Why Self-Custody Wallets Still Struggle with User Experience
Web3 wallets, including Girin Wallet, have long sought to build a distinct identity around values such as decentralization, self-custody, and non-custodial architecture. These principles are central to the Web3 ethos and are increasingly gaining traction among users. However, in jurisdictions with strict regulatory frameworksâsuch as the United States, Japan, South Korea, and several EU member statesâthe number and severity of unresolved challenges continue to grow.
Girin Wallet has identified the following key challenges:
Regulatory friction between CEXs and Self-Custody wallets
High technical barriers for non-expert users
Structural trust and security issues between users and dApps
1. Regulatory Friction Between CEXs and Self-Custody Wallets
For most users, their first experience with crypto assetsâand their initial storage methodâcomes via centralized exchanges. In the U.S., this includes Coinbase, Kraken, and Uphold. In South Korea, leading platforms include Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone.
A common trend across these regions is clear: the user base for self-custody wallets remains significantly smaller than that of CEXs.
This discrepancy largely stems from the regulatory disconnect between custodial environments(CEXs) and self-custodial tools(wallets). While CEXs must comply with strict regulations such as KYC and AML, self-custody wallets operate under a user-sovereign model, often outside formal oversight. As a result, users can encounter greater procedural friction when attempting to bridge between the two.
2. High Technical Barriers for Non-Expert Users
Self-custody wallets empower users with full control over their assetsâbut this control comes with corresponding responsibility and technical complexity. For non-technical users, concepts like seed phrases (mnemonic or private keys), network selection, and fee configuration are not intuitive. Mistakes in these processes can result in permanent and irreversible asset loss.
Even users who agree with the ethos of decentralization often hesitate to engage due to these usability challenges.
To address this, Girin Wallet initially adopted a social login onboarding process and offered continuous educational content to simplify wallet creation and usage. However, such efforts alone are not enough to address the root technical complexity that underlies the Web3 experience.
3. Structural Trust and Security Issues Between Users and dApps
In a decentralized environment, users interact directly with dApps (decentralized applications). These interactionsâlacking intermediariesârely heavily on user trust and security awareness. The following structural issues continue to present serious risks:
Opaque signing requests: Users often approve transactions without fully understanding what they are authorizing.
Malicious dApps: Fraudulent platforms that mimic legitimate services can trick users into revealing wallet access and siphon assets.
Poor permission control: Users may grant persistent permissions that are difficult to revoke or monitor via wallet interfaces.
The risks increase significantly for users lacking strong security awareness, making this one of the most critical adoption barriers in Web3.
Girin Walletâs Strategic Approach to Solving These Challenges
Building a Bidirectional Model That Aligns With Regulation
Girin Wallet continuously analyzes legal frameworks across key jurisdictions (U.S., Japan, Korea, EU) to define a compliant interface model for self-custody wallets. Rather than avoiding regulation, Girin Wallet is focused on designing interoperable structures that preserve user autonomy while aligning with centralized exchange requirements.
The goal is to establish a bidirectional trust model where both regulators and users can confidently engage with self-custody infrastructure.
Tackling Technical Complexity Through Ecosystem Collaboration
While Girin Wallet has lowered onboarding friction through social login flows and educational materials, this alone cannot address fundamental challenges like seed phrase recovery, transaction signing, and multi-chain compatibility.
To solve this, Girin Wallet is building an ecosystem-wide collaboration model, working with dApp developers, infrastructure providers teams.
Establishing a Trust-Centric Interaction in Web3
To resolve the security and UX gap between users and dApps, Girin Wallet collaborates with industry-leading Web3 infrastructure projects, including:
Rewon (WalletConnect): Standardizes wallet-dApp interactions, offering transparent signing workflows and improving user confidence.
Axelar: Provides secure cross-chain messaging infrastructure, enabling asset transfers and communications across multiple chains with consistency and safety.
Biconomy: Delivers UX-focused solutions such as gas abstraction and super transactions, allowing even non-technical users to enjoy a seamless and sophisticated Web3 experience.
