During the INLEO AMA where he announced the imminent listing of wLeo on the Maya Protocol, Khal also mentioned that he had a look for the first time at the Asgardex wallet for Thorchain and Maya. Like him, my interface of choice was ThorSwap for Thorchain before that, so I thought I should take a look too.
Thorswap is the most popular interface for Thorchain (but not for Maya). It is a browser interface, unlike Asgardex, which is a self-custody desktop app that needs to run from your computer.
Just like mobile apps must be present in both major mobile app stores to cover a wider portion of the mobile market, desktop applications must have distributions for the most important operating systems to maximize their impact without losing potential users or customers.
That's why, when I see the installation options of a desktop app, if all major operating systems are supported, that's a good sign.
Asgardex app has installers for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
For example, for Linux, they package the application both in the Debian format and as a AppImage, which is the default. I preferred the latter because all I needed to do was to download the file, set its permission to be an executable, and run it. It doesn't install anything, doesn't have any dependencies, doesn't interfere with other apps, etc. It's all self-contained.
The app itself is rather simple at first look.
You can import a wallet at first using a keystore file and password. I don't think you can import one later on, unless you choose to forget all the wallets used, maybe. But you can create any number of new accounts.
I chose to import my existing Thorchain wallet at first and created a new one afterward just for testing.
Where I lost a little time was figuring out how to get some CACAO on Maya using Ascardex. The process is simple once you get things right.
Step 1. Have Some RUNE on Thorchain
I already had RUNE on Thorchain. I'm not sure what's the least expensive and simple method to get it there.
When I moved them to Thorchain (a long time ago), I used probably BNB on BSC, moved it to TrustWallet, swapped it to RUNE, and then used it on ThorSwap as needed.
Step 2. Make Sure You Are on the Maya Protocol in Ascardex
On the wallet page, make sure you are on the Maya Protocol.
It should say "MAYA", not "THOR" in the top-left corner. Like this:
You will still see your holdings from a wallet created on Thorchain. Including your liquid RUNE.
Step 3. Swap RUNE to CACAO
CACAO is the governance coin of the Maya Protocol like RUNE is for Thorchain. You need to swap some RUNE to CACAO. It helps pay fees too. To do that, you choose Swap from the Actions button at the right end of the RUNE line.
Note that I only had a little bit of BNB liquid other than RUNE and couldn't tell if they couldn't be swapped for CACAO because BSC isn't yet integrated with Maya or for a different reason. All I know is what I read in Khal's posts, that a Maya aggregator for Thorchain assets will follow soon.
That should be it. Normally you'd be able to use the Maya Protocol now. I haven't transferred enough funds to be worth doing anything else, so I'm waiting for the wLeo listing. Although, with wLeo on Ethereum and with the fees there, I don't know...