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· 4 min read
Florian Bouron

Introduction

In the early days of the internet, it was common for individuals to have a single online identity that they used for all of their internet activities. This made it relatively easy for people to build a reputation and for others to trust them online. However, as the internet has grown and become more complex, the idea of a single online identity has become increasingly problematic.

Web3 and multi-persona

Enter web3 and the concept of multi persona. Web3 refers to the third generation of the internet, which is characterized by the use of decentralized technologies such as blockchain and peer-to-peer networks. One of the key features of web3 is the ability for individuals to have multiple online identities, or "personas," that they can use for different purposes, such as work, personal life, or specific online activities.

What does it bring?

This is a significant shift from the web2 model, where individuals typically had a single online identity that was tied to their real-world identity. With web3 and multi persona, individuals can create multiple online identities that are completely separate from their real-world identity, allowing them to engage in different activities online without having to worry about their reputation being tarnished.

So why is the ability to have multiple personas important? There are a few key reasons:

  1. Privacy: One of the biggest concerns with the internet is the lack of privacy. With web3 and multi persona, individuals can have multiple identities that they use for different purposes, allowing them to keep their personal information private and separate from their online activities.
  2. Reputation management: In the web2 world, it was easy for individuals to build a reputation that was tied to their real-world identity. However, this could also be a liability if an individual made a mistake or engaged in activities that were not in line with their reputation. With web3 and multi persona, individuals can create separate identities for different activities, allowing them to manage their reputation more effectively.
  3. Increased security: In the web2 world, individuals were often targeted by hackers who were able to gain access to their online accounts and steal sensitive information. With web3 and multi persona, individuals can create separate identities for different activities, making it more difficult for hackers to target them and increasing their overall security.

Overall, the rise of web3 and multi persona is a significant shift in the way that individuals interact with the internet. It allows individuals to have greater control over their online identity and reputation, while also increasing their privacy and security. As web3 technologies continue to mature, it is likely that the use of multi persona will become increasingly common, fundamentally changing the way that we think about our online identities.

How to create and manage a multi-persona with GemWallet?

In order to add a new wallet click on the "Wallet Icon" button.

GemWallet home screen
  1. Click on the "Plus" button.
GemWallet add wallet button
  1. Confirm your password, and then either "Create a new wallet" or "Import a new wallet".
GemWallet add a new wallet

Steps to follow when creating multi-persona

There are several steps you can follow to create and manage a multi-persona:

  1. Determine your purpose: Decide what you want to use your multi-persona for and what aspects of your identity you want to separate. This will help you to decide which personas to create and how to manage them.
  2. Create your personas: Create different wallets within GemWallet.
  3. Use your different wallets for different purposes: To further separate your personas, use your wallets for different purposes. For exemple use one wallet for buying things for your home and another one to buy the gifts for your partner. This can help to prevent your personas from being linked together through shared IP addresses or other identifying information.
  4. Be consistent: To maintain the integrity of your personas, be consistent in the information you provide and the activities you engage in with each one. This will help to prevent your personas from being linked together.
  5. Regularly review and update: Periodically review and update your personas to ensure that they are still serving their intended purpose and are not being linked together.

By following these steps, you can create and manage a multi-persona to maintain privacy and security online and separate different aspects of your online identity.

· One min read
Florian Bouron

How to import my XUMM wallet to GemWallet?

GemWallet allows you to import your secret keys into the extension.

If you want to import your secret keys from XUMM to GemWallet you will have to import your private keys and add them into GemWallet.

  1. Open GemWallet and type your password

  2. Add a new wallet

In order to add a new wallet click on the "Wallet Icon" button.

GemWallet home screen
  1. Click on the "Plus" button.
GemWallet add wallet button
  1. Confirm your password, and then click on "Import a new wallet".
GemWallet import new wallet
  1. Add your secret numbers

Click on "Secret numbers" and add your secret numbers that you obtained from XUMM wallet.

GemWallet secret numbers

Congratulation! You have successfully imported your XUMM wallet to GemWallet.

· 4 min read
Florian Bouron

GemWallet Beta - looking for beta testers

Introduction

GemWallet has already presented its beta version in a previous article, but now are working hard on version 2.0.0.

