1. Core positioning and functions of WCT
WalletConnect Token (WCT) is the governance and incentive core of the WalletConnect network, aiming to solve the user experience (UX) and interoperability issues of Web3 through a decentralized architecture. Its core functions include:
Fee payment: Future network services (such as relays, database calls) may introduce WCT as a payment medium, to be decided by community governance voting.
Staking and incentives: Node operators, wallets, and applications participate in network maintenance by staking WCT and receiving token rewards. For example, service nodes need to stake at least 100,000 WCT (initial threshold) and calculate weighted rewards based on performance and lock-up period.
Governance power: WCT holders vote to decide on network upgrades, fee mechanisms, and ecological development, promoting the decentralization of governance.
Economic value capture: The actual demand generated by future network services (such as high-frequency trading, AI agent operations) will be directly linked to WCT, transforming it from a governance token into a practical asset with real economic value.
2. Technical ambition: Redefining on-chain interaction
The WalletConnect network gradually realizes its on-chain ambitions through technological innovation:
Cross-chain and multi-ecosystem support
Currently supports 40+ chains including EVM, Solana, Cosmos, and will further expand to more ecosystems in the future, becoming the universal connection layer of Web3.
AI-driven Smart Sessions: The new version introduces smart session functionalities, allowing users to authorize once, enabling AI agents to automatically perform operations (such as transaction signing, cross-chain transfers) within predefined rules, completely eliminating the cumbersome experience of frequent pop-ups.
High-performance decentralized infrastructure
Service node network: Adopting a progressively open permissioned node architecture, combined with 'Rendezvous Hashing' technology, to achieve low latency and high throughput distributed databases.
Dynamic incentive mechanism: Ensuring network stability through 'performance coefficients' (based on node online rates, response speeds) and 'penalty mechanisms', with poor-performing nodes being punished and replaced.
3. Governance and ecological expansion
Decentralized governance roadmap
Phased power transfer: Gradually transitioning from foundation-led governance to community governance, with technical committees and partner committees elected by WCT holders.
Community proposals and voting: Users can initiate on-chain improvement proposals (such as introducing fee models, adjusting staking rules) and vote on implementation based on token weight.
Airdrops and ecological incentives
5 million WCT airdrop: Distributed through Solana ecosystem wallets like Phantom and Jupiter, attracting active users and developers to participate in network construction.
Wallet and application reward pool: Compliant wallets (such as those with over 100,000 monthly active connections) can share an annual reward of 4 million WCT, promoting user experience optimization.
4. Future vision: Building the 'open protocol layer' of Web3
Economic model upgrade
From governance to utility: Future network services (such as relays, smart sessions) will directly generate demand for WCT, deeply binding the token's value to network usage.
Anti-inflation design: The initial total supply of the token is fixed at 1 billion, with no inflation plan, supported by fee income and ecological growth to sustain long-term value.
Ecological integration and scenario expansion
Payments and identity verification: Supporting on-chain payments, KYC, and other scenarios by combining privacy relay technology, ensuring that intermediaries cannot spy on user data.
Explosion of composable applications: Empowering decentralized applications in fields such as social, gaming, and music through standardized protocols (CAIP) and SDK tools, unleashing the potential of the entire Web3 industry.
5. Challenges and opportunities
Decentralized balance: Finding the optimal solution between performance and governance decentralization is key to the long-term stability of the network.
Competition and innovation: In the face of competitors like Metamask Snaps and Coinbase Wallet, continuous technological iteration (such as AI integration) is needed to maintain leadership.
Summary: The ambition of WCT is not only to become a governance tool but also to become the core value bearer of the underlying infrastructure of Web3 through technological breakthroughs and ecological incentives. From multi-chain interoperability to AI-driven seamless experiences, WalletConnect is building an open, efficient, and user-driven new paradigm on-chain.
