Circle launches Programmable Wallets as Part of its Web3 Services Line

On July 30th, 2015, the Genesis block of Ethereum was created. Eight years