Original: " New Project | Opclave: Turning Apple Devices into Hardware Wallets "
Author: Shiwen
For users who are new to the Web3 field, creating a wallet may be the first hurdle they encounter. The traditional 12-digit Seed Phrase is too cumbersome and dangerous for novice users, and it is too complicated as a backup and recovery function, which can be said to have no user experience advantage. At present, no private key and Seed Phrase are considered to be the mainstream trend of Web3 wallets in the future, but behind this requires more secure development technology, which is also one of the main challenges in this field.
Recently, Opclave, a project shortlisted for the ETHGlobal Hackathon, caught our attention. It allows users to initiate transactions on OP Stack Rollup via Apple's Face-ID and Touch-ID.
Opclave was developed by the Istanbul University İTÜ Blockchain Club team, with a total of 5 developers, one of whom is ETH, one of the contributors to Connext Network. The team created a smart contract wallet that allows users to create and use non-custodial wallets for Apple Face-ID and Touch-ID without the need for a Seed Phrase. Its core idea is to turn Apple devices, iPhones, and Macbooks into hardware wallets, and initiate transactions from the trusted execution environment Apple Secure Enclave to ensure security. This wallet with biometric function not only simplifies the process of using the wallet, but also migrates the transaction experience from Web2 to Web3, which can increase the number of repeated use by users and attract more loyal users.
Technically, Opclave realizes the biometric function through three solutions:
1. OP Stack
The OP Stack is a standardized set of open source modules that can be assembled into a custom chain — what Optimism calls an “OP Chain” — to serve any specific blockchain use case. One of the most important benefits of the OP Stack for Lisk developers is the simple configuration of rollups and the ability to scale Lisk-specific usability without cryptoeconomic security.
Using the OP Stack, Opclave can implement Apple signatures onto the blockchain, turning Apple devices into hardware wallets.
2. Account abstraction
Opclave has the advantage of a smart contract wallet compatible with the ERC-4337 account abstraction standard, which can provide users with the ability to simplify the use of accounts. For example:
- You can get rid of the shackles of Seed Phrase/private keys, etc.
- Allows users to send batch transactions. For example, token approval and exchange or claim and stake operations can be sent in one transaction.
- Mechanisms of social recovery. Set up a successor should you have a health problem or lose a device. If the wallet has not performed any transactions for X days, the successor can sign to restore the user's assets.
- Use any ERC20 token to pay for fees, and OP tokens can be used to pay for gas fees at this stage.
- Daily spending limit. Users can set their daily spending limit to prevent hacking.
3. Apple Secure Enclave
Newer generations of Apple devices feature a hardware security component called a "Secure Enclave," which is capable of storing keys or signing data. The Apple Secure Enclave is a subsystem implemented in Apple's system-on-a-chip, isolated from the main processor, to create an isolated secure area for users' important data, and its main use case is to retain user data even if the main processor is compromised. Using the Apple Secure Enclave's signing mechanism, transactions can be signed directly. These signatures are then verified in the blockchain and smart contracts through the security steps of Face-Id or Touch-Id. In order to realize the function of using Face-Id or Touch-Id to initiate a transaction.
In the future, Opclave hopes to implement more account abstraction features, such as 2FA, email login, etc. In addition, Opclave will support more other chains in the future, such as Starknet, zkSync and Fuel.
