A Deep Dive into WalletConnect: The Onchain UX Ecosystem
The WalletConnect Community Round on CoinList is live now until February 11, 2025 at 17:00 UTC.
We sat down with WalletConnect founder Pedro Gomes to discuss how they became a household name in crypto, their mobile first approach, why they are launching a token, why they’re doing a Community Round with zero lockup for participants.
Let’s dive in.
1) WalletConnect is a household name in crypto and one of the most used products in the space. How did you come up with the idea?
WalletConnect is very simple conceptually. It started back in 2018 when wallets like Metamask were exclusively installed through desktop browsers and mobile wallets were building in-app browsers to replicate the Metamask experience. Back then I was also building a mobile wallet but didn’t find the browser extension pattern very intuitive for most users. Having some other apps which linked their mobile apps to desktop through QR Codes (eg. WhatsApp, Signal, etc) it felt more familiar and natural to design around QR Codes. This simple idea ended up being a feature of the wallet I was building and once the Ethereum Foundation saw the feature they awarded me a grant to make it available for all wallets and that started my journey to bring better interoperability, standards, and of course, user experience to all wallets in crypto.
2) WalletConnect is used by millions, but many people might not fully realize what the network actually is. How would you best describe it?
WalletConnect is like the connective tissue of the Web3 world. At its core, it’s a protocol–a set of rules–that makes it easy and secure for your digital wallet to talk to decentralized apps. If you've ever used WalletConnect, you probably scanned a QR code or clicked a link to connect your wallet to an app. Simple, right? But under the hood, it’s doing some really heavy lifting.
Think of WalletConnect like the phone line in an old-school call. It doesn’t matter which phone you use or who you’re calling–WalletConnect is the line that makes the conversation happen. It’s universal, works across tons of wallets and apps, and ensures that the connection is private, encrypted, and seamless. You don’t have to worry about the technical details, just like you don’t think about how your phone call is routed. You just connect and go.
Since 2018, WalletConnect has quietly grown into a cornerstone of the Web3 ecosystem. We’ve powered over 240 million connections for more than 38.7 million users globally. That’s not just adoption–it’s proof that simplicity, security, and interoperability are essential for onboarding the next wave of users into the decentralized future.
In a way, WalletConnect is invisible–by design. It’s not about us; it’s about enabling you to interact with the Web3 world without friction. Whether you’re minting NFTs, trading on a decentralized exchange, or exploring new blockchain networks, WalletConnect is there, making sure it all just works.
3) As a network, WalletConnect doesn’t have ‘customers’, yet it has a huge ecosystem including users, leading apps, and infrastructure providers. What’s the key to building such a major and critical ecosystem?
WalletConnect is a critical piece of infrastructure that has quietly become essential for the Web3 ecosystem. From the very beginning, it has been about solving problems for everyone: developers, wallets, apps, and, most importantly, users. By providing a universal protocol, WalletConnect eliminated barriers and made it easy for anyone to interact with decentralized technologies–no matter the wallet they use, the app they’re exploring, or the blockchain they’re on.
The impact of WalletConnect goes far beyond the network itself. It is deeply committed to supporting the broader development of Web3, actively contributing to standards and frameworks that push the entire space forward. The mission has always been bigger than just connecting wallets to apps–it’s about ensuring Web3 evolves as an open, interoperable ecosystem for everyone. This is why WalletConnect plays a role in shaping the foundational protocols that will define the decentralized internet for years to come.
What sets WalletConnect apart is that it has always been everything-agnostic: all chains, all apps, all wallets, and all users can access it with ease. From day one, it has supported young projects just getting started and helped established players scale to serve millions of users. WalletConnect doesn’t play favorites. Whether it’s a new developer building on a niche chain or a major platform connecting millions, the protocol bridges the gaps and ensures seamless, secure interactions across the board.
And that’s why the ecosystem has naturally thrived–users need WalletConnect, apps need WalletConnect, chains need WalletConnect, and the protocol continues to grow and evolve to meet their needs. By staying focused on interoperability, security, and simplicity, WalletConnect is not just supporting the Web3 ecosystem–it is helping it flourish.
4) What is the reasoning for decentralizing the network and launching WCT?
WalletConnect has always been designed to be operated by multiple parties and remove the single point of failure. However, there were two issues with the design which a) did not have the right incentives to onboard other node operators and b) had the issue of not providing a clear platform for apps to pay fees and wallets to be rewarded. The introduction of WCT solved both of these problems very elegantly with staking and rewards which will eventually introduce fees to sustain this tokenomics design. On top of that we have been able to bootstrap decentralized governance thanks to the community support for WCT and alignment with the future roadmap for the WalletConnect network.
5) What are the key functions of the WCT token?
The WalletConnect Token (WCT) is integral to the WalletConnect Network–fueling the onchain UX ecosystem by empowering its community of users, apps, and wallets to contribute to a better onchain future through shared incentives. The token has four key functions:
- Fees: WCT will be used to pay for network services, ensuring long-term sustainability. Initially, the network won't have a fee structure; however, as it matures, the community may introduce fees through governance mechanisms. The proposed model envisions a Monthly Active User (MAU) fee structure for connection services.
- Rewards: 17.5% of the initial WCT supply is allocated to incentivize network participants over the first few years. Rewards will be distributed to community contributors, including wallet providers and node operators, based on performance factors like uptime and latency.
- Staking: WCT holders can stake their tokens to support network stability and sustainability, earning rewards in return. Staking rewards come from a portion of the general reward pool. Rewards increase with longer commitments and larger stakes, with mechanisms in place to prevent over-concentration.
- Governance: WCT enables holders to participate in the network's governance, allowing them to propose, discuss, and decide on key decisions, such as fee structures and reward allocations. This community-driven approach ensures that the network evolves in line with the interests of its participants.
6) What was the thinking behind offering immediate unlock/no vesting in the Community Round?
From day one, the WalletConnect network has thrived on the strength of its community–every user, developer, and contributor plays a vital role in shaping the ecosystem. The Community Round was designed to reflect and honor that ethos by giving participants the freedom and flexibility to engage with the network on their terms.
By offering no lock-up periods, the Community Round ensures that supporters who have stood by the network over the years can actively participate in its growth without restrictions. This approach aligns with WalletConnect’s commitment to decentralization and inclusivity, ensuring that the same principles guiding the network's technology are reflected in its governance and token distribution.
7) With crypto increasingly moving towards mobile, how does WalletConnect’s infrastructure support this market?
WalletConnect has always been designed for mobile first starting with the 2018 introduction of QR Codes. Later in 2019, we improved this UX by supporting deep links for connections across apps on the same mobile device. Later in 2023, we introduced One-Click Auth which simplified signing a message to verify your wallet in a single step when connecting your wallets. Finally, and more recently we have introduced Link Mode which reduces the latency of native mobile apps to connect to each other without any nodes acting as intermediaries. On top of all of these developments we have also researched and developed Smart Sessions which not only revolutionizes how we will connect wallets but also makes many use-cases on mobile possible thanks to this new feature.
8) What is the best way to get involved in the WalletConnect community?
- Website: https://walletconnect.network/
- X: https://x.com/WalletConnect
- TG: https://t.me/walletconnect
- FC: https://warpcast.com/walletconnect
- Find us at crypto events!
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