What is a crypto wallet?

22 Oct 2021

When it comes to crypto projects or any other projects related to the development of new digital assets or tokens, most of the projects owners and enthusiasts are thinking about creating a crypto wallet.

Crypto wallet is an ultimate tool for many users, who want to interact with the blockchain by receiving and sending payments, making transactions, or just keeping the digital assets in a safe place.
There are plenty of crypto wallets in the crypto world. However, they can serve different purposes sometimes.

What is a crypto wallet?

A crypto wallet is a piece of software that is meant to facilitate financial transactions. Much like traditional wallets that come in different designs, crypto wallets can also be built on different wireframes. But unlike a traditional wallet that stores Central Bank-issued fiat money, crypto wallets interact with different blockchains.

Crypto wallet — is a software application that is built for serving the purposes of making transactions, receiving and sending payments, and storing digital assets (cryptocurrencies in case of a crypto wallet). The interaction with the Blockchain happens as each transaction is recorded on this public and transparent ledger.

Types of crypto wallets

There are plenty of crypto wallet types. But the most difference between these types is the security input and output. Since some wallets are working only online, whereas others are completely offline and not connected to the Internet.

Different types of crypto wallets serve different purposes. When one can be useful for fast transactions and daily usage, others are meant to securely store digital assets.

To understand the clear difference, we should understand how any crypto wallet works:

Each crypto wallet consists of it a private key, a public key, and a wallet address. All these properties together resemble a sequence of randomized numeric and alphanumeric characters.

Private key by its meaning should never be disclosed by anyone to anyone. It should be completely secure and protected from its reveal. A private key of a crypto wallet gives full access to its wallet funds. A private key usually contains approx. 50 alphanumeric characters aligned in a line.

Public key serves the functionality of a private key meanwhile “keeping” the private key hidden. A public key appears as a long and complex string of alphanumeric characters, so it’s harder to crack or forge.

Wallet address serves a function of a direction where other users can send and receive funds using this address. Wallet address by its nature a compressed and hashed type of a Public key. It is a unique sequence, so a wallet address can be completely dedicated to a particular user.

Sometimes, we can use a crypto wallet address that is encoded to a QR-code type.

Hot wallets

Hot wallets are functioning online and they are meant for fast transactions and managing digital assets with ease. Mostly, it is a digital application where we can send and receive cryptocurrencies.

The main point about a Hot Wallet is that it stores a private key online.

Hot wallets are broadly used due to their simplicity and convenience. However, they are not suitable for long term storing of crypto. Examples:

Web wallet
Desktop wallet
Mobile app wallet (IOS, Android)

Cold wallets

Cold wallets are different from Hot ones in that they store a private key offline. Cold wallets are being considered to almost eliminate the chance of disclosing a private key because it is not online. Cold wallets may appear as digital applications as well as hardware tools. Hence, cold wallets are not suitable for fast and quick sending and receiving funds.

Paper and brain wallets

These are the types of crypto wallets that literally represent their meaning. They don’t have any digital framework or application. A paper wallet is the cold wallet type when all the properties are written down on paper. It mostly looks like a QR-code that represents the address of a wallet and a private key, or a recovery phrase instead. Brain wallet means that all private keys and wallet addresses are mesmerized by the owner of a particular crypto wallet.

Hardware wallets

This type of wallet represents hardware that stores private key information in a safe place. When people say cold storage, they mostly mean a hardware crypto wallet. Hardware wallets appear in a form of a ledger that resembles a flash memory card. When using a hardware wallet, a user initiates an export of existing wallets or creates a new one. Then the user’s digital assets can be stored on a hardware wallet in cold storage. Examples:

Ledger Nano X
Ledger Nano S
Trezor T

The most important features of a crypto wallet

In the case of different crypto wallet types, the features of those may differ from one to one. For the hot wallets, the leading features are:

Simple and responsive interface for conducting transactions.

The transaction interface is the key to a successful and convenient crypto wallet that is going to be downloaded thousands of times. In this case, the main focus is to make the transactions faster and easier.

Besides the transactions, sometimes it is important to facilitate trading, swap, lending, or even derive payment services.
Balance tracking and transaction history.
Export existing wallet and wallet creation.
Managing the wallet address and private key information.
Security features.

Unequivocally, the security features should be a must when developing a crypto wallet. Besides basic features like

Password protection, PIN protection, Biometrical protection (FaceID, TouchID, etc.), 2FA Authentification.

