Transcript source Cipher YouTube video sharing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOCb1_-j4Xg

With the popularity of cryptocurrency, blockchain wallets have gradually become an important carrier of digital currency. As the storage and management center of digital assets, wallets still have many problems in user experience and security.

This article is excerpted from CipherWang’s YouTube video, which introduces the challenges currently faced by wallets and possible solutions, as well as the JoyID product prototype.

The development of blockchain wallets

Will wallet innovation be the next boost for blockchain?

From Bitcoin to Ethereum, to DeFi and NFT, every blockchain technology revolution is accompanied by different innovations. In this process, the development and innovation of wallets have also become an important driving force for the development of blockchain technology. So, what will be the next driving force for the development of blockchain technology? Could it be wallets?

Currently, we can see some trends:

1. A large number of Web 2.0 investors, entrepreneurs, and developers are shifting to Web 3.0.

2. Investors > Project Owners > Users.

3. DeFi is decreasing, while games, social media, NFTs, and music apps are on the rise.

From these trends, we can see that wallets are the main factor hindering users from adopting blockchain technology. Currently, the challenges faced by wallet products include:

1. The learning curve for mnemonics is too steep.

2. If you lose your private key, there is no way to recover it.

3. Users must pay transaction fees.

For tech geeks: safe but not convenient

For 99% of people: it is neither safe nor convenient. It looks safe, but in fact it is impossible for most people to keep it, so there is no question of safety. From a product perspective, there are still problems with the product.

So, what are the solutions?

Solution 1: Contract Wallet

Smart contract wallets manage the wallet's on-chain accounts through smart contracts, rather than simply pairing public and private keys. It solves the problem of private keys being lost and unable to be recovered, and the need for users to pay for handling fees. However, it still requires users to manage a private key themselves, and does not solve the problem of a high learning curve for mnemonics. At the same time, it also brings problems with cost and multi-chain synchronization.

Solution 2: MPC

One of the most popular solutions recently is multi-party computing (MPC), which divides the key into three parts, one for the user and two for the server. When needed, the user signs, and the server signs to send the transaction. It solves the problem of private key recovery and unconditional support for multiple chains, but the high learning curve of mnemonics is still not solved. In fact, users still have to manage their own private keys, and it also raises a new question: Is MPC really non-custodial?

Other solutions

In addition to contract wallets and MPC, there are other solutions, such as custodial wallets and hybrid wallets. Custodial wallets mean that the user's private key is managed by a third-party organization, but the security of this solution is questionable. Another solution is to combine MPC with contracts and other technologies to form a hybrid wallet, which can take into account both security and convenience.

In addition to the above solutions, there is an emerging solution, which is JoyID. JoyID is a new wallet solution based on the Nervos network. JoyID uses a new account system called CoTA, which supports authentication using biometrics, thereby improving user security and convenience. JoyID also supports social recovery, which means that users can recover their accounts through friends they trust. JoyID can be used on different devices and platforms and supports a variety of different encryption algorithms.

What problems does CKB solve at the account level?

CKB (Nervos Network) solves some problems at the account level by introducing abstract accounts and smart contracts.

First, the learning curve of mnemonics is too high, and users need to remember a long list of mnemonics to manage their private keys. To solve this problem, CKB provides custom cryptography support and SE (Secure Chip) for biometric management of private keys, which makes it easier for users to manage their private keys.

Secondly, the private key cannot be recovered after it is lost. To solve this problem, CKB implements account recovery by introducing smart contracts. Users can store their account information on the blockchain through contracts so that they can be recovered in the event of a private key loss.

Finally, CKB is the first blockchain with full AA functionality, which means that CKB can carry out complex smart contracts and decentralized application development, which was not possible in previous blockchains. Therefore, CKB's account layer provides users with greater security, convenience, and powerful functions.

JoyID product and technology analysis

JoyID is an identity authentication and wallet management solution based on Nervos CKB. It consists of two main components: on-chain contracts and front-end products. JoyID's business processes include adding and deleting devices/public keys, authentication, and social recovery.

JoyID uses two concepts to add or delete devices/public keys: mainkey and subkey. The mainkey is the public key generated by the user for the first time, while the subkey is the public key of the device added subsequently. Whether it is the mainkey or the subkey, you can add other subkeys or delete them. However, before operating the subkey, the user must register the JoyID Cell, which can save the subkey as a key-value pair in the SMT. At the same time, the concept of xxkey does not appear at the product level, but concepts such as "authorized device" and "deleted device" are used.

In terms of authentication, JoyID supports the use of mainkey or subkey for identity authentication. For mainkey, users can provide a digital signature of the corresponding algorithm to verify their identity. JoyID plans to support R1 (mobile phone, Yubikey), K1 (metamask), RSA (physical passport, resident card), etc. For subkey, in addition to the signature of the corresponding algorithm, it is also necessary to provide proof of the existence of the subkey and the SMT existence of the user's JoyID cell.

JoyID also supports social recovery. Users can pre-set the JoyID addresses of their trusted friends in the JoyID Cell and set the m/n threshold. When the account needs to be restored, the user can use a new device to generate a subkey, ask the friend to sign the subkey, and update the user's JoyID Cell on the chain. Currently, JoyID allows up to 4 friends to jointly sign for recovery based on the cycle consumption limit of R1, but the total number of friends is not limited. In addition, "friends" can also be trusted central parties, such as central parties that verify the user's mobile phone number and email address, and provide recovery signatures after verifying the user's social account information.

In the Nervos ecosystem, JoyID is designed as a cross-chain, decentralized identity authentication and management tool that allows users to securely store and use cryptocurrencies and other decentralized applications.

Although JoyID is very powerful, its popularity is limited due to the relatively small number of Nervos Layer 1 applications. Therefore, the developers of JoyID decided to integrate with Nervos' Layer 2 network to increase the scope of JoyID's application.

JoyID can seamlessly integrate Nervos' Layer2 network, including Axon and Godwoken, because it is built on Nervos' Layer1. JoyID is compatible with Nervos' Layer2 network and can support different second-layer accounts and virtual machines, making it easier for users to use JoyID identity authentication and management tools.

Overall, the integration of JoyID can make decentralized applications on the Nervos network easier to use and manage, while ensuring the security of users' cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

The Future of JoyID

As a secure and convenient decentralized identity authentication and key management solution, JoyID has great application prospects in the future. One of the important directions is the Web3 unified account. In addition to using JoyID in the L2 chain of the CKB ecosystem, other blockchains can also support the use of JoyID by embedding CKB-VM and CKB nodes, such as BSC, Polygon, etc. JoyID's support for L2 is independent of the virtual machine and can support different virtual machines. In addition, JoyID can also be used as a multi-chain asset account.

In Web2, Google, Facebook, and Apple logins have become standard for many websites, and JoyID login has unique advantages. JoyID login does not require permission, is decentralized, and is more secure and reliable.

JoyID can also open the front end. Anyone can implement the JoyID front end to manage the key according to the protocol. Different JoyID front ends can authorize each other through the open protocol. Different front ends can be isolated through sub-accounts, which is convenient and safe.

In the future, JoyID can also be combined with Passkey to optimize for Apple, Google, and Windows platforms to improve authorization security and prevent middleman attacks. At the same time, it can be combined with .bit to provide a unique identifier, CKB asset wallet based on JoyID, CoTA to provide NFT/SBT social graph services, and Mail3 to provide Web3 communication services, etc., to improve the security, experience, and functionality of JoyID.

In general, the emergence of JoyID provides users with a safe, convenient and easy-to-use blockchain wallet solution. By adopting advanced technologies such as SE security chip, WebAuthn interface and social recovery, JoyID can solve many pain points of current wallets. In addition to its application within the CKB ecosystem, JoyID is also scalable and can be applied on other blockchains. We believe that JoyID will become a new direction for the development of blockchain wallets and contribute to the prosperity and development of the digital economy.