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This is a type of project that will not go over well with the HN community. It looks like Vessel is a web browser extension that acts as a cryptocurrency walle
by abetusk 4y ago
This is a type of project that will not go over well with the HN community.
It looks like Vessel is a web browser extension that acts as a cryptocurrency wallet. The key words here are 'cryptocurrency', 'non-custodial' and 'web3'.
Meaning, this is a wallet that you can access from your browser that will keep your private keys local to your machine (the 'non-custodial' part) and allow you to send and receive cryptocurrency as well as allow you to log into websites that allow you to authenticate via a local non-custodial wallet interface/extension.
Some alternatives in this space are Temple [0], Kukai [1], Spire [2], to name a few.
To all those asking "what does this offer", ask yourselves how easy it would be to log into a service like Google mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, PayPal, Tumblr, etc. without an established phone number, bank account, or extra email address. With 'web3' the authentication takes place through the wallet (via the browser extension and presumably standarized-ish API).
Once a wallet is setup, the login process is a click of a button. From my own personal use, it's night and day compared with doing the login dance for the various 'blue-chip' companies I log into (GitHub, GMail, Twitter). Instead of a username/password dance, I can just click 'verify' and be logged in to a 'web3' website.
The wallets have, presumably, a primary purpose of keeping your money, so they act as a kind of 'real world wallet', where you're not expected to keep too much money in it but you can use this money for online transactions with little friction. The idea being, purchasing digital services is much easier because the friction is so low.
For me, the main point is friction. 'Web3' wallets like this provide an order of magnitude less friction to use online services. Whether you agree or disagree with cryptocurrency, think it's not needed or scammy, the 'strong-man' argument for wallets like Vessel and others is that it offers an order of magnitude less friction to authenticate and to use digital funds for digital services.
Now, in particular, Vessel doesn't look to be all that open (as in libre/free/open source) so I would be hesitant to install this and would rather use one of the more established wallets that is libre.
[0] https://templewallet.com/ https://templewallet.com/
[1] https://wallet.kukai.app/ https://wallet.kukai.app/
[2] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spire/gpfndedineagiepkpinficbcbbgjoenn?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spire/gpfndedineag...
- nerdponx 4y agoMaybe this is a silly question, but how does this differ from something like a client certificate? Or is that all this is, but with the "authority" being some kind of blockchain thing instead of a company?
- knowaveragejoe 4y agoYou've got the gist of it, this is like a client certificate + metadata about your and it's mediated by the blockchain and not a specific company or authority. Essentially your "account" anywhere is this.
- abetusk 4y agoThe 'certification' is coming from a decentralized network of computers running the blockchain and underlying cryptocurrency. So, yes, exactly, the decentralized blockchain instead of a centralized company. The decentralized part, and the implication of a standardized API, access and communication, is one of the main features.
- crtasm 4y agoThe equivalent here of a client certificate is the private keys generated on your machine and stored in your wallet, logging into a website using those doesn't involve a blockchain at all as far as I'm aware?
- crtasm 4y ago> Instead of a username/password dance, I can just click 'verify' and be logged in to a 'web3' website. So just like using a password manager but currently incompatible with most websites, I see.
- knowaveragejoe 4y ago
- abetusk 4y agoSo, to be clear, you think OAuth are projects that have no place in the ecosystem because of things like password managers?