From its humble beginnings in 2018, the WalletConnect Network has been the backbone of a growing onchain UX ecosystem, enabling millions of users to connect with thousands of apps and explore a digital world designed for ownership.
Since its inception, the WalletConnect Network has facilitated over 150 million connections for more than 23 million users, and today, hosts the monthly activity of over 4 million users making 15+ million connections.
In the past 12 months, the WalletConnect Network has grown by over 240%. Simply put, the WalletConnect Network plays a critical role in the $2+ trillion that flows throughout web3 today.
A critical component to the web3 landscape today, the WalletConnect Network has progressively worked toward a longstanding mission of becoming a fully open, permissionless, decentralized network that functions independently of any single entity, leading the way to a future designed for interoperability, connectivity and standardization. A future that is owned by everybody —and nobody.
Beginning its journey to decentralization in 2023, the Network has seen several pivotal milestones, including its migration from v1 to v2 in 2023 [link] and the introduction of its first node operators earlier this year, including Reown, Consensys, Kiln, Ledger, Luga Nodes, 1kx, Figment, and Sensei Nodes.
As the next critical phase of that journey, the WalletConnect Network will introduce the Connect Token (WCT), the Network’s native currency powering the onchain UX ecosystem.
Introducing Connect Token (WCT) — the native token of the WalletConnect Network
The Connect Token (WCT) is an important utility token of the WalletConnect Network, launched by the WalletConnect Foundation.
WCT plays a key role within the WalletConnect Network, helping to fuel UX innovation across web3 and enable a more usable onchain landscape. Powering the onchain UX ecosystem, WCT will have four key functions focused on providing both individuals and organizations with the ability to better shape the user experience standards of the future digital landscape we are collectively building, and ensure that the evolution of onchain experiences is driven by real user needs. Holders have a stake in the future of onchain UX and to participate in community-driven innovation.
The four key functions of the token are:
- Fees: WCT holders may propose, discuss, and decide upon the introduction of fees through governance mechanisms as a long-term economic model of the network. These would be used, for example, by projects to pay for network services like relay usage.*
- Rewards: Tokens are distributed by the Network as incentives to keep the Network secure and efficient.
- Staking: Users can stake tokens to receive rewards and take part in governance.
- Governance: WCT holders can vote on proposals and changes, giving the community control over the network’s development through decentralized governance.*
Empowering an onchain future of utility, usability, and unparalleled value
The WalletConnect Foundation, alongside node operators and community contributors, will play a critical role in supporting the growth, security, and decentralization of the WalletConnect Network and the expansion of the WalletConnect ecosystem.
About The WalletConnect Foundation
Formed in 2024, the WalletConnect Foundation is dedicated to building and facilitating a permissionless, decentralized ecosystem that is both powered by and rewarding toward its community of builders and users, ultimately working towards the realization of an internet designed for choice, control, composability, and ownership.
Today’s web3 is simply unable to reach its full potential, blocked by the restraints of poor usability and limited accessibility. With the decentralization of the WalletConnect Network and the introduction of the WCT token, the WalletConnect Foundation believes this next phase of the network will blend utility and usability to deliver unparalleled value to the wider web3 landscape — building new bridges to bring the benefits of decentralization to meet the needs of the wider global digital community and align onchain incentives to prioritize better UX.
Pedro Gomes, Director of the WalletConnect Foundation says “Since WalletConnect’s inception in 2018 the goal was always for it to become critical and decentralized infrastructure for the onchain ecosystem, with the addition of WCT we are making that goal a reality. The WalletConnect Network has experienced 240% growth in the past 12 months, WCT will incentivize even more growth and bring in even more partners. We're excited to see the evolution of the Network and continue to play a pivotal role for a thriving onchain future”.
A thriving ecosystem built to grow and flourish
Though a vital element of a healthy ecosystem — the technology behind the WalletConnect Network cannot enable the vision for a better future alone. With over 40K+ app projects already having built upon the WalletConnect Network to date, its community is in an abundance of innovative, creative, and impactful applications for decentralization and onchain utility.
As the Network, market, and technology evolve, the WalletConnect Foundation envisions a robust suite of new functionalities and applications to be built on the WalletConnect Network. Advancements in areas such as identity, payments, onchain service charges, permissions and security are all innovations that participants of the WalletConnect Network are uniquely positioned to build and scale, all serving the mission to improve UX.
As the network continues along its ambitious path, those who value interoperability, connectivity, standardization, and consensus, and truly believe in a thriving digital future fueled by onchain innovation designed to truly make an impact are welcome to join and participate in building the onchain UX ecosystem.
Changes with WalletConnect Inc.
WalletConnect Inc. is now Reown. The WalletConnect Network operates independently from Reown. For AppKit, WalletKit, and other features and products, head to reown.com
** Governance and fees may be introduced at a later stage.*