Episode 031: 07‐19‐2024 The Three Wallet Problem - GluuFederation/identerati-office-hours GitHub Wiki
Title: The Three Wallet Problem
- Host: Mike Schwartz, Founder/CEO Gluu
- Guest: Dan Robertson, Founder & Author Product Intuition
Description
Decentralized identity wallets are the keys to unlocking vast potential business value. But when misaligned with user expectations, wallets become a closed valve to hold back the rising tide. The implications of the "Three Wallet Problem are profound. If you are interested in decentralized identity adoption, you won't want to miss this pivotal Identerati Office Hours episode!
Homework
- Wallet Strategy Part 3: The Three-Wallet Problem
- Apple, Goolge, Microsoft cross platform verifiable presentation interop demo at IIW
Takeaways
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We can't ask consumers to install a wallet for each issuer or verifier. While user fatigue might not set in at three wallets, certainly by wallet thirty, most people will give up. If this is the case, is there any room for wallet providers other then Microsoft, Google, and Apple?
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The essential technology behind a wallet is the storage of private keys--and the ability to restore these keys to a new device in the event that the device is lost, or maybe you have more then one device. How different is this problem from passkeys? This also points to the big three OS vendors becoming dominant in the wallet space.
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Decentralized identity is a "multi-sided market" where the benefits from network effects increase as more users from each group join. For example, credit card ecosystems need people with credit cards, retail stores with point of sale devices, and banks issuers. We can't focus on the needs of consumers alone to build a Wallet product.
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Open source wallet components will be important to provide the building materials for startups (and other organizations) that want to focus on solving business problems, not on the non-differentiated infrastructure. Who will use these, for what applications, in what time frame... it's unclear.