Introducing DropBit — Coin Ninja’s New Mobile Bitcoin Wallet
Why another mobile Bitcoin wallet?
DropBit has just been launched in both the iOS and Android stores. We couldn’t be more thrilled with what we expect this can do for the Bitcoin community, and in advancing our mission — To Accelerate the Global Adoption of Bitcoin.
But before we tout the features and experience of DropBit, we would like to address the question, ‘Why another mobile Bitcoin wallet?’, because it is true, there are many options available today.
As Bitcoin enthusiasts, we have experienced the current landscape and found that there’s still one glaring obstacle yet to have been overcome; one which we believe to have successfully conquered in the development and release of our mobile app.
Coin Ninja’s driving principal: Simplifying
“They just want the best user experience”
The virtues of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general are well documented, and we are major advocates of the established benefits of Bitcoin. This is one of the best long reads on the internet, giving an account as to why Bitcoin is so powerful as the future of money.
Now, Coin Ninja looks to pick up the slack at this next critical juncture — make Bitcoin more appealing and easily understood by the masses. This has to manifest itself in better ergonomics and offer a simplified user experience.
We knew it was necessary to set the bar for simplicity very high, so we’ve determined: sending and receiving Bitcoin should be as easy as exchanging money using apps like Square Cash or PayPal. While the Bitcoin community generally refers to matters like custodial ownership, decentralization and hash rate, the reality is, the masses don’t understand, nor do they tend to care about these abstractions. No matter how well these concepts are marketed or explained, they’re not what will draw the masses to cryptocurrency. People will get into Bitcoin when they can easily obtain Bitcoin. Even owning as little as $5 worth of Bitcoin will change a person’s point-of-view — they become familiar with something which was previously shrouded in mystery.
It’s still too complicated for the masses to ‘get into’ Bitcoin. The first crucial step in garnering the public’s interest in Bitcoin will come from ensuring that the public has some Bitcoin, even if just a small amount. With Bitcoin in their possession, people with even a vague curiosity will officially become Bitcoin holders, and part of the community. Their awareness, interest, attention and propensity to promote and use Bitcoin will increase exponentially. This is the guiding ideology on which we have created our mobile wallet.
DropBit is about Expanding Bitcoin Ownership. As previously stated, we wholeheartedly believe that a necessary measure in the adoption of Bitcoin is simplifying the ability for non-Bitcoin owners to get their first drop of Bitcoin.
As Vitalik alludes to, there is still opportunity to improve the process by which people can get their first Bitcoin.
Let’s say you had a friend who was interested in Bitcoin, and you wanted to send them $10 worth of Bitcoin to get started. While this is simple to conceptualize for experienced crypto users, there’s still quite a barrier with the multiple, unfamiliar steps which sit in the way of that friend being ready to receive that $10 in Bitcoin.
It’s likely that most people, particularly in the U.S., would go to Coinbase to get started. And while we think Coinbase is great, and ultimately important to the overall success of the industry, there’s still a multi-step process to set up an account, verify the account, link and verify a bank account and figure out the app experience…all before you can be ready to buy, send or receive Bitcoin. In fact it’s 6 steps. The uncertain apprehension of new users (Am I doing this right? Is this safe and secure?) further complicates the entry process.
While Coinbase does truly offer a streamlined experience to start purchasing and selling Bitcoin, receiving Bitcoin from say a friend or employer should be a faster, simpler and involve less friction. Coinbase is not the best user experience for those who want to simply send and receive say $10 in Bitcoin, especially if it’s their first $10 worth of BTC.
The Solution is the DropBit Mobile Wallet
We aspired to create a send/receive experience that operates as easily as sending a text message — and that’s exactly what we did.
One’s motivation to finish a task is elevated when there is a tangible reward at the completion of the task. In this case, downloading and setting up our wallet, (which is simply writing down recovery words and verifying a phone number) is all that is required to access the Bitcoin sent to their new DropBit wallet.
With DropBit, all you need is the contact list, already in your phone, and you can send someone their first amount of Bitcoin. You don’t need the recipient to have a Bitcoin address, or have their wallet already established. While the app is called DropBit, we call this process of sending to a new user via SMS ‘sending a DropBit’.
How DropBit Works
- A DropBit wallet user specifies the amount in Bitcoin (or $USD equivalent) they want to send.
- Select a recipient from your contacts, or enter a phone number.
- Send the transaction.
- Our app sends a text alert to the recipient saying they have X amount of Bitcoin waiting. They then download the DropBit app, and write down their 12 recovery words, which is very important.
- Next, they must verify their phone number by entering a code received via SMS.
- The sender is then notified, then confirms the transaction by merely opening the app.
That’s it. In about 2 minutes, someone has their first Bitcoin wallet and actual Bitcoin in that wallet. If the receiver doesn’t install a wallet within 24 hours of receiving a DropBit notification, the Bitcoin transaction is not broadcasted, and is fully returned to the sender.
Best of all, there are no additional fees from DropBit, only the transaction/mining fees associated with ALL Bitcoin transactions.
While we have built an incredibly sleek send/receive Bitcoin experience, we’ve taken no shortcuts in ensuring maximum security and privacy in the process. No contacts are ever stored on our servers, and we don’t hold any of the Bitcoin — the end users have full custodial access.
We have developed a high level roadmap for the DropBit App, and we want to make it an interactive and transparent experience. Here is a glimpse of what we have planned for release in the next ~6 months.
6 Month Road Map:
- Transaction memos: Ability for users to append notes to a transaction to help organize and track activity within DropBit.
- Open Source: Make freely available our source code for DropBit.
- International Support: Support for other languages and currencies.
- Bip70 Support: Support the protocol which lets spenders get signed payment details from receivers.
- Bech32 Send Support: Support the native segwit address format.
- Advanced price tracking
SmartWatch App for Price Tracking
Support for multiple fiat currencies with historical price charts - Simplify the Bitcoin Buying Experience
ATM Finder using phone location
Buy Bitcoin directly from DropBit through partner - Seek Partnerships to purchase Bitcoin: We will enable partnerships to directly sell Bitcoin via DropBit. If you are a potential partner, reach out to discuss.
- Lightning network support: Second layer payment protocol that sits on top of the blockchain.
Power User Settings
- Set your own fee/transaction speed: A slider to allow users to toggle tx speed and adjust fees accordingly.
- Set your own bitcoin denomination: Support for MilliBitcoin, MicroBitcoin, and Satoshi (SATs).
- Calculate max send capability: Determine the maximum spend/send capability with current balance + fees with a single tap.
Our goal at Coin Ninja is to move very quickly in the market, and release product enhancements and features at an accelerated rate.
We want to balance stability and quality with speed, and accordingly we welcome beta users and testers who want to have an influential voice in our product roadmap. We encourage you to reach out or continue the dialog at reddit.com/r/coinninja or on Twitter @ninja_coin.
