WalletConnect x Rhinestone

TL;DR

WalletConnect pioneered today’s signing experience and now partners with Rhinestone to work towards delivering Smart Sessions to continue pushing the boundaries of web3 UX.

Smart Sessions allows developers to remove the required context-switching users experience when interacting with dapps (from dapp UI to wallet UI to sign) by eliminating the need for continuous signatures during a login session. Transactions can now be signed in the dapp without being confirmed in the wallet UI.

Under the hood is Rhinestone’s Safe7579 Adapter and Module Registry, allowing session keys to be used with Safe accounts. By aligning the AppKit product roadmap with ERC-7579, WalletConnect achieves maximum interoperability with the emerging 7579 ecosystem of smart accounts and wallets, thus enabling dapp developers to unlock countless future opportunities for their users.

Smart Sessions, a UX revolution

WalletConnect enables developers to build user experiences that make digital ownership effortless, intuitive, and secure. Founded in 2018 to help mobile wallet users easily connect to desktop apps through a simple QR code, the WalletConnect Network has become the go-to for any developer wishing to streamline their web3 user interactions.

WalletConnect provides developers with two core products: AppKit and WalletKit. These products provide top-to-bottom tooling for every step of a user’s journey, from the initial wallet connection to layered features spanning login, on-ramp, and swaps.

WalletConnect’s tools have primarily focused on stateless sessions between dapps and users. That is, dapps cannot influence the state of a user’s wallet (e.g., a token balance) without the user signing each request individually. This adds a ton of friction to the user experience. This friction has been a necessary side effect of self-custodial wallets for a long time due to the traditional account architecture (i.e., Externally Owned Accounts). But smart accounts are rectifying this through session keys and automations.

Session keys are ephemeral keys with scoped permissions. They allow users to authorize a dapp or any third-party service to transact on their behalf, but only under specific conditions. For example, a user can authorize a web3 game to approve any transaction inside the game with a gas fee of less than X and a transaction value of less than Y for the duration of the login session. At a minimum, this can remove pesky popups that destroy game immersion for the user. At the maximum, it opens up a new paradigm for web3 apps and services with amazing UX — one-click trading platforms, AI agents onchain, portfolio management systems, and more.

Recently, WalletConnect announced Universal Wallets, a new AppKit feature allowing developers to integrate session keys and streamline onchain user interactions. The feature is compatible with any ERC-7579 smart wallet. However, if the user does not have a smart wallet, developers can deploy a Safe with session key functionality pre-installed through WalletConnect’s Universal Wallets.

What’s Under the Hood

Several core components from Rhinestone and Safe will power this product, along with the community effort that defined the permissions standard (ERC-7715). Most importantly, Smart Sessions is ERC-7579 native. WalletConenct has chosen ERC-7579 due to its wide adoption by smart account vendors (e.g., Safe, Biconomy, ZeroDev, and Etherspot) and wallets (e.g., OKX and Trust Wallet), ensuring Smart Sessions is highly composable and interoperable. This minimizes vendor lock-in and ensures developers building with AppKit have maximum reach across the growing account abstraction user base.

WalletConnect will utilize Safe by default when a user does not yet have an account. Safe is the OG modular account, highly battle-tested, and secure. To achieve ERC-7579 compliance, WalletConnect employs Rhinestone’s Safe7579 Adapter, creating an interoperability layer between Safe and all other 7579 accounts and modules.

The Safe7579 Adapter also introduces the Module Registry, allowing third-party modules to be used securely on the Safe. Through Rhinestone’s Module Registry and ModuleSDK, WalletConnect employs session keys built by Biconomy. This is an early demonstration of the emerging module marketplace, and we’re excited to be innovating at the tip of the spear with these incredible builders.

Conclusion

We’re excited to partner with WalletConnect to revolutionize web3 UX. Smart Sessions is a huge step forward, but only the tip of the iceberg. We look forward to working with WalletConnect to bring more smart account features to any developer aspiring to build powerful onchain products that are uncompromising about user experience.

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