A Brief History of the Crypto Wallet

As a preface, I would like to introduce Avon, a dedicated butler for anything blockchain built on top of the Block Collider, useable from any device/platform. Avon will be available on Alexa, Cortona, Google Assistant, Facebook, Slack, WeChat, Telegram, and more to come. Checking your portfolio, sending money, actively trading your holdings, joining ICOs, and interacting with smart contracts across blockchains is now simply a conversation.

The motivation for Avon, came from the struggles of dealing with existing wallet software. It has been estimated that around 25% of existing bitcoins have been lost (https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/rise-of-the-zombie-bitcoins) due to loss of private keys and incorrect transfers and billions of dollars worth of bitcoin have been hacked.

But more so, managing wallets are not entirely intuitive. At the recent M-0 Conference in Zug, Switzerland, we heard stories of even notable investors losing their wallets and being victim to hacks/scams. Now just imagine your average non-technical user trying to manage their wallets; it’s not going to work with the current interface.

But how did we get here?

Satoshi Client / Bitcoin Core GUI
When Bitcoin was first launched in 2009, the original Satoshi built the Satoshi Client which eventually evolved into Bitcoin Core. The software allowed you to generate wallets and send money to other addresses. However it was very easy to type in incorrect addresses and lose private keys.

Forks of Bitcoin (Core)
As developers around the world caught wind of Bitcoin, they decided to fork it to meet their own requirements. This resulted in coins like Namecoin, and Dogecoin that made very similar wallets to Bitcoin Core.

Shady Exchanges (Mt Gox)
As Bitcoin gained popularity, exchanges like Mt. Gox started popping up, as a way for individuals around the world to buy/sell/store bitcoin. However, we all know what happened next, Mt. Gox was hacked and over 850,000 bitcoins were stolen. “Trade with confidence.”

“Legitimate” Exchanges
Along came the likes of Coinbase and Gemini, exchanges that up until now have been established as the gold standard to buy/sell bitcoin and link up those transactions to your bank account. They have drastically improved the user experience for entering the blockchain world, but nothing beyond more than simply trading/hoarding a handful of cryptocurrencies.

All-in-one Wallets
As more “notable” cryptocurrencies began emerging and less technical users wanted to gain expose to riskier assets, wallets like Exodus have made it easier to control your assets and trade them using integrations like ShapeShift. While this has made it easier for users to trade assets, it does allow users to do anything meaningful (native blockchain transactions) with some of the supporting crypto currencies. In addition, they typically increase the bid/ask spread of orders made in order to earn revenue off of your trades.

Mist
A real jump in crypto wallet technology came along with Ethereum and it’s crypto wallet/browser. This wallet allowed you to store/send all ERC20 compliant tokens as well as do basic smart contract executions. Nevertheless, if managed incorrectly, it is very easy to lose one’s private key and lose access to your funds.

Neon
A notable mention to bring in the midst is Neon, Neo’s crypto wallet developer by the CoZ community. They have added a variety of options to secure your private key’s in a more intuitive interface, as well as allow you to even participate in token sales (that are sponsored by Neo) easily. However functionality is limited beyond that as of now.

Waves Wallet (included DEX)
Most recently Waves has released a wallet that includes it’s own decentralized exchange in its wallet. While the user interface has yet to be improved on, this is an upgrade to the all-in-one wallets without the need to use a “fully” centralized service to execute trades.

All the wallets mentioned above were in the form of Web or Mobile Applications with either full control of your wallets or none. Some have added interesting features like decentralized exchanges or basic smart contract transactions.

Avon
As mentioned above, Avon will contain all the features of the above wallets and more. First off, Avon is safe. Advanced authorization and encryption protocols like OAUTH 2.2, SSL, and Semi-lock technology ensure that no one besides you can access your wallet. In addition, it will be available on every single notable device/platform for a seamless/connected experience.

Avon will allow you to execute trades in a truly decentralized manner (that will be executed using the Block Collider) allowing you to avoid unnecessary fees, as well as participate in ICOs without all the complex set up. You will be able to execute complex smart contracts transactions such as voting for an entity/decision if some event takes place. Automatic trading will no longer be an arduous process of setting up your own trading interface, Avon will be able to execute trades on your behalf using strategies developed by the Block Collider team, or your own. All through Conversation. As the blockchain space develops, so will Avon.

If you have any recommendations of features you would like to see on Avon, please do not hesitate to contact us.