Keplr in 2023: Why appchains will fix wallet UX

Josh Lee

• 3 min read
Keplr in 2023: Why appchains will fix wallet UX

This blog post was originally published on Keplr's Medium blog on January 4, 2023.

Keplr Roadmap for 2023 with a Year-in-Review!

Our 2022 Retrospective

This past year was a rollercoaster ride. Appchains finally got the attention they deserved. IBC became the norm, not the exciting 'new technology' it once was. Gravity had its way of renormalizing the hype of 'to the moon (luna)', bringing things back 'to the earth (terra)'. Interchain accounts, once just a specification our co-founders proposed in 2020, became a fundamental building block for liquid staking across most of Cosmos.

Keplr was built in the bear market, so this is all familiar territory. The biggest lesson we've learned: the path to resilience comes at a cost. Progress is not always linear, but our main thesis has never changed — the key driving force that will onboard the next millions of users will be killer apps with simple, easily accessible, user-friendly UI/UX, and Keplr aims to be at the leading edge.

2022 Milestones

💫 Native Integrations: Axelar, Juno, Stargaze, Umee, Sommelier, Gravity Bridge, Tgrade, Stride, Injective, Quicksilver

🌐 Keplr Extension:

  • Self-configurable node endpoints
  • Gas simulation before sending transactions
  • Showing unlocked tokens from vesting schedules
  • Firefox support (beta)
  • Customizable fee token on Osmosis and Gravity Bridge
  • Partial EVM support; Ledger support for Evmos
  • Auto-detection of ERC20 tokens via Gravity Bridge
  • Launched Community-Driven Integration
  • ICNS support!

📌 Keplr Dashboard:

  • Dashboard 2.0 with NFT PFP, dark mode, and improved data visualization
  • Osmosis LPs at a glance
  • Send assets within the dashboard
  • Transaction history and proposal notifications
  • Deposit with QR code
  • Fiat on-ramp with Moonpay, Transak, and Kado

📲 Keplr Mobile:

  • Edit chain list and order
  • Agoric, Junoswap, Osmosis Frontier, Regen added to Discover Apps
  • Auto-gas adjustment; Ledger support for Evmos; Dark mode

🌊 Expanding the Horizon:

  • Partnered with Skiff for end-to-end encrypted email and workplace tools
  • Cosmoverse ticket purchase via Keplr wallet
  • Partnered with Cosmoshield to protect users from phishing; Scam Alert enabled

What's Ahead for 2023

Appchains 🤝 Interchain Wallets: Fixing Self-Custody UX

The entire team saw the catastrophic fall of FTX as a lesson to build better. Without better UX for self-custody, another centralized exchange blowup is a matter of when, not if. "Not your keys, not your coins" is easier said than done, and we fully acknowledge this.

The truth about security is that the best form balances technical security and practical security — even the best technical security can fail due to human mistakes like misplaced seed phrases or phishing attacks.

In 2023, Keplr aims to work towards abstracting the idea of an "account" from a private key (account abstraction), allowing flexibility and diversity in signing and authorization UX. This can enable:

  • Signing/authorizing mechanisms that consider transaction contents, such as spending limits.
  • Adding friends' Twitter accounts as wallet recovery authorizers.
  • Diversified multi-key accounts that can be flexibly set up for different purposes.
  • Sign once to do multiple on-chain actions.
  • Losing your private key would not necessarily result in losing all stored assets.

The beauty of the appchain design shines here. Appchains allow wallet developers to work with chain developers to envision and implement blockchains that put usability at their core — Keplr expects to participate in this process alongside relevant stakeholders.

Wallets as the Human Interoperability Layer to the Interchain

The emergence of NFTs was a real game changer in the on-chain identity sphere. NFTs paved the way for accounts to feel more like social network profiles, allowing users to build a pseudonymous identity and reputation based on what they did, when they did it, and what they own.

Just as IBC brought interchain data portability across heterogeneous appchains, Keplr aims to bring interchain identity and reputation portability. The crypto identity layer allows reputation and credibility to be accrued without revealing real-life personal data — pseudonymous identities can have proof-of-reputation based on on-chain actions.

With the recently announced ICNS (Interchain Nameservice), Cosmos will be equipped with a powerful tool for experimenting with self-identity and social networks. Keplr has fully integrated ICNS into all products and has several features in the development queue, including sending/receiving tokens with one's username.

Our next initiative: releasing the Keplr Validator Dashboard in Q1, which aims to facilitate and streamline governance and communication for validators and delegators, and foster delegator-specific communities.

Interchain Expanding Beyond Cosmos

Partial EVM support was implemented on Keplr products in 2022, but full support has been put off until 2023. The Cosmos ecosystem has matured enough to open up and build multilateral ties with other allies. With more EVM L2s gaining traction, we expect the definition of the 'interchain' to broaden. Cosmos has a vibrant developer community, a unique identity defined by belief in the sovereignty of individual appchains and their interoperability, growing investor interest, and healthy financial exchanges.

In Conclusion

Keplr team's fundamental mission has always been improving user experience in the crypto industry. The best way of reducing the gap is by shipping the most user-friendly tools and applications to connect humans to the technologies.

We are likely going to have a bumpy ride this year, but we hope you're excited to be on this journey of finding missing pieces in the interchain world with us. Fasten your seatbelt, and get ready for our next phase to scale!

"Hasta la vista, baby." 🔫😎