swarms/ideas/142-wallet-compatibility
Andrea Franz 0d00d307f6 completed idea 142 Wallet Compatibility (#271) 2018-05-28 12:50:48 +08:00
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README.md completed idea 142 Wallet Compatibility (#271) 2018-05-28 12:50:48 +08:00

README.md

id title status created category lead-contributor contributors exit-criteria success-metrics clear-roles future-iterations roles-needed
142-wallet-compatibility Wallet Compatibility Completed 2018-04-04 core pilu
pilu
antdanchenko
asemiankevich
flexsurfer
chadyj
jpbowen
yes yes yes yes

Meta

Idea: #142
Title: Wallet Compatibility
Status: Active
Created: 2018-04-04
Replaces (*optional): #94

Summary

Users should be able to use dapps on their browser and continue to use them with the same account in Status, and vice versa.

Swarm Participants

  • Lead Contributor: @pilu
  • Testing & Evaluation: @antdanchenko
  • Testing & Evaluation: @asemiankevich
  • Contributor: @flexsurfer
  • Contributor:
  • PM: @chadyj
  • UX (if relevant): @jpbowen

Product Overview

Other wallets used to interact with dapps, like MetaMask, Toshi, Cipher, etc., implements BIPs 39/32/44 like Status, and so they derive the keys starting from 12 mnemonic words.

Given that they use the same standards, users can start playing with a dapp with one of those apps, and continue with another one without problems. They can open one of the other apps, and use the same 12 mnemonic words to import their existing account (keys).

In Status, we implement the same standards to derive the keys starting from the 12 mnemonic words but using different parameters, and we use the password added as an extra entropy in the generation of the seed.

This means that users can click on "Add existing account" and successfully "import" an account with the 12 mnemonic words that they generated in a different wallet software. But this process ends up generating different keys and addresses. Since the generation of the key is different, the account and address are not the ones that the user expected to import. Users won't be able to log in to dapps with the same account they used previously, and won't be able to see the value and collectables they actually have in their wallet.

To fix this problem, in the Technical Overview we describe the changes that make the generation of the keys compatible with those other wallets.

Impacts Ideas #58-mainnet and #80-onboarding.

Technical overview

The changes have been already implemented in PR 858, and they already went through the security audit.

Changes:

  • update the BIP39 seed generation to use the salt "mnemonic" instead of "status-im" following BIP39.

  • update the master key generation using the constant "Bitcoin seed" instead of "status-im", following BIP32.

  • remove the use of the password in the salt during the BIP39 seed generation (password is not removed from the app in general, and it's still required to encrypt the keys on the device).

Relevant reading

User stories

  • As a user, I want to be able to use a dapp in Status, and then open the same dapp with the same account in a different Wallet Software, using the 12 mnemonic words.

  • As a user, I want to be able to use a dapp in an external app, and then using it in Status with the same account imported using the 12 mnemonic words.

Security and Privacy Implications

The changes went already through the security audit.

Minimum Viable Product

Goal Date: 2018-05-18

Description: users can import and export an account to and from Status.

Testing Days required:

Success Metrics

  • 5k daily active users (OKR 2.1 of Q2)
  • 20% of users send a transaction (OKR 2.4 of Q2)

Exit criteria

Users can use a single account/address for dapps and use it both in external apps and in Status.

Supporting Role Communication

Once deployed, the generation of the keys will change. It will be impossible to re-import an account created previously.

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.