One of my favorite third-party developers is Arkane Network. Why? Because they understand that one of the key things holding back mainstream adoption is convenience and a lack of tech skills by most of the population. Earlier wallets were always a nightmare, with mnemonic seeds (I still don’t think I can pronounce that right) and keystore files. There was always that pressure that I was going to mess up the process somehow and end up losing all my money. That was before 2018 rolled around, and I lost it anyways, mind you.
But now, Arkane Network is creating a set of tools that makes it easy for everyone. The results are fantastic, you can sign up for a cryptocurrency wallet using only Facebook, Google, or a private email address. You secure the wallet with a 4–6 digit pin number. It looks and feels like a user interface we are all familiar with, long before cryptographic hash functions and SHA-256 started making things complicated. Right now, it works with Ethereum and Vechain, but is promising even more options in the future.
User-Friendly login screen featuring Google & Facebook login options
This week, Arkane Network really raised the bar by implementing a new feature that treats email addresses as cryptocurrency addresses. Using my Gmail address to log in, I can now send VET to anyone I want, as long as I know their email address. That means no more scanning QR codes and trying to type 42-character crypto addresses. I just type their email address into the transaction address form, and submit send.
I tried it, sending 1 VET to my alternate email address, that I had never used for anything regarding digital currencies in the past. After less than 2 minutes, I received this notification in my email inbox:
Having never used this email, it was all-to-easy to sign up and collect
After clicking the link, I was instructed to register with my email address, in a very easy and non-cryptographic fashion. And sure enough, upon confirming my email, I was presented with my new account, including the new funds I had just sent myself.
Instead of filling in a blockchain address in the “to” field, just enter an email address to transfer crypto to friends. This feature allows people to work with blockchain technology without realizing they are using it, quite literally, it is as easy as sending an email.
For more on how this works, click here.
The beauty of a tool like Arkane is it doesn’t just make it easier for less tech-savvy users to get a wallet, it also makes it easier for developers to include Ethereum and Vechain blockchain capabilities into their own apps using Arkane Network’s developer friendly API. The work Arkane Network is doing is a crucial step in making digital currencies accessible for anyone, including your grandparents.
I encourage everyone to spend a few minutes reading about the Arkane Network project and sign up here!