About Argent

Argent was the first provider to implement a new wallet technology called "smart contract wallets", allowing more intelligent features to be implemented into wallets. This put the Argent wallet ahead of the race in terms of security, usability and utility features.

Available on iOS and Android this non-custodial wallet grants access to all the beneficial functionalities of the Ethereum ecosystem in a simple, user-friendly way. There is unfortunately no support for other Blockchains at the moment.

A novel way to Sign-Up

To sign up, you simply need to enter your mobile number and create a username (e.g johndoe.argent.xyz). From then on you can use your Argent wallet username whenever you want someone to send your funds instead of the usual hexadecimal address format that looks like this -> "0x56.....bc3".

We love the human readable address that makes sharing payment information a breeze. Read more about this blockchain naming service here.

No seedphrase back-up needed!!

While signing up, you'll notice that with Argent, unlike with other crypto wallets, there is no seed phrase backup needed. Many people new to crypto feel uncomfortable with the concept of seedphrases because in the event its lost, no one can help you recover your funds. Well aware of this problem, Argent, enabled by smart contracts, implemented a “social recovery” process, whereby nominated friends or family members called “Guardians” can help confirm a user’s account in the event of a lost or new phone. These trusted members won't have access to accounts, but simply fast-track the account recovery process when needed.

Under the hood, the smart contract simply assigns a new owner whenever a majority of guardians agrees to recover an account. So if you're re-installing the Argent wallet on a new phone after having lost your old phone, your Guardians will receive recovery requests, which if confirmed by them, makes your new phone the new owner of the Argent smart contract wallet.

You have three options who to assign as a Guardian of your Argent wallet:

• Argent Guard: a service built by Argent which checks if you're truly the owner by sending an e-mail and SMS to your new phone
• Friends & Family who use Argent
• Yourself using another Ethereum wallet like Metamask or even Hardware wallets

These three options give enough room to implement a security set-up that you feel comfortable with.

Additional security measures

To log-in to your account from the phone a PIN number is needed. Touch and Face ID check can be added on compatible devices. Should your account ever be compromised regardless of the PIN check, Argent lets users protect transactions by setting daily limits on how much funds can be sent out of your wallet on a given day. This is similar to how modern bank accounts work. For example, you can set your daily transaction limit to $2000. If you want to transact more than that or change your limit you will need to get this action authorized by your guardians.

Exempted by this transaction limit are transactions to your “trusted contacts”. These are crypto addresses that you have saved as contacts and labelled as "trusted". Another awesome security feature of the Argent wallet is that your “Guardians” can freeze your account if you think you have lost your phone and that your wallet is at risk.

Argent wallet: Your gateway to Ethereum apps

Native integrations of Ethereum’s best finance applications Maker, Compound and Kyber let you borrow lend and trade assets with incredible ease via the app (that’s right! no in-app browsers!). Whereas normally you would have to use these applications and the underlying smart contracts, in a broswer on a desktop computer, Argent integrates them natively into it's mobile app, which makes the experience super enjoyable and simple.

For applications that are not integrated natively into Argent, Argent supports Wallet Connect, an open standard to connect mobile wallets securely to desktop applications. Previously these desktop applications were only accessible through clunky browser extensions such as Metamask. With Wallet Connect you can connect your Argent Wallet to the desktop application of your choice by simply scanning a QR-code with your phone.

The app is beautifully designed with every interaction step well-thought out. This, combined with how feature rich the app is, makes Argent a great choice for both new and experienced users. Customer support can be reached via the app or on their Discord channel with same day responses by accommodating staff.

If that doesn’t keep customers happy, Argent is the only wallet provider that pays fees for peer-to-peer trasactions, on your behalf. So if you want to send Ether or other tokens to a friend, it's completely free. This doesn't cover more complex smart contract interactions like swapping tokens or opening a loan. Since every transaction on chain incurs costs which have to be paid to miners, this would cost Argent too much.

Tips & Tricks

A small but nifty trick that applies to the Argent wallet is that you can type your username in a browser bar (e.g "https://litocoen.argent.xyz") and see a screen that displays your Ethereum address. This comes in handy when you want to withdraw funds from a cryptocurrency exchange like Kraken or Coinbase on desktop to your Argent wallet and don't know the address by heart (nobody does). Using this shortcut you can simply copy the address and paste it back on the exchange page to complete your withdrawal. Your adress is also displayed in form of a QR-code so in case you have another mobile wallet which you want to use to send funds to your Argent wallet, you can scan the QR-code from this desktop screen.

Conclusion

Overall, Argent has succeeded in creating a wallet that offers bank-like security on a contemporary, decentralized platform. Its clever utilization of smart-contracts is a giant leap for blockchain technology and shows how to make its applications easily accessible for mainstream audiences.

If you want to know more about the Argent wallet make sure to check out our podcast with Argent's Head of Design and UX, Graeme Blackwood.