GitHub Repository- https://github.com/TrustWallet
Introduction
The blockchain technology with Bitcoin was invented back in 2009 with an aim to bring shared & distributed record of transactions, which is immutable, eliminates the requirement of a third party and makes the business happens between two party in a peer to peer way.
Then Etherum chain was evolved in 2013 which brought the concept of smart contract and decentralized applications. The utility of blockchain advanced to a new level where trading of goods and services could be automated through smart contracts and with additional security.
Despite being such a wonderful technology, which has a real & genuine solution to most of the existing problem in the world we deal in day to day life, the adoption rate is discouraging. The existing adopters are tech-savvy people, speculators. What we need to see is a common average person in this blockchain domain.
The main reasons to such a slow adoption rate are unfamiliar technology, complex user experience, too many types of wallets creating confusion among users, lack of awareness in public domain, separate management of assets and complex dapps usability etc.
The problem interface
As dapp ecosystem is an evolving phenomenon in blockchain, it is apparent that many new tokens are being created on a daily basis with decentralized applications. The tokens have utility value and it also brings investors to the ecosystem. So for an investor, it is really difficult to manage each and every token with different wallets. Also, the trading of those tokens and the interaction with the dapp are the other important aspects from a user's point of view. In future, the tokens number will further grow. So it is essential to have robust token management.
Desktop wallets have their limitations, web wallets may offer usability but they are vulnerable to hacking. hardware wallets are not agile. So a better solution is indeed long due. On the top of that, the solution must ensure decentralized user experience, better safety & security. It must have better accessibility to dapps as well.
Trust Wallet
Trust Wallet offers a very intuitive, neat & clean user interface to the users with decentralized access to the wallet and fund. That means the keys are stored locally and the users have the complete control of their private keys. It is written in Swift for iOS and Java for Android.
It allows user to store, send or receive digital assets like ETH, BTC, POA, CLO etc and other tokens ERC20, ERC223, ERC721 etc. It offers a mobile-optimized integrated interface with a fully functional web3 browser which enables users to interact with a dapp directly from their device.
The main objectives of Trust Wallet are:-
To offer a unified wallet interface for the users to manage their tokens, interact with the dapps and instantly trade in DEX from a single platform/wallet.
To enhance the mass adoption by lowering the barrier of entry.
To avoid complexity in managing a huge number of tokens. The number of tokens will go up future, so wallet management at a single platform is essential and it must give a decentralized user experience too. Trust Wallet exactly offers that to its users.
Trust Wallet in StateoftheDAPPS
Trust Wallet is listed in https://www.stateofthedapps.com in "wallet" category. The rank is 690 at the moment. It has a significant growth in terms of downloads and the number of active users over the last 1.5 year.
Key Features
Wallet
It is a light a client side application specifically designed for better user experience in account & token management. The users can store ETH, BTC, POA, CLO etc and other tokens ERC20, ERC223, ERC721 etc. So it offers a unified wallet address(for ETH) for managing tokens. The same address can be used by the users for participation in ICO and Airdrops. The ETH address of an exchange does not work and in that regard Trust Wallet can be very very valuable where not only the same address can be used to send and receive ETH and Etherum based tokens like ERC20, ERC223, ERC721 etc but also the users can experience web3 browser from the same wallet to interact with the dapps and also can access DEX. The wallet is available in both iOS and Android.
Dapps
In the existing state, in order to interact with a dapp, it requires installation of additional software such as plugins/extension(for example Metamask) and this makes the user experience complex and it may not be ideal for mass adoption as it does not lower the barrier to entry.
Trust Wallet offers a mobile-optimized integrated interface with a fully functional web3 browser which enables users to interact with a dapp directly from their device and it does not require any additional installation of software. It is safe and secure too. The dapps go through a vetting process and then optimized for Trust wallet and then become a part of the marketplace. In the marketplace, the developers can list their dapps.
DEX
Trust Wallet features a DEX too. So the users can make instant trades. It has partnered with Kyber Network to facilitate the users with DEX experience in the wallet interface. It also works seamlessly with Binace DEX, which enables users to make instant trades directly from the app interface.
Security
Trust Wallet is security and anonymity centric. While it offers a great solution to token management with versatile use cases to make the users experience easy with a unified interface, it also takes care of security. In Trust Wallet, the keys of the users are stored locally, apps are installed locally.
The users can further customize their access to Trust Wallet in different ways such as fingerprint scanning, PIN, etc. The users can also make use of "watch-function" so that digital assets can be monitored by the users without exposing the private key. It offers better resistance against a phishing attack, as such Metamask can be a simple prey to a phishing attack. But Trust Wallet is stronger against phishing attack, as the attacker has to steal the mobile device and have to invade both phone password as well as Trust wallet app password. So the challenge is really stiff, so Trust Wallet stand at a better position in that context. The back up can be stored digitally as well as on a paper. The codebase is also regularly audited. So overall, Trust Wallet has robust security features.
