Besides managing smart contract accounts, smart wallets that use the ERC-4337 standard offer the simplicity of conventional EOA (Externally-Owned Account) wallets with additional flexibility and security benefits. However, integration of account abstraction (AA) sets wallets like Ambire apart from existing browser wallets. It makes supporting existing EOAs possible and also unlocks derived smart accounts without compromising the EOA security model.
Ambire recently launched a gamified campaign enabling early extension beta users to seamlessly adopt smart accounts and AA. The incentivized campaign aims to educate users on smart account benefits. Users create an Ambire account, connect to the Legends dApp, and choose an RPG-styled character. They earn XP points as they perform on-chain actions, advancing their character up from level 0 and unlocking rewards in the process.
A combination of narrative background, visual style, and gameplay mechanics typically defines RPG (role-playing game) characters. Their (often) rich, elaborate backgrounds explain their personality traits and vice versa, providing insight into their motivations, just like individuals in the real world. In that sense, they can reflect traits and features the player wishes to adopt. Players can adjust or develop a character's attributes to match their play style, including traits like charisma, strength, intelligence, etc.
AA is the missing link
Account abstraction is a blockchain technology allowing people to use smart contracts as their accounts. AA aims to improve user security and experience in the crypto space by enabling users to establish their own wallet management rules. It provides features such as recovery mechanisms, governance, and code execution.
An EOA allows the user to generate cryptographic pairs of keys: a public one to create addresses and a private one letting them control the account. The account and the signer are the same entity within the EOA framework. This way, a pseudonymous user network can transfer value in a permissionless environment. However, the design lacks features inherent to AA, which alleviate the friction users experience when interacting with blockchain technologies. The ERC-4337 standard upgrades AA, enabling users to set up non-custodial wallets as programmable smart contracts and providing team wallets, easy wallet recovery, signless transactions, etc.
Exploring the connection between RPG and AA
The connection between RPG and AA lies in the shared principles of customization, flexibility, and dynamic management of roles, assets, and permissions. Characters often have unique roles in RPGs, such as warriors, as well as customizable skills and attributes. In AA, users can customize their blockchain accounts with specific roles and permissions, allowing them to behave in ways beyond simple wallet functionality. Examples include executing multi-sig transactions and enforcing programmable spending limits. Both systems prioritize user-defined functions and adaptability for gameplay mechanics and transaction logic, respectively.
Managing assets and inventory
RPG characters manage inventories, including weapons, armor, and consumables, often with restrictions, like a weight limit. In AA, accounts manage cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other digital assets according to smart contract rules, such as limiting asset transfers according to specific terms. Both systems incorporate mechanisms for managing resources according to specific rules, providing structure and strategic control.
The parallels in permission systems
Team members in RPGs often have different roles that require them to cooperate. Permission systems govern who uses certain skills or assets. Likewise, AA-enabled wallets allow multiple users or roles to co-manage an account, mirroring cooperative RPG mechanics. Both emphasize role-based functionality to achieve shared goals.
Reflecting the user's personality and experience
RPG characters are designed to reflect individual player traits, choices, and strategies, giving a sense of agency and ownership. Similarly, abstracted accounts prioritize user experience by allowing more intuitive interactions with the blockchain, such as gasless transactions. Both systems aim to empower users with tools to customize their experience and simplify the underlying mechanics.
The evolution of smart wallets: flexible and user-centric
The smart wallets of the future integrate principles of RPGs and AA to ensure a flexible, user-centric experience. They borrow RPG concepts like progression, roles, and customization, fusing them with AA's technical advantages to offer more intuitive and powerful wallet functionalities. Smart wallets assign roles or permissions to users or sub-accounts. The owner has full control over the wallet, the guardian is responsible for backup or recovery, and the spender has limited permissions for daily transactions. The wallet might distribute access among family members, each with specific permissions. For example, one approves transactions, the other spends, etc.
Ambire is propelling an innovative concept involving visual design and gamification. RPGs' visual appeal, gamified mechanics, and progress indicators make them engaging. Likewise, smart wallets can use gamification and visual elements to enhance user experience, such as dynamic dashboards displaying portfolio growth or progress bars for wallet setup or achieving milestones. A wallet might display DeFi earnings as XP and use milestones to reward users, e.g., based on a set number of completed transactions.
One final parallel involves ecosystem synergy. RPG characters interact with vendors and non-playable characters. The wallets of the future seamlessly engage with gaming apps, staking and lending platforms, and NFT marketplaces.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
