⭐️Project Introduction

WalletConnect (WCT) is an open source communication protocol for the Web3 ecosystem, designed to connect user wallets and dApps through a decentralized cross-chain infrastructure. It supports 600+ wallets and 60,000+ applications, covering 20+ public chains such as Ethereum and Solana, and processes an average of 120 million connection requests per day. The WCT token is not only a governance tool for the network, but also promotes ecological expansion through staking and incentive mechanisms.

⭐️Product Structure

WalletConnect's products are divided into the following core parts:

Relay network: a distributed node system, including gateway nodes (routing) and service nodes (message cache).

Protocol standards: chain-independent communication standards that support cross-chain signatures and data transmission.

SDK tools: provide developers with integrated interfaces that support one-click login, mobile adaptation and other functions.

User interface: including QR code scanning, smart conversations, etc., to optimize the end-user experience.

⭐️Analysis of underlying technical architecture

Distributed node system:

Gateway nodes: responsible for load balancing and message routing, similar to the CDN of the Internet, to ensure low latency (<100ms).

Service nodes: 16 global nodes, using the rendezvous hash algorithm to store encrypted messages, supporting offline client data synchronization, and a decentralized design similar to the Cassandra database.

Advantages: Multi-node architecture avoids single point failure, strong anti-DDoS attack capability, and 99.99% online rate.

End-to-end encryption:

Using the AES-256 encryption algorithm, ensure that the data between the wallet and the dApp cannot be read by the relay node to protect user privacy.

Compared with the centralized server of MetaMask Snap, WalletConnect does not need to trust a third party and is more secure.

✨Cross-chain protocol:

Through the standardized JSON-RPC interface, it supports signatures and transaction broadcasts of chains such as Ethereum and Solana.

In the future, the chain abstraction function will hide the differences in the underlying chains and realize "unconscious" cross-chain operations.

SDK and development efficiency:

The SDK supports multiple languages ​​(JavaScript, Kotlin, Swift), reducing the integration cost of developers by 30%.

One-click SIWE function simplifies the user authorization process and increases the dApp conversion rate by 20%.

✨Core advantages and highlights

Cross-chain compatibility: supports 20+ public chains, covering 99% of Web3 ecological traffic, far exceeding Dynamic (10 chains) and Web3Auth (10+ chains).

High availability: Global node distribution ensures low latency and high throughput, with an average of 120 million connections per day without performance bottlenecks.

Privacy protection: End-to-end encryption eliminates data leakage, making it an ideal choice for scenarios such as payment and identity authentication.

Developer-friendly: Standard protocols and SDKs lower the integration threshold and attract 60,000+ applications to join the ecosystem.

💎Current barriers and optimization space

Technical barriers:

Network effect: The integration of 600+ wallets and 60,000+ applications forms a high entry barrier, which is difficult for new competitors to replicate in the short term.

Standard setting: WalletConnect's protocol has become the industry's de facto standard, similar to HTTP's status in Web2.

💎Areas that need to be optimized:

Node decentralization: Currently, 16 service nodes are operated by a licensing system, which poses a certain risk of centralization.

Solution: Launch a permissionless node registration mechanism, introduce audit nodes to monitor performance, and plan to achieve full decentralization in 2026.

Gas cost: Cross-chain operations require multi-chain gas fees, which limits user experience.

Solution: Introduce a gas abstraction layer, allow WCT tokens to pay for gas, and reduce user costs by 50%.

Mobile adaptation: The compatibility of some wallets on mobile browsers still needs to be optimized.

Solution: Upgrade the SDK and add native support for mobile terminals. It is expected to cover 90% of mainstream devices by the end of 2025.

🔥Summary and analysis

WalletConnect has built a solid technical foundation for the Web3 connection layer through distributed nodes, end-to-end encryption, and cross-chain protocols. Its core advantage lies in its wide ecological compatibility and high security standards, making it the preferred infrastructure for dApp to interact with wallets. Currently, the project still has room for improvement in terms of node decentralization and user cost optimization, but through the proposed solutions (such as permissionless nodes and Gas abstraction), these problems are expected to be solved within 2 years.

In terms of its contribution to the crypto industry, WalletConnect has promoted cross-chain interoperability and user privacy protection, laying the foundation for the large-scale application of Web3. In the future, with the deepening of DAO governance and the iteration of functions, its ecological closed loop will be more perfect, helping Web3 move from "technical experiments" to "popular tools." Although KernelDAO's technical complexity and resource bottlenecks are challenges, its potential cooperation with WalletConnect can accelerate its breakthrough in cross-chain governance.

$WCT #WalletConnect