Argent, when Fintech meets DeFi
Argent is a wallet. More precisely, it’s an App for Android and iOS allowing to install a smart non-custodial wallet for ERC-20 tokens and applications running on the Ethereum blockchain.
It is designed to be very easy to use, and secure, with noteworthy user experience in the crypto world. In other words, it is a fintech project that aims to integrate not only the classic receiving, storing and sending functions of ETH and other ERC-20 tokens, but also several DeFi dApps, such as Maker and Compound.
Secure, Simple and Seedless
Since DeFi platforms can sometimes be difficult to use, Argent wants to make them easily accessible to anyone, simplifying their use as much as possible. In addition, to maximize the level of security it also allows locking and unlocking the wallet, and setting daily limits to the volume of transactions, as well as not requiring the initial backup of the seed on paper, not requiring the use of long addresses, and not charging any fees for in-app transactions.
In fact, each user must choose their own ENS address of the type [name].argent.xyz, which has no cost and allows to easily receive tokens from other users without having to remember the public address consisting of more than 40 alphanumeric characters. The ENS address, customizable and easy to remember, corresponds to a public address on the Ethereum blockchain, thus it works as an alias of the latter, with the advantage, however, of being much easier to remember and to send to those who have to make a payment.
These addresses are unique, like Internet domains for example, which means that it is possible to choose an address that has not yet been chosen by any other user. The wallet also allows direct access to a decentralized exchange of ERC-20 tokens, allowing users to exchange their tokens with others directly from the wallet. It is also possible to buy tokens by paying in certain fiat currencies, such as US dollar, euro and British pound, using different payment methods such as card, bank transfer, and Apple Pay (but only in the US).
The real peculiarity, however, lies in the integration of DeFi platforms.
Argent, for example, makes it very easy to use Maker’s Dai Savings Rate (DSR) to earn interest, because whoever owns DAI tokens on the wallet has direct and easy access to a feature that allows to lend them in exchange for interest.
The process is very easy and fast, and there are no fees because the gas is paid by Argent. The interest rate instead, as for all loans on the DSR, is variable, depending on the market conditions on the Maker platform, which varies continuously.
Indeed, in order to guarantee that the value of DAI always remains as close as possible to that of $1, Maker increases or decreases interest rates to influence the demand for DAI, stabilizing its value. The interest is calculated at each new block of Ethereum, i.e. approximately every 15 seconds, and is collected by the user when they withdraw the loaned DAI by closing the position. Moreover, since Argent is a non-custodial wallet, and the Maker platform is decentralized, the users have always full exclusive control over their assets and can add or withdraw DAI from lending at any time. Finally, there is no minimum deposit, no limit to withdrawals, and no time constraints.
Argent also allows doing the same thing with another DeFi platform, which is Compound. The process is very similar, except that while with Maker’s DSR it is possible to lend only DAI, with Compound it is also possible to lend USDC, BAT, ETH, WBTC and other ERC-20 tokens. Another difference lies in the interest rate because although it is variable also on Compound, it differs from the DSR. Therefore, not only is it possible to compare the two often different interest rates before deciding on which platform to lock funds, but it is also possible to move them freely and quickly from one platform to another without paying fees, as these are paid by the wallet.
Although this applies only to DAI, Argent is one of the few wallets that allows it, because other wallets, even if they offer a greater selection of DeFi platforms where to put tokens to use, they do not pay the fees for the user, making it more expensive to move tokens from one platform to another. The wallet also has an experimental function, called Wallet Connect, which allows connecting it to the desktop dApp (such as Pool Together) to use it as a mobile wallet within a desktop dApp.
With this feature Argent allows approving only the amounts the user wants to spend in the dApp, avoiding giving the dApp full access to all the funds stored in the wallet, and thanks to the daily transfer limit it is possible to set a limit to how many funds can be transferred to the dApp in 24 hours.
Although the security levels of the wallet have been maintained very high, Argent has chosen not to use the seed, which is the twelve words to be noted and safely stored for possible retrieval. According to its creators, in fact, the seed would be an anachronism, because having to write it on paper would not seem to make sense for what should be the next era of our digital life.
About Guardians
For the recovery, however, Argent does not use a centralized system, but the so-called Argent Guardians.
These are other people or other devices that the user already trusts, to which he can grant a limited authorization to be helped in specific activities, including the possible recovery of the wallet. These activities are stored in a smart contract, so that the user always has full control over them, being able to easily add or remove Guardians at any time. The private key of the wallet is secretly stored on the device, and the funds are deposited in a smart contract.
The Argent app holds an account owned by the user who controls a smart contract account on the Ethereum network. This allows adding logistics to the wallet to improve the user experience and security (like Guardians), it also allows the device, and not the company that produces the App, to have full control over who can interact with the smart contract that holds the user’s funds. This is the way, for example, in which the Guardians are defined in the smart contract so that they are controlled only by the user and not by the company.
Guardians can be third party people, devices or services, such as Argent Guardian Service with two-factor authentication, and it is possible to configure as many as desired. When needed, it’s sufficient to download the App on a device, enter the Argent username (i.e. the ENS), contact the Guardians and ask them to approve the restore.
For security reasons, in these cases, the property is transferred only after 36 hours, during which time it is also possible to ask the Guardians to cancel the recovery process. Argent is a fintech project that has decided to interact with DeFi to experiment with new solutions that simplify as much as possible access to this world.
In the DeFi wallets landscape, it has unique features that clearly differentiate it from other similar wallets.
