Development update March 10th 2023
While the overall sentiment is depressing in the month of March, we continue working on getting Linx ready for a public release, tweaking and improving some flows for an even better user experience.
Development wise, most work right now consists of refactoring, testing and small changes because of redesigns as well as waiting for some legal stuff to get our Apple App Store approval. This leaves us with a bit of time to start thinking of ways to get to the next level.
The creative process is where we shine. With Linx we are giving an example of how a chainless experience on a multi-chain blockchain could look like and we expect other wallets will implement similar functionality soon. With swap we have built a DEX aggregator on the Kadena network and we are working on open sourcing an indexing solution that we can build out together with the dev community.
So what’s next on the roadmap? Logical next step for Linx is a desktop solution and a web extension. But we also have been brainstorming on some other things, and 2 very interesting subjects got our attention, ZK-rollups and Smart Contract Wallets. Let’s go through all:
Linx Desktop App
For Linx we already knew that a desktop wallet would be next in line as a logical next step. More screen real estate means more functionality and a better overall experience. Being able to swap tokens while looking at real-time charts on the same screen or trading NFTs becomes a much more enjoyable and immersive experience.
Besides that, we have understood that Chainweaver might become unsupported. This is something where we can step up and maintain a great DEV experience where you can look at and interact with existing contracts, easily upload or upgrade your own modules and have more freedom to ‘play’ with Kadena Blockchain. We would be ready to take Chainweaver to the next level inside Linx.
Linx Web Extension
Web Extension is a much requested addition for Linx, but we are not big fans of it to be honest. There is not much of a case safety-wise against them, but maybe it is more a feeling that it is less safe. Or it might just be that it’s easier to approve the wrong transaction while blazing through Dapps on a desktop.
Besides a ‘feeling’ about safety, in our opinion a web extension wallet does not add towards a better user experience, it is actually the opposite. Users want a web extension as it easy to interact with Dapps, but we believe it is a better experience to have access to that Dapp inside your wallet. When you approach it from that angle, it makes no sense in trying to put that experience in a web extension.
A web extension is still up for debate. Do you have a pressing reason why we should or should not build one, let us know.
ZK-Rollups
We have been following the recent ZK developments very closely, and we are really excited for what it can bring in the future. As we constantly look for a better user experience on Kadena, ZK-rollups can play a major role in this. Let’s just say that we are fairly confident that together with the next topic we’re going to talk about, it creates a compelling package to attract the next billion of users to Web3. We are not quite ready to talk about our ideas, but you can count on it that we have some…🤐
Smart Contract Wallet
A smart contract wallet is the next best thing when it comes to Web3. And we have given it some thought about what we could do with it, not as Linx but as ThinEdgeLabs.
What is a Smart Contract Wallet?
It is nothing more than a smart contract on the blockchain that holds access to your funds and that you can control. A wallet that ‘lives’ on the blockchain.
The fun part about it is that you can control access in multiple ways. This would mean that no longer access would be bound to a secret passphrase or a private key alone, and if you lose them you’d completely lose access to your funds. Here are some awesome functionalities we could add in a smart contract wallet:
- allow access to the smart contract from any wallet you want and use your account(s) on any wallet
- setup transaction limits that require multi sig or other added security options
- in case you lost your passphrase, restore access to the smart contract through 2FA, or through friends that you appointed that can help in recovery by sending them a recovery request or many more options
- connect your smart contract wallet to a bank and have KYC data available if you would want that so you would not have to KYC with IDO’s and other Dapps
There is so much more a smart contract wallet could do, it is mind blowing really. If you are interested in the subject, here are some nice informational links:
- https://decommas.io/blog/smart-contract-wallets-explained
- https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/what-is-a-smart-contract-wallet
Being able to code a smart contract wallet for Kadena, in Pact, a readable code, makes it a much safer solution.
We are ready to start building this later this year, but this is not something that we should keep private. So we decided that we will build an open source smart contract wallet that will be compatible with every wallet in the Kadena ecosystem.
I hope we were able to bring you some excitement with this news in these ‘dark’ winter times. There is so much to look forward to on the Kadena network, we are just getting started…😏
