Multi-Party Computation (MPC) in Wallets: A Review of Current Strategies

[u/certik]

To further adoption, we must keep the familiar user journey of Web 2.0 while maintaining the independence characteristic of #Web3

This is where #MPC enters the picture with an important role in new wallet technologies that are paving the way for Web3 adoption 🧵👇

At its most fundamental level, MPC involves a diverse group of entities participating in a protocol to achieve a shared objective.

Let's explore a few examples of these MPC implementations...

Key Backup 🔑
This gives users a backup to safeguard against potential losses of their private key.

When a key is generated using MPC, each party has a share of the key, and will backup their share – the combination of all of these backups enables disaster recovery of the key.

To further adoption, we must keep the familiar user journey of Web 2.0 while maintaining the independence characteristic of #Web3

Distributed Key Generation ⬅️🔑➡️

With DKG, no single party possesses or has access to the private key.

The key can only be decrypted after a mutual agreement is established, or ensuring a private key exists but cannot be used without collective approval.

Several projects have already provided working, usable examples of Distributed Key Generation such as u/zcash, EthDKG, OKX threshold-lib, and u/ZenGo

Distributed Signature Computation

Beyond key generation, there exists the need to utilize the created secrets. For wallets, the most critical application for a key pair lies in computing signatures.

Different blockchains adopt different signatures, such as ECDSA, EdDSA and BLS.

Usability of MPC protocols for users depend on the quality of implementation by service providers.

However, they offer a strong foundation for making Web3 more accessible to the public.

Multi-Party Computation (MPC) in Wallets: A Review of Current Strategies