You can find the last source code of version 2.0.0 on the release/2.0.0 branch.

In this article, I am going to explain to you what changes in this version and what is planned on the TODO list before going to the Chrome Store.

What's new?

🌱 Features:

  1. Refactor transaction payment API

    • Make the payload simpler
    • Return the hash of the transaction in case of a successful transaction
    • Return an error in case of an unsuccessful transaction
  2. Inform the user when the password is wrong

  3. Allow the user to go to the previous page on import seed phrase or create a new wallet

  4. Inform users when they don't have enough funds in their wallet before executing a transaction

🧰 Tech Improvements:

  1. Replace constants by enum
  2. Properly catch errors
  3. Refactor onboardings
  4. Disconnect the WebSocket to the ledger before the extension closes
  5. Catch errors within Sentry

And much more, you can check the release 2.0.0 pull request to see the other improvements.

How to install it?

To install the last beta version, it's pretty easy:

  1. Download it here

  2. Extract the zip file you have just downloaded

  3. Install it in your web browser:

    • Chrome: At the top right, click on More, "More tools" and then "Extensions".
    • Brave: At the top right, click on More, then "Extensions".
  4. Activate the developer mode by switching on the slider

  5. Click on "Load unpacked" and select the folder of your extension.

  6. Congrats 🎉 you now have GemWallet installed.

The video below is put at the right timestamp to show you how to install GemWallet within your web browser.

How to use it?

To use GemWallet, you need to use the GemWallet API described in the documentation.

Unfortunately, the documentation is not up to date as the package is still under development.

I am going to show you how to connect the version beta with the following code snippet:

import { isConnected, sendPayment } from "@gemwallet/api";

export function Checkout() {
const handlePayment = () => {
// We make sure that we are connected to the ledger with the isConnected API
isConnected().then((isConnected) => {
if (isConnected) {
const transaction = {
amount: "0.999999",
destination: "rNvFCZXpDtGeQ3bSas15wGLN6N2stGmA9o",
};
// We send the payment to the extension which will forward it to the XRP Ledger
sendPayment(transaction)
.then((trHash) => {
// If the transaction is a success, the promise returns a transaction hash
console.log("Transaction Hash: ", trHash);
})
.catch((e) => {
console.log("THE ERROR: ", e);
});
} else {
console.log("You are not connected");
}
});
};

return (
<button
onClick={handlePayment}
className="mt-10 w-full bg-indigo-600 border border-transparent rounded-md py-3 px-8 flex items-center justify-center text-base font-medium text-white hover:bg-indigo-700 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2 focus:ring-offset-2 focus:ring-indigo-500"
>
PAY
</button>
);
}

In order to don't pollute the npm repository of GemWallet the beta is under the package: @gemwallet-beta/api.

The code above is extracted from this repository where you can have an example of implementation: https://github.com/FlorianBouron/gemwallet-store-demo/tree/release/2.0.0

How to give feedback?

Giving us feedback has never been that easy, there are a few ways:

What's next?

  • Improvements in explaining the reserved amount within the Ledger
  • Enable GemWallet to be connected to the mainnet
  • Answer to your feedback
  • Create a Sign Method to allow authentication within web3 pages
  • Make the 2.0.0 release
  • And much more (Stay tuned for the next announcements, follow us on Twitter).

· One min read
Florian Bouron

GemWallet and Ripple

Today I would like to announce to you that GemWallet was awarded $75,000 to push the web 3.0 crypto payment onto the web.

The grant was awarded during the XRPL Grant Wave 3, which is an international program funded by Ripple. It will help us to accelerate the development of GemWallet and give us visibility through the XRPL (XRP Ledger) community.

GemWallet allows you to pay in crypto currency through the XRPL with a web extension, one click you validate the operation with your password and it’s done! As easy as using Apple Pay or Google Pay. The difference is that the payments are low fees ($0.0002 per transaction on average) and fast (3-5 seconds) to get from one account to another.

