Privy, a platform that provides developer libraries to ease entry into crypto, has opened to the public.
The platform provides streamlined onboarding flows and wallet management for Web3 apps. It integrated with consumer crypto apps including Zora, OpenSea, friend.tech and Blackbird in the gated access phase.
The platform has notable backing: Sequoia led the 2022 seed round and Paradigm led last year’s $18 million Series A round.
Privy creates tools that developers can integrate to make their Web3 onboarding more user-friendly. Users can sign up for an app with an email address and have a wallet created behind the scenes — something OpenSea debuted late last year as part of its revived plan.
Among other things, Privy offers built-in wallets that run natively within apps, so users don’t have to rely on third-party clients like MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet.
Privy manages the wallets and keeps them secure through Shamir’s secret sharing, which splits the cryptographic keys that secure a wallet and only recombines it when the user logs in. Privy CEO Henri Stern told Blockworks that he stands behind his product’s security features, but he is agnostic. about whether apps should use the built-in wallet.
Instead of subjecting users to a software purity test, Stern said, as an app builder you should discover what’s right for your audience and build something that feels truly native and special to them, rather than forcing them to go their way. to draw. in the shape of your pile.”
Privy hopes to help clear the historic roadblock for consumer crypto apps of poor or inaccessible UX. The once-popular social media appfriend.tech required users to have a crypto wallet to sign up, and some users, for example, complained about an interface that was occasionally buggy.
This is part of the reason that despite all the developments in blockchain infrastructure, crypto apps – especially consumer apps – have been slow to emerge.
Read more: The crypto infrastructure is there, but where are the apps?
Stern said when the startup raised its Series A round six months ago, one of the slides in his pitch desk asked, “Does crypto really need more infrastructure?”
But Stern said he believes crypto is leaving its “infrastructure age” and entering its “app age.” This is part of the reason why Privy has chosen this moment to open up its product.
“I feel like for the first time there is real momentum behind consumer products in crypto,” Stern said.