Tokens
The ETH coin and the Etherum based tokens constitute a significant part of the crypto ecosystem. As there are so many decentralized applications which have already been built upon Etherum chain and so many other dapps will be built in future, the token economy will further expand in future. In essence, ERC20 token economy in itself is a significant economy and in order to buy such token one may need other major coins like BTC, ETH etc. So in order to buy an ERC20 token, the user has to convert his fiat to ETH or BTC(for example) and then can further exchange BTC or ETH to ERC20 tokens.
So in the existing state, the users rely on a centralized exchange where he buys some ETH or BTC first and then buy the ERC 20 tokens of his choice. But as it is a centralized exchange, the user doesn't have the private keys of the wallet. So the best solution is to send the tokens which have been bought to a decentralized wallet where the private key of the wallet is with the user.
Trust wallet can be a viable solution to the above use-case. As Trust wallet offers a unified wallet to cater various types of use-cases and as it is specifically designed for token management(ERC20, ERC223, ERC721 etc), the users can transfer their tokens to Trust wallet and can have a decentralized experience in managing their tokens. Trust Wallet allows users to store keys online. It is absolutely safe and secure. It is a light-weight version of a wallet and hence it gives better user experience than the traditional cryptocurrency wallet. Most importantly all the ETH and ETH based tokens can be managed from a single place. Additionally it has added other blockchain tokens also. So now it is really a multicurrency wallet.
Interoperability
Trust Wallet also aims for inter-operability. It collaborates with POA network to enable cross-chain solution in its infrastructure. Through this inter-operability feature, users can send tokens from one blockchain to others using a specially designed smart contract.
Getting Started with Trust Wallet
Download & Installation
Download Trust Wallet for your iOS or Android Device.
Open the app and then click on "Create Wallet".
Back up your wallet, Copy the words which are displayed & keep the words in a safe place so that you can restore your wallet in another device.
Put the words in the correct sequence.
Your wallet is created now.
Wallet interface and Add coins
The main wallet page looks like this. It is showing ETH, BTC, BNB token. But you can personalize your wallet and add more tokens as per your wish. Click on "+" sign to add tokens.
In the list of the tokens, you can notice a "+" sign on the right of each token. By clicking on the "+" sign, the tokens will be automatically added.
Send/Receive coins
In order to send/receive coins, select any coin on the wallet page. Then you can see all the options such as; send, receive, copy, etc.
By clicking on "Send", you will be asked to input the address and then put the amount you want to send.
Similarly, you can receive the coin from others. By clicking on "Receive" you can see the QR code as well as your address. You can also copy your address by clicking on "copy".
Dapps
You can also interact with various types of dapps directly from Trust Wallet and without any requirement of installing anything. You can see the different types of dapps and also various categories of dapps are displayed on the page. You can choose one of your choices and directly interact with the chosen dapp.
DEX
Trust Wallet also offers DEX facility in its interface. You can directly make an instant token "exchange/trade".
Pros of Trust Wallet
It makes the complicated user interface simple. Token management is also a lot easier with Trust Wallet.
It has a very intuitive design and has a very very appealing user interface.
It is safe and secure.
The unified & optimized integrated interface of Trust Wallet enables users to have better accessibility to dapps which does not require installing any software, better token management, instant trading in DEX etc.
It brings better real-life experiences of cryptocurrencies.
It has the potential to on-board an average technical user. It can make mass adoption possible.
Available for both iOS & Android devices
Cons of Trust Wallet
Two-factor authentication is missing.
It may not be as secure as a hardware wallet.
Review & Rating
Trust wallet is very specific to the user experience and barrier of entry. That is why it has offered a solution to the existing state(where a user has to go through complex token management and also dapp interaction is not that easy). Bringing both of them together in a single interface and by offering DEX facility additionally, it has really improved the user experience and it can certainly lower the barrier of entry.
Considering all the aspects of Trust Wallet, I want to give a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.
Conclusion
By offering secure, safe and easy to use interface, Trust Wallet has been recognized as a most user-friendly crypto wallet which is not only secure but also interoperable and also one can interact with dapps which are protected by encryption. It started its journey as ETH & ETH based wallet but now it has become a multicurrency wallet supporting other blockchain coins too. That means it is constantly evolving as a better version of itself. The decentralized user experience further makes it popular and in tune with the spirit of blockchain technology. The users will definitely feel happy with this wallet as it focuses on privacy, security, usability etc. So with Trust Wallet, I can say cryptocurrency adoption & robust management of token have become a reality now.
References used
- https://github.com/TrustWallet
- http://trustwallet.com/
- https://www.stateofthedapps.com/dapps/trust-wallet
Image Courtesy
- Trust Wallet Resources