Digital wallets are software constructs that mimic physical wallets and provide the functionality of storing, using and categorizing payment instruments. The journey of digital wallets started with payments and morphed to other forms of stubs such as digital passes, tickets and boarding passes. However, crypto wallets attempt to redefine the digital wallet landscape as something more than safe storage of payment and crypto instruments.
With more than 100 crypto wallets and growing, this sector in the cryptosphere is getting crowded and adding further complexity to an already fragmented blockchain and digital asset space. As I study this space and try to make sense of the complexity of new blockchains, layer-one protocols decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) projects emerging with exponential growth, I think crypto wallets will be the next battlefront as the wars of layer-one protocols eventually cool down. The core issues of scale, security and speed of transaction processing and layer-two protocol consolidate and morph as layer-one superiority aims for processing efficiency and security. Crypto wallets will not only provide an avenue to gain wallet share but will also represent the battle for mind share.