Five Wallets That Show the Future of Crypto Self-Storage Is Seedless

The seed phrase is an integral part of non-custodial crypto storage. It holds the key to securing your wallet and the assets it contains. It’s also how you retrieve access to the wallet in the event of it being lost, accidentally deleted, or needing to import it into a new device.

The 12 or 24-word mnemonic phrase you’re issued when creating a wallet for the first time is all you need to guarantee that you and you alone can access that wallet. Provided you keep your seed phrase in a safe place, no other entity can control it. The seed phrase embodies self storage, removing the need to rely on third parties with the underlying risk this carries.

But for all its simplicity and reliability, the seed phrase isn’t foolproof. Lose it and you lose access to your funds for good. The crypto industry is awash with tales of woe from users who’ve done just that, incorrectly noting down their mnemonic phrase or failing to store it altogether. If only there was a safer way to self custody assets without introducing centralized risk. Enter seedless wallets, the next frontier in non-custodial storage.

The Future Is Seedless

Some things are clearly better seedless. Like grapes. But crypto wallets? Is it wise to tamper with the core feature that prevents non-custodial wallets from being subject to asset seizure and theft? Like so many things in life, there are trade-offs to make when determining the optimum wallet solution. A crypto wallet should ideally be impossible for strangers to access but possible for its rightful owner to access – even if they do something silly, like failing to record their seed phrase.

Recognizing that greater crypto adoption calls for more user-friendly wallet design, web3 builders have expended significant time and resources on solving this problem. Different wallet developers have taken different approaches, but they share the same goal: making it easier for users to control their digital assets in a manner that is secure yet intuitive – with built-in fail-safes in the event of something going wrong.

Let’s consider five of the best seedless wallets on the market right now and examine their features and benefits.

1. Core

Core is a crypto wallet for managing assets within the Avalanche ecosystem as well as on other EVM chains and on Bitcoin. Available as a web app, mobile wallet, and browser extension, Core makes it easy to view your portfolio, send, swap, stake, and interact with protocols that operate on Avalanche’s network. There’s Ledger hardware support for added security and integrated bridging between chains.

As an all-in-one wallet for navigating the major crypto ecosystems and DeFi in particular, Core balances good UX with an extensive list of features and filters for more advanced users. But the most useful thing about Core, at least from a security perspective, is its seed abstraction. Conventional web2 authentication methods such as Gmail and Apple can be used to login, providing users with a familiar framework while still retaining full custody of their assets.

Core uses CubeSigner, a non-custodial signing service that provides secure social logins and handles private keys. The wallet generates keys and signs transactions remotely from within CubeSigner’s secure hardware. As a result, users can enjoy access to web3 without needing to worry that they’re a misplaced seed phrase away from losing everything.

2. Creso

Creso is another seedless wallet designed for navigating web3. It’s also gasless in that it uses account abstraction, a feature that ensures users can make their first transaction without needing to purchase the network’s native token to pay for gas. This is achieved through ERC-4437 which supports account abstraction. 

Like Core, Creso enables web2 login using Google or Apple. It also allows users to add “guardians”: trusted friends they can turn to in the event of needing to regain access to their account. Promising as Creso appears to be, there’s currently a waiting list that must be joined in order to apply for the wallet. For this reason, Creso must currently be filed under “one to watch.”

3. Zengo

Zengo was one of the first wallet developers to go seedless. The company believes that seed phrases present a vulnerability and has devised a proprietary solution to bypass reliance on mnemonics. Instead, Zengo makes use of MPC (multi-party computation) to split the private key into several parts, eliminating single points of failure. 

Zengo’s MPC implementation makes it easy to regain access to its wallet but hard for adversaries to gain access through common attack vectors such as phishing. Each party controlling a key portion can back it up in a manner that doesn’t risk the wallet being compromised.

In terms of features, Zengo supports such networks as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon. It also allows DeFi dapps to be connected for the purposes of trading and swapping NFTs. While the seedless design of Zengo is well implemented, it lacks some of the more advanced features of comparable wallets such as Core. For this reason, Zengo is best suited to casual users who are seeking a more passive crypto investment strategy.

4. Bitizen

Bitizen is another web3 wallet that makes use of ERC-4337, making it keyless, seedless, and gasless. It uses threshold signature scheme (TSS) and multi-party computation (MPC) to ensure that private keys are never created, stored or shared at any point. It’s daming about seed phrases, asserting that they “suck,” adding “They are difficult to remember and are usually stored on piece of paper, which is incredibly insecure.”

As a multi-chain wallet, Bitizen allows users to access 15 crypto networks, while an integrated swap feature covers over 30 DEXes and more than a dozen bridges. Its closest competitor is Zengo, since both wallets make use of MPC. Bitizen naturally believes its solution to be superior to Zengo’s, however, asserting that its rival’s is “semi-custodial” since account recovery requires Zengo to sign its key share.

Bitizen is a good all-rounder, even if its interface isn’t quite as good as some of the other seedless wallets reviewed here.

5. Fuelet

Fuelet uses account abstraction and social recovery to power its seedless web3 wallet. Designed for modular blockchains, starting with Fuel Network, it’s available as a web browser wallet or mobile app. There are some useful features bundled with Fuelet, like the ability to pay for gas using any token. There’s also the option of batching transactions and setting daily limits.

Fuelet is a novel wallet that is ideal for moving funds between Ethereum and Fuel and for performing basic transactions such as swaps and NFT trades. Its utility is impaired however by being limited to Fuel Network only at this time. For this reason, unless it adds support for other chains, Fuelet can’t compete with seedless wallets that provide access to multiple EVM and non-EVM networks.

Summary

As the five wallets reviewed here show, there’s more than one way to tackle seedless design. It’s possible to eliminate private key reliance and responsibility for seed phrase storage without introducing other attack vectors in the process. Impressive as seedless wallets are, a good crypto wallet must excel on other fronts too, not least in terms of usability and the chains and dapps it supports.

When compared side by side, the clear winner in seedless wallet design at this point in time is Core. Its availability on mobile, desktop, and as a web extension, coupled with its clean UI, gives it the nod ahead of Bitizen. For more passive crypto holders, meanwhile, Zengo is worth a look. If you prefer your self-custody seedless, take a closer look at one of these wallets.