The Xverse wallet is one of the first and most advanced Bitcoin wallets focusses on Web3 and the Stacks sidechain on Bitcoin. With Xverse users can easily swap tokens, trade digital assets, connect to DeFi, and access many other Defi applications on Bitcoin. With a particular focus on Stacks (STX) which is secured by the Bitcoin blockchain. Xverse not only functions as a Bitcoin wallet but also as a Dapps browser. The wallet is a full Bitcoin-only, non-custodial software wallet. And brings a similar ecosystem as Ethereum to Bitcoin.
What is Stacks?
The Stacks blockchain with its STX token is one of the sidechains on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that focuses on building a Web3 ecosystem on top of Bitcoin. Stacks has become famous over the years as the NFT and Web3 layer on top of Bitcoin. With some hypes like City Coins that were created on top of Stacks.
Stacks can basically do all that Ethereum does but is instead secured by Bitcoin’s Proof Of Work (POW). The sidechain works with a specific Proof of Transfer model which lets stakers of the STX token earn Bitcoin on the main chain and lets Bitcoin miners earn STX tokens. These STX tokens can then again be used on the Stacks side chain for transacting and in other Defi protocols.
One of the great things about Stacks is that the layer 2 is much faster and cheaper than Bitcoin and a transaction usually costs much less than 1 cent. Because of these cheap transactions, even Defi transactions cost often less than 1 cent. Making it much more affordable than on Ethereum.
Setting up Xverse wallet
Setting up an Xverse wallet is quite simple. First, download the wallet for your device. This can be for mobile phones or browser extensions. Just like with most other wallets, the app will ask you to create a backup code which will then check if you wrote it down correctly. Make sure that you write it down properly and keep it in a safe place. Because the Xverse wallet is a non-custodial wallet. This means that if you lose the wallet and the backup, no one will be able to access your funds.
Besides making a backup there is not a lot of setup to be done for the wallet. So you can now just go ahead and use it. However, because it is a Bitcoin/Stacks wallet, you can't really do a lot with it if you don't have any STX tokens. So make sure you have some of them if you want to use the wallet.
Looks & design
With a dark look and standard black colors, the Xverse wallet gives a calm feel when using the wallet. Because of the way the wallet is set up, it is very practical and not at all too overstimulating to the eyes. With a simple 5 tabs for your coins, NFTs, a staking portal, Dapp browser, and settings.
Especially for the NFT collector this wallet gives an extra good overview as it displays all the NFTs not just by name but also with a picture. Only if you would have a lot of NFTs the page could get a bit messy as there is no way to sort between them. But besides that, the rest of the app has a nice and good overview. And gives you the possibility to also bookmark your favorite Dapps.
However, not many Dapps are currently listed in the app as there are not yet that many active Dapps within the Stacks ecosystem. But as Web3 on Bitcoin grows the number of Dapps provided here will most likely grow with it.
Features
Xverse has a view of nice features that make it stand out:
- NFT gallery display
- Support for cheap transactions on a Bitcoin sidechain
- Web3 browser
- Buildin' staking portal
Improvements
No wallet is perfect and even the best wallets could use some improvements. So for the Xverse wallet, we also found some that we think might improve the wallet and the user experience. The first would be to add a way to sort NFTs into some sort of folder. Although we didn't run into this problem yet, we can imagine that when you have more than 50 NFTs, the whole NFT gallery will become one big mess. So to make it more clear it would be nice to see a way how users can put their NFTs into a folder. But also choose to display them all on the NFT tab if they would like.
Second, we think that an option to use the Bitcoin lightning network within the wallet would also be great. Not only because that would bring all great Bitcoin options to one wallet but also because it would make it much easier to adopt for non-web3 people. This option could of course be custodial or noncustodial depending on what Xverse would prefer to go with. And if they would add the lightning network they could also add a swap between chain feature. So users could swap from lightning to main and main to Stack if they would like to do so.
Staking Stacks in Xverse
Xverse Wallet did make it as easy as it can be to join the list of Stacks validators and stake your STX tokens. To do this you will only need to go to the 3rd tab for staking. Click on Stake STX and select how much STX you would like to stake. You sign the transaction within your wallet and tada. Your STX is staked and the interest earned will be paid out directly to your BTC wallet. So simple can it be to stake a token.
But if you have your STX locked in the staking contract and want to get it out you can do so every stacking cycle. Which is around 15 days. So you can un-stake every 15 or enter a stake for the next Stacking cycle.
What devices can I use for Xverse?
The wallet is already available for both Android, iOS, and as a Chrome extension. This means that almost 99% of people can use the wallet if they want. Just make sure that you download an up-to-date version and keep yours up to date as well. And that when you download the wallet you do so from a trusted place. So that you do not install a malicious crypto wallet and can trust that your coins are in a safe wallet.
Is Xverse wallet safe?
Like many others, the Xverse wallet is a non-custodial wallet. This means that only you have access to the coins inside and the private key. The safety of the wallet and its funds thus lay in your hands. To protect yourself and make sure your coins are safe you could make a strong backup. But also take care of proper device security with things like a strong password, VPN, and a virus scanner.
Who is behind Xverse Wallet?
From their website, it is not directly clear who is the team and its founders. But after some searching on the internet, you can already quickly find out some things about the team. Some of the members that we thought stood out are:
- Ken Liao-Yukan - CEO/founder
- Elizabeth Alice Olson - Head of Growth
- Abdul Haseeb - Senior mobile engineer
- Denys Hriaznov - Senior software engineer
To improve transparency they could put some of their faces on the website. To build more trust with the wallet users.
Conclusion
Xverse wallet is a fantastic wallet for Bitcoin, Stacks, and the future of Web3 on top of Bitcoin. However, it could become even more by integrating the lightning network and transforming it into an everything Bitcoin hub. We have been happily using Xverse ourselves, and it has become our go-to wallet when it comes to Stacks. Because of this we also added it to our list of best Bitcoin wallets. So if you haven't tried it, yet it is definitely a wallet worth trying out.
<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4077738242678100"
crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<!-- in between ads -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:block"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-4077738242678100"
data-ad-slot="7668301134"
data-ad-format="auto"
data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
.webp)