SelfKey Product Progress Report September 2018
What’s New In This Version?
This month, we’ve released another version of the SelfKey Identity Wallet, version 0.2.0. If you are using an older version of the wallet, please restart the application and the new update will automatically download and install. If you’ve never downloaded the SelfKey Identity Wallet, you can get it here.
Released: Recommended Transaction Fees
On the Ethereum network, it’s often hard to figure out the correct amount for the transaction fee at any given moment. Selecting an amount too low causes your transaction to fail, which creates a frustrating user experience.
In the past month, we’ve been working on a solution to implement a real-time price check from the ETH Gas Station API, verifying the latest transaction fees on the network and using them as a recommended transaction fee from the SelfKey Identity Wallet. It will be displayed in both ETH/USD values to provide the best context.
For advanced users, you will also have the option to now set your own gas limits and gas prices. The interface will also display the transaction speeds of different gas prices under 30 minutes, under 5 minutes, and under 2 minutes.
Released: Minor UI Updates & Typeface Update
We’ve updated the main typeface in the SelfKey Identity Wallet from Proxima Nova to Lato. While we’ve enjoyed Proxima Nova from the first alpha to now, switching to a Google supported font will give us more flexibility in UI designs down the road across different platforms. If you run into any issues, please let us know at help@selfkey.org.
Update: SelfKey Marketplace Contract Audit
This month we have also started a comprehensive security audit of our Ethereum smart contract in the SelfKey Marketplace. This contract is responsible for handing the refundable KEY deposits based on the marketplace vertical. A KEY deposit is required to unlock different products and services within the SelfKey Marketplace. After 30 days (or another time duration that is set), you can retrieve your deposit from the contract.
When you deposit the required amount of KEY tokens to this contract, based on each marketplace, the wallet will check against your public key inside the wallet and unlock the appropriate product or service. There is also a second layer of ownership verification to make sure this is indeed an Ethereum address that you own.
Each vertical in the SelfKey Marketplace will have its own amount of KEY required as a refundable deposit. For the corporate version of the SelfKey Marketplace, the values will also be different as there are different requirements between B2B and B2C products.
Update: SelfKey Marketplace
XS2 Exchange: Our first integration partner on the Exchanges vertical of the SelfKey Marketplace will be an exchange based in Australia called XS2. Once the integration has passed QA on both sides, you will be able to one-click register a new account in the SelfKey Marketplace and login to their website with your Ethereum address via Login with SelfKey (“LWS”), our Chrome browser extension. You can learn more about XS2 here.
Incorporations Marketplace: We’ve started integrations with getting the incorporations listings ready. This started with gathering requirements for each jurisdiction based on their KYC requirements. For example some require a bank reference letter, while others are fine with just a utility bill. Once we had this data structure mapped out, we can apply it to the Identity Wallet and what documents or other information is needed to complete an application.
Update: Login With SelfKey
Signature Verification: To enhance the security of Login with SelfKey, we’ve added a functionality that checks for ownership of a public Ethereum address when logging into a website with LWS. This is required because the browser extension and SelfKey Identity Wallet have two different code bases that talk to each other.
Besides using SSL to communicate on your machine, we also want to make sure both Ethereum addresses used are indeed owned by the same person to prevent any spoofing or other malicious actions. This verification will be done on the backend, and there is no visual impact to using the application.
This ownership check will also be implemented in the SelfKey Marketplace, so that all parties involved can be more confident with who they are interacting with because ownership of the Ethereum addresses has been verified.
Update: New Development Team Members
In the past month, we’ve also had two new additions to our development teams. One will be working on KYC-Chain and the other on SelfKey. KYC-Chain is our B2B solution that offers a KYC solution to ICO companies, decentralized exchanges, and other organizations that need to conduct KYC checks on their users. For partners listed in the SelfKey Marketplace, many of the backend integrations and communications will be handled by KYC-Chain.
From a technical architecture perspective, this is easier to manage instead of one-off integrations with multiple counter parties that would be inefficient to maintain. It also offers a turn-key solution, where KYC-Chain can power their KYC administrative requirements while being listed in the SelfKey Marketplace and integrated with Login With SelfKey.
Update: Partnerships in September
CROSS: Cross is a next generation decentralized exchange platform. The partnership entails a number of technology integrations which will ensure an enhanced secure online experience for users. This is achieved by the integration of SelfKey’s identity management system with the CROSS platform.
Users will now be able to use Login with SelfKey (“LWS”) in order to access the platform in a fast and secure manner. More specifically, LWS gives users the ability to control, store and manage their online data. This partnership will help users to secure their digital identity and gives them complete discretion as to what information they wish to share with other platforms.
Dragonex: Dragonex is a cryptocurrency exchange operated out of Singapore with a focus on Chinese clients. The partnership will comprise three important aspects of the SelfKey ecosystem: Integrating Login with SelfKey on the Dragonex platform, listing of SelfKey’s “KEY” token on Dragonex, and listing Dragonex on SelfKey’s upcoming marketplace. Read more about the partnership here.
Conclusion
We hope you find these updates helpful in keeping up to date with our continued progress at SelfKey! September has been a month of incremental, yet important, updates that will help us scale in the future. If you have any feedback for feature modifications or product suggestions, feel free to share them at idea.selfkey.org. We look forward to sharing next months exciting updates!
