Crypto wallet startup Vault has announced that itâs launching a wallet that stores non-fungible tokens and other crypto collectibles on Appleâs App Store.
Co-founder John Egan told CoinDesk that the company is looking to make it easier for new users unfamiliar with blockchain to purchase these collectibles and hold them.
An issue with many current wallets and other tools, he said, is that they are focused on developers, rather than casual users. Decentralized apps (dapps) are one area he sees drawing potential new users into the space.
âThe motivation here is no one wants to build in an ecosystem that customers canât get access to, so itâs really important to build those on-ramps ⦠[Vault] doesnât present them with a lot of technical information, just gives them a way to start using [dapps],â Egan said.
Moreover, Vault will not list token prices or enable the trading of tokens, he said, adding:
âItâs like the early days of baseball cards, you didnât buy them to make 50 [times] their value later, you bought them to own them or trade them with your friends. I think thatâs the big opportunity with collectibles ⦠you want to have these things because you want them, not because youâre chasing [prices] ⦠I think thatâs what the future is, the utility is coming.â
âYou can kind of see it in the [user interface] ⦠the application doesnât attempt to encourage this idea of profit-seeking, it encourages this idea of holding things because you believe it has intrinsic value,â he said.
He likened his vision for Vault to Appleâs iOS, noting that while developers could already create apps for smartphones, introducing an ecosystem that made it easy to share and use apps spurred adoption.
âOur desire is to be the most used crypto wallet and sort of knock down barriers in terms of getting into the space,â he said. âI think collectibles have the best chance of bringing us out of the early adopter phase and moving into mainstream use, because most people are excited about these games.â
As part of its interface, users can add friends as contacts, negating the need to memorize or share complicated wallet addresses.
âWeâre not a trading desk, weâre not a Coinbase, weâre not a Gemini, weâre trying to be a utility. I think if weâre successful long-term, youâll begin to see this ecosystem flourish like you saw the web flourish,â he concluded.
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