Here is the high level sneak peek of our roadmap:

  1. Connect GemWallet to the mainnet and publish it to the Chrome Store
  2. Allow user to import their wallets via Mnemonic and secret numbers
  3. Support different wallet within GemWallet instead of only one wallet
  4. Accept other tokens than XRP
  5. Compatibility with Mozilla Firefox and not only Chrome, Edge and Brave
  6. WooCommerce plugin
  7. More developer features…
  8. And much more…

· 2 min read
Florian Bouron

Introduction

Today, I wanted to give an update on GemWallet and share a few videos to help you get started on how to use the beta version before it gets published on the chrome store.

Installation

Below, you can find a video showing you step by step how to install the beta version of GemWallet:

Importing and adding a wallet with GemWallet

GemWallet is currently supporting only the testnet. The following video will show you how to get a testnet wallet with GemWallet or import an existing testnet wallet. After having a wallet within GemWallet, you will be ready to use GemWallet to its full potential and have an XRPL web3 experience within your web browser.

Tutorial: Creation of a donation website

In the following video, we will show you how to create a donation website with GemWallet and React.

· 4 min read
Florian Bouron

Introduction

Today, I would like to introduce GemWallet, a browser extension to make fast, easy and cheap (about 0.000008 USD) online crypto payments. I have been working on GemWallet since November 2021.

Below, you can find a demo of an online payment made with GemWallet on the test net of the XRPL (XRP Ledger). The video may seem technical, but no worries, I am saying a few technical words for my developer audience.

Why GemWallet?

GemWallet is a web extension that allows you to make online payments with one click on the XRPL. It also provides an API that bridges web browsers to the blockchain, allowing developers to easily build web3 applications integrated with XRP. Our vision is really oriented toward payments, micro-payments, donations and payment streaming. Tomorrow we could also support NFTs on XRPL and be a part of the metaverse.

When I was developing web3 applications on Ethereum and Solana, I was impressed by its user experience (Metamask, Phantom...) but unfortunately, I couldn't find a similar experience on the XRPL. After looking on the web, I found the video of Moralis with Wietse Wind talking about XUMM wallet . In this video, Wietse is saying that XUMM is a mobile application and is not focusing on the web. This is the missing element that GemWallet is addressing. On top of that, GemWallet is going to help the ecosystem grow. For instance, GemWallet will be empowering streaming payments, which could be a gate to:

  • Blog article subscription per second of reading
  • Video streaming per second of watching
  • Online classes per second of learning

We do need a bridge between our browser and the blockchain and we strongly believe the solution is GemWallet and the XRP Ledger.

Why the XRPL?

Our vision is to enable crypto payments on the internet. We want to create a world where crypto payments are easier and more secure. We believe XRPL is the most relevant one for several reasons:

  • Transfer fees are very low.
  • It is fast and secure.
  • XRPL is used by banking corporations (Bank of America, Saudi British Bank, Santander, American Express ...).
  • XRPL is a carbon-neutral ledger, enhancing our core values.

What about the developer experience?

Developers will be able to integrate to the XRPL much easier, which will bring more users to the XRP ledger and web3. Before starting the project I have discussed it with developers in the crypto industry and they confirmed that a wallet browser extension would solve the issue of integrating the XRPL to the web3.

As well our code is fully open sourced, you can find it here: https://github.com/GemWallet.

If you ever get stuck or need some help you can read our FAQ or see our showcases.

How about the roadmap?

As for now, GemWallet is available only on the XRPL testnet, we will release it on the mainnet pretty soon.

Here is our closest roadmap (on the 9th of April 2022):

  • Publication of the extension in the Chrome Store
  • Connect GemWallet to the mainnetConnect GemWallet to the mainnet
  • Allow users to create a new wallet from GemWallet - currently supporting only importing wallets
  • Support different wallets - currently supporting only one
  • List user's tokens (other than XRP)
  • Authorize payments to be done in other tokens (tokens supported by the XRPL)
  • Ensure compatibility with Mozilla Firefox and not only with Chromium based browsers (Chrome, Edge and Brave)
  • Provide XUMM Wallet import to GemWallet - better experience within the XRP ecosystem
  • Build an extension for WooCommerce
  • Allow payment streaming
  • And much more...

We would love contributors and testers! You can find the code base here and can submit bugs/feature requests here or in our discord.

If you want to contact me, feel free to reach out to me on twitter.

We also have a discord right here: https://discord.gg/CnkP9KGHBe

All our last updates are available on GemWallet's twitter account.