This Week In DeFi – March 10

Coinbase unveils "Wallet-as-a-Service," MolochDAO builds a regulation-friendly mixer, Violet launches a "compliant" DEX and ENS announces sub-domains.

Mar 10

To the DeFi community,

This week, Coinbase has launched a product called Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS), which enables companies to create customisable Web3 wallets within their own apps.

WaaS enables companies to build native wallets straight into their own applications, creating a more seamless experience without redirecting users to any external app. The service aims to make onboarding as simple as it is with Web2 applications, by getting rid of complicated 24-word recovery phrases.

Instead, WaaS uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology, allowing a key to be split between the end-user and Coinbase.

Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong

1/ Today, Coinbase is launching Wallet as a Service, a scalable and secure set of wallet infrastructure APIs, enabling companies to easily create fully customizable onchain wallets for their users and apps. coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-…

Ethereum infrastructure organization MolochDAO has revealed a demo of “Privacy Pools” – a new coin mixing service designed to preserve privacy but still comply with local regulations.

Privacy Pools uses zero-knowledge proofs to enable users to blacklist sanctioned wallets, without revealing their identities. Tornado Cash contributor Ameen Soleimani says that MolochDAO's members "rage-built" the project in response to a proposal rejection.

Although a demo has been released, the protocol is yet to launch on any mainnet.

ameen.eth @ameensol

1/ We fixed @TornadoCash 😇 v0 of privacypools.com is live on @optimismFND test out the demo, but please note: - this is experimental code - it has not been audited - the trusted setup is untrusted read the full story anon 🧵👇

ameen.eth @ameensol

I sincerely hope no one thought we were finished https://t.co/YVpSMtjeCd

In an interesting mash-up of decentralization and compliance, DeFi company Violet has announced Mauve, a “compliance-focused” decentralized exchange.

Mauve requires users to pass rigorous compliance checks and offers transparent, audited smart contracts and instant settlement without intermediaries.

The exchange has raised $15m in a funding round backed by investors including Coinbase Ventures and Brevan Howard.

Mauve @mauve_org

Introducing Mauve, the first Decentralized Exchange (DEX), where you can trade trustless & fully compliant. It’s privacy-protective, non-custodial, and eliminates counterparty risk. Why is this a big deal? A thread👇 1/7

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is releasing a new feature allowing users to create subdomains with pre-specified parameters, using its name wrapper smart contract.

This will enable users to create subdomains such as abc.xyz.eth, which can be lent out to others, and manage permissions using a feature called "Fuses."

Evan15 | Management.eth @Evan15_eth

ENS subdomains eliminate the need for centralized subdomains such as email usernames Decentralized subdomains are the future of digital identity🧵👇 1/6

DeFi development has remained both productive and interesting over the last week, most notably with Coinbase’s Wallet-as-a-Service, which has the potential to assist with onboarding the next wave of users into the ecosystem.

Since the beginnings of DeFi, one of the largest barriers to entry has been the wallet setup process; a typically tedious process that involves backing up a long seed phrase, or risking losing your assets forever. WaaS’s work-around using “multi-party computation” secures a users’ assets, while eliminating the cumbersome wallet setup procedure.

This, combined with building native wallets into third-party applications, may finally be the seamless method needed to get new users into the ecosystem. Instead of being intimidated by new apps and foreign setup processes, new potential users will feel as though they’re using the Web2 processes that they’re used to – getting them straight through the door.

We also have multiple improvements to existing platforms or protocols, such as Rocket Pool launching “minipools” and enabling ETH holders to stake with just 8 Ether, rather than the typical 32 or 16 ETH. The new MolochDAO Privacy Pools may also present a potentially non-sanctionable version of Tornado Cash, bringing functional privacy back to Ethereum.

Several other interesting developments have also come to light this week, with too many to list here – a truly good sign for the adaptability of DeFi.

On the other hand, we’re still battling regulators at full capacity. Some of these battles are worrying for the sector, especially in the US, which may drive innovation elsewhere on the planet.