Neutrino追问®AMA第7期|imToken商务总监：我们正在集成通过蓝牙安全使用的硬件钱包

 

在第7期Neutrino追问®AMA交流中，我们邀请到了imToken商务总监 Philipp ，就《数字钱包的边界在哪里》主题展开有趣的探讨。在交流中，他透露imToken目前正在集成可以通过蓝牙安全使用的硬件钱包，另外后面会开放Dapp浏览器，让任何链的Dapp都能在imToken里面访问。

 

以下为12月20日第7期追问®AMA交流整理

 

话题主持@Neutrino Q1：There are various crypto wallets in the market, for example, cold wallet/ hot wallet, full node wallet/ light node wallet, centralized wallet/ decentralized wallet, etc. What’re the differences between them and also the benefits and drawbacks? How to choose a crypto wallet? what should the wallet users pay attention to?’

 

Philipp Seifert ：People perceive wallets as applications that store their tokens. But where are tokens stored?

 

Ultimately tokens are stored on the blockchain, such as the Bitcoin blockchain or Ethereum. What the ‘wallet’ really provides is access to those tokens.

 

One example: If I lose my wallet and password, somebody else has access to those tokens. If I only lose my wallet, and still have my backup with password, I still own access to my tokens.

 

Now, to the actual question: What are the differences in those ways to access my tokens?Short answer: The way your Private Key is stored. With or without the Private Key you gain and lose access to your tokens.

 

The two major differences between wallets are:

 

1) Wallets that store the Private Key for you (such as exchange apps), and

2) wallets that access your Private Keys stored on your own device (such as imToken).

 

Think about the Private Key as the key to your tokens. If you lose the key, you won’t be able to access your tokens anymore. If you give this key to somebody else (like an crypto exchange) is up to you, but I would rather trust my own devices.

 

The second difference is in the way the wallet sends and receives information to the blockchain:

 

A so-called ‘full-node’ stores all the information available on a blockchain, whereas a light-node saves data by reducing that amount of information being stored. As of now, most wallets are either connecting to a full-node, not on the user’s device but on a remote server.

 

话题主持@Neutrino Q2: The medium KOL indicated that all the crypto wallets and exchanges have security issues, for example, the stories about DEXs hacked. Moreover,  the recent published 《Crypto Wallets APP Security Status White Paper》 noted there are numerous security issues as well, especially the Private Key Storage. What’s your opinion about it? Is it also a hurdle for imToken? If it’s not, what’s your prevention mechanism？

 

Philipp Seifert ：In case your Private Key is stored on your own device, you can take security in your own hand: I suggest setting strong passwords and always updating your system. Even better using a cold wallet or hardware wallet for you biggest amounts of tokens.

 

It’s harder to control security if the Private Key is stored on an exchange or with another third party. The only thing you can then do is setting a strong password.

 

Technically speaking, the most prominent way to store a Private Key on mobile phones is in a secure environment. imToken also accesses your Private Key in that way.

 

Cold wallets and hardware wallets involve more effort but are generally regarded as more secure. Let me explain:

 

Cold wallets are wallets that are not connected to the internet and therefore ‘cold’. Not being connected to the internet means that a hacker also won’t be able to connect and steal a Private Key from the offline device.

 

A cold wallet is very easy to set up: You can simply install imToken 2.0 on your old Android or iPhone and make sure that it is never connected to the internet.

 

Hardware wallets store the Private Keys on a hardware chip which are designed to make access almost impossible. At imToken we are currently working on integrating hardware wallets that you can use securely via Bluetooth.

 

话题主持@Neutrino Q3: It is known that crypto wallet will be a crucial portal for connecting to Blockchain. Meanwhile, imToken announced open sourc