approach
How does it work?
Every account you create on any service that supports NFID will automatically create a new untraceable hardware wallet. Only you are the only person in the world capable of tracing accounts back to their NFID. We know that a hardware device for every online account used to be impractical. That’s why NFID stores private keys on specially designed cryptographic chips in your phones, tablets, and computers, so that new account creation or authentication is a simple facial or touch scan away. This offers greater security guarantees because your private keys cannot be exported, making them a one-way vault that only you can access. NFID makes each of your Internet accounts exactly this kind of vault. Wow!
Final thoughts
We were wondering how some of these wallets interact and we contacted NFID specialists and were able to dig up some very interesting data.
In the case of NFID, the main advantage of having a different principal for each dApp is privacy, since your activity cannot be tracked through the default applications. And they add: “until yesterday, the disadvantage for developers was that they had no way of knowing a user’s balance of fungible and non-fungible tokens and a few days ago we introduced a way for users to share the identifiers of the accounts on which they have balances.”
And another thing we were interested in was to see how the wallet interacted with each permission that was required in the dApps we use. From NFID they told us that the only actions they ask permission for are:
- transferring tokens (such as ICP) – users will have to approve each transfer request
- sharing accounts (so they can check your balances) – users only need to do this once or again if they want to share more accounts.
- read your data from other applications – this is something wallets can’t do, only NFID, and it’s not a “permission” because it’s a one-time approval.
So that’s a good overview of the most popular options within Internet Computer. Which one will you choose to use? Tell us in the comments and until a new article!
