Web3 for users, not experts.
Introducing embedded wallets
Henri Stern
|Feb 22, 2023
Privy is the easiest way for developers to onboard all users to web3, regardless of whether they already have a wallet, across mobile and desktop.
Today, we are excited to announce the next step in our product journey: embedded wallets. Embedded wallets make it easy for developers to provision self-custodial wallets for users no matter how they log in, via email, phone or social.
At Privy, we spend a lot of time obsessing over how to help developers unlock better UX in web3 without sacrificing the ownership primitives that make the space special. Ownership is at the root of web3 but to this day, it has been reserved for only the most technical users.
For web3 to go mainstream, we must make it easy to bake self-custody into products: web2-caliber UX with web3 ownership and consent. With embedded wallets, you can build simple self-custodial experiences into your app without requiring a seed phrase, third-party extension or any UX interrupt.
Why “embedded” wallets? It reflects our conviction that key self-custody should be tightly integrated — embedded — into your product. Our work here is centered around a few core principles:
Self Custody — Privy’s embedded wallets are fully self-custodial. Privy can never sign a message on behalf of a user. Key splitting ensures Privy never holds private keys but your user has simple recovery options.
Native to your app — Key infrastructure should feel native to your app. Let your users come as they are, and keep your UX on-brand with design customization and flexibility around signature prompts for users.
Interoperable from day 1 — Embedded wallets are a springboard into web3. You take care of your in-app experience, we’ll ensure your users have access to a wider ecosystem.
We are not becoming a standalone wallet company. Embedded wallets are tightly integrated within the existing Privy SDK and its existing wallet connectors. Expert or newcomer, a user is a user: no need to treat them differently in your codebase. For many, Privy will serve as their starter wallet. For others, it will be a UX revolution they can choose to use alongside their existing wallets.
This is just the beginning. We’ll be sharing more details about each of these over the coming weeks as we roll out embedded wallets to customers. If you’re thinking about how to power native experiences for wider audiences–mainstream products on crypto rails, we’d love to talk.
Web3 must disappear into the products it spawns. We believe great products will increasingly be hybrid, incorporating on and off-chain elements to power new experiences with better onboarding and simpler permissions delegation. The web3 stack is changing. Our tooling makes it easy for developers to build for this new paradigm. We are so excited for this next step in our journey. More soon (™).
Web3 is dead. Long live web3.
