Blockchain is changing, and will continue to change, how we do things. With change comes innovation and new ways of doing things but also increased and unknown risks. At Cometh, “keep it safe” is our motto underlying what we do. As a group of hackers and builders that have been playing around in the web3 space for over a decade, we’ve as passionate about blockchain’s ideological sense and societal impact as we are with its technical aspects. Before we dive into our commitment to the user experience and safety, let’s take a look at what blockchain is and how the tech is leaking into real-world every day experiences.
For most, blockchain equates to cryptocurrencies, Web3 and NFTs in the broadest sense a.k.a bitcoin, gaming and Bored Ape. But the fundamental essence of the blockchain, upon which both its ideological and tangible aspects reside on, is its decentralized and distributed ledger system. Its key strength, decentralization, ensures transparent, secure, and direct transactions without the need for intermediaries. This foundational aspect sets it apart as a transformative tool beyond what it’s been most associated with. And newer blockchains, such as Ethereum or Tezos take the ledger system a step further by introducing smart contracts, allowing for more complex transactional operations, such as dApps (decentralized applications), DeFi (decentralized finance) and NFTs. These digital contracts allowed the logic to be taken a step further, and started being applied to real world cases.
Back in 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, blockchain was used to track and distribute vaccines efficiently. It ensured that vaccines were stored correctly, reached people quickly and the data was shared widely, opening a door to new ways of ensuring safe patient care. Businesses are also using blockchain to improve their operations or to track their goods. WokenWine, a French start-up creating a traceability system for wine, uses NFTs as a way to protect producers and wine lovers from counterfeits and grey market sales. Another area where blockchain is making a difference is in identity management. With concerns about data privacy on the rise, blockchain offers a secure way to manage personal information. It allows individuals to control their data and ensures it’s not misused. While blockchain may seem technical, its real-world applications are making a positive impact on our daily lives. But this shift and the place the digital is taking in our lives implies that both security and user experience is primordial to transforming this shift into lasting change. At Cometh, we put it first.
Digital contracts are quickly becoming a norm. Governed by platforms like the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), they play a pivotal role in our digital interactions. Within this ecosystem, wallets have evolved beyond storage for NFTs and cryptocurrency: they now serve as secure signers, ensuring the authenticity of each transaction, regardless of what that transaction is. As we find new ways of using digital smart contracts, whether it’s as benign as owning a piece of art like an Azuki Elemental or Bored Ape, or as important as having a digital passport or driver’s license (it could happen one day), it’s undeniable that there is a potential for increased risks, especially from those who aim to harm. These challenges are central to an ongoing collective investigation in the blockchain tech world — how can we make digital (smart) contracts safer? And the answer lies in, counterintuitively enough, web2 and biometrics.
Everyone knows what biometrics are, even if not by name. They’ve become the standard used for authentication and security purposes when accessing your phone, computer or apps (like your bank account). Compared to traditional written passwords or even the 24-word monstrosity of traditional web3 wallets, biometrics are more secure. It’s way harder (but obviously not impossible) to hack someone’s finger or face than it is to steal alphanumerics.
At Cometh, we’re addressing the issue with Connect, our Account-Abstraction-As-A-Service tool. As a Smart Wallet solution, Connect integrates WebAuthn and biometrics, while being built on Safe, the most trusted wallet standard in the industry, to create a highly secure signer, enabling safer (and easier) interaction on the blockchain. Combined with it being a non-custodial solution (meaning there is no “middle man”) it goes beyond just transaction security; it’s about verifying the identity of the parties involved, ensuring that users are who they claim to be, and you’re interacting with the applications you aim for. And if you lose, break or change your devices, only you can activate the recovery request.
We truly believe in the power of blockchain, and its ethos of decentralization, transparency, and immutability. As the technology evolves and new ways of using it are put in place, it’ll become an integral part of our daily lives. By doing so, we hope to shift the perception of blockchain from being associated with scams, NFTs, and bitcoin to being recognized as a valuable tool for secure digital interactions across many different use cases, across many different domains. “Keep it safe” underscores our commitment to ensuring user safety in all digital interactions. Even though we’re truly entering the digital age, genuine human interaction is important, and this is why we prioritize a user-centric approach, emphasizing the need for security, transparency, and authenticity.
If you would like to try out our smart wallet, you can check out our demo here. If you would like to know more about Cometh, you can also reach out to us here.Follow us on Twitter for all updates and you can join our Discord if you have questions for the team!