A crypto wallet can be protected with a wallet backup, wallet encryption, recovery phrase, or Google Authenticator.

DUCATUS Wallet developed by Rock’n’Block

One of our most known projects is the Ducatus Wallet. Ducatus wallet was built for the Ducatus ecosystem as a tool that can help them reach their main aim of the decentralized economy.

The Ducatus crypto wallet is developed as the hot crypto wallet type (Web wallet and the Ducatus crypto wallet apps for devices on IOS and Android) and consists of many flexible features that are responsible for the user-oriented usability, transparency, and safety of the transactions that are going through.

With the idea of a cashless economy, Ducatus launched Ducatus Coin (DUC) and DucatusX (DUCX) in 2017 and 2020. Ducatus wallet is inherently one of the important steps into bringing the DUC and DUCX into its widespread usage.

DUC and DUCX

Both DUC and DUCX are designed to deliver the idea of transparent payments that are aligned with the convenience of online payments as we know them — achievable and comprehensive for anyone.

DUC and DUCX each exist on their own separate blockchains. The original Ducatus blockchain and the DucatusX blockchain, which was also developed with the help of Rock’N’Block. These blockchains have the fork properties combination of the Litecoin and Ethereum blockchains.

The Ducatus blockchain was designed to offer low transaction fees, fast throughput of transactions, and the ability to stake the Ducatus Coin. On the other hand, DucatusX supports smart contracts within its blockchain. It uses a Proof of Authority consensus algorithm which significantly reduces its maintenance cost. In the future, it is envisioned to switch to Proof of Stake, giving users even more confidence in choosing the DucatusX blockchain for their projects.

With the broader emergence of both Ducatus cryptocurrencies, the next step was to develop their own crypto wallet.

The Ducatus wallet.

The prominent features of the Ducatus wallet

One of the fundamental features that we added to highlight the functionality of the Ducatus Wallet was a simple interface.

In addition, we were also engaged in developing multiple non-trivial functions: essential features as key settings (private key management), crypto wallet settings (wallet addresses management, wallet exporting, wallet service URL, executed transaction history, and recovery phrase setting up).

Transactions functionality

In the development of Ducatus wallet transaction features, we were required to establish the following:

Secure storage of the digital assets within Ducatus Wallet,

The ability to send and receive the following digital assets:

Bitcoin (BTC),
Bitcoin Cash (BCH),
Ethereum (ETH),
Ethereum Classic (ETC),
Litecoin (LTC),
XRP (Ripple),
Stellar Lumens (XLM)
ERC20 tokens, ERC721 & ERC1155 collectibles,

And of course the Ducatus coins:

Ducatus (DUC),
DucatusX (DUCX),
Wrapped DucatusX (WDUCX)

Support of the transactions in the following cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin (BTC),
Bitcoin Cash (BCH),
Ripple (XRP),
Ethereum (ETH),

Including the transactions in the following tokens:

JAMASY (JAMASY),
NUYASA (NUYASA),
SUNOBA (SUNOBA),
DSCMED (DSCMED),
POG1 (POG1),
WupDE (WDE),
MarsaDXB (MDXB)
USD Coin (USDC),
Paxos stablecoin (PAX),
Gemini dollar (GUSD).

Now, we are at the moment of developing the embention of a higher amount of supported coins and digital assets to expand the Ducatus Wallet functionality.

Deposit functionality

The other indispensable feature that is related to the crypto wallet functionality was the ability to deposit fiat currency into the Ducatus crypto wallet.

Many other wallets have been abbreviating this feature due to the different inherency of their wallet. For many other competitive wallets next to the Ducatus wallet, it is possible to create deposits only by topping up cryptocurrencies.

We were required to develop the secure interface of the fiat deposit to the Ducatus crypto wallet, that would allow a user to buy digital assets by using FIAT currencies through credit and debit cards (via Moonpay service), and also including bank transfers that were implemented via SEPA Bank transfer.

Simple wallet & Shared wallet

Simple wallet features stand for the main functionality for an exclusive wallet owner. Those features were described above all available for every user of a simple wallet.

On the other hand, the team of Ducatus Global was also aiming to create a shared wallet to allow mutual funds management for users. Mutual funds management in Ducatus wallet implemented as a shared wallet with a minimum number of signatures and devices (i.e. participants).

We expanded the maximum number of the possible mutual signatures up to 6. So in other words, 6 users can manage the mutual funds simultaneously. Every user can join a shared wallet via a developed interface for the wallet invitations.

It is important to understand that each co-payer has its own recovery phrase, that can not be changed or forged by other users.

SWAP

The swap function represents the quick exchange of digital assets within the Ducatus Wallet interface. Swap is processing the conversation within the Ducatus blockchain. Any user can convert the following coin pairs:

SWAP-pairs in Ducatus coin (DUC):

DUCX → DUC
ETH → DUC
BTC → DUC

SWAP-pairs in Ducatus X (DUCX):

DUC → DUCX

SWAP-pairs in Wrapped DucatusX (WDUCX):

DUCX → WDUCX

Deposit dividends

Users of Ducatus wallet can earn a reward that is represented by the fixed interest calculated based on their deposit. That is a very promising feature for all the users and also, a feature that can provide a lot of liquidity to the Ducatus coin.

Dividends are being spread between 5, 13, and 34 months deposit time frame. The annual interest rates are fixed between 8%, 13%, and 21%.

Therefore, every user can choose the optional dividend deposit with the following reward scheme:

5 months as expected reward in 8% annually
13 months as expected reward in 13% annually
34 months as expected reward in 21% annually

The problems that were solved by Rock’n’Block

The Ducatus blockchain development.

Including the development and implementation of the customized Bitcoin hard fork for the Ducatus blockchain with the existing Ducatus coin. And in addition, implementation of the Ethereum hard fork for the DucatusX.
Mobile wallet application development.

Including building and developing the prototype, wireframe, and design of the Ducatus wallet web client, IOS, and Android apps. Establishing the connections to the blockchain networks including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, DUC Mainnet Testnet, and DUCX Mainnet Testnet.
Crowdfunding platform development.
Establishing the connection with the online stores that support crypto payments.
Implementation of the security and safety essential features.

Essential security solutions for a mobile wallet interface like 4-digits PIN protection against unauthorized access, Biometrics (as TouchID, FaceID) for the devices supporting the technology of biometrical data protection. On the side of the crypto wallet security: Keys Management, Crypto Wallet Encryption, Crypto Wallet Backup by setting a Recovery Phrase, and the ability to Export Key.
Testing of the functionality.

With our team of QA Engineers and software testers, we put a lot of effort into eliminating bugs, errors, and all possible code inconsistencies.

Ducatus wallet is built on the following stacks:

Web3js,
Solidity,
JavaScript,
Openzeppelin,
Truffle.

Outcome

At the moment, Ducatus Wallet counts around 100,000 users. It is valued for its comprehensive usability, working with multiple blockchain networks, fast swaps and transactions, and simple management. In addition, the key advantage that Ducatus Wallet brings to the market is the ability to be broadly used by people around the world by making daily common payments at HORECA, shops, fuel stations, and other businesses that already facilitate crypto payments.

The Ducatus Wallet’s decentralized nature and in combination with the concept of a cash-free society attracts more users and investors daily.

Rock’n’Block as the software developer, that is imposing the idea of adopting blockchain technology in many industries, we did our best in contributing the best product for Ducatus Global. And hopefully, it became real — Ducatus wallet is a promising tool in our era of DeFi.

Furthermore, we are continuously working on implementing more and more exclusive features for newer versions of Ducatus Wallet. In the upcoming upgrade of the Ducatus Wallet, we are going to implement more of the demanding features, and of course, support the reliability of all the future versions.

Why develop a crypto wallet with Rock’n’Block?

Crypto wallets are one of the most leading products in the fintech market right now. We were explicitly engaged in implementing all the Ducatus Wallet features in the right way, correlating with the exact requirements of the product prototype.

Ducatus Wallet is earning success among its users also due to our passionate contribution on the side of software development. From roadmap to production. No matter the complexity and the number of features that you would intend to implement, we can develop a competitive and strong product that supports the must-have features.

Furthermore, as you see we are not limited by developing the features only for a crypto wallet. Developing blockchain, embedding the deposit functionally, integrations between multiple blockchains, and even crowdfunding platforms. All and even more it’s possible to be developed with the help of the Rock’n’Block’s team!

If you are looking for a development similar project like this, crypto wallet, blockchain development, surely you can count on Rock’n’Block!

Ducatus wallet is being developed by Rock’n’Block

Rock’n’Block’s team can help you with:

⚡️NFT and NFT Marketplaces development ;
⚡️NFT 10K generator;
⚡️Staking platforms;
⚡️Vesting platforms;
⚡️Farming platforms;
⚡️Crowdsale;
⚡️Any other custom request from a crypto wallet development to custom blockchain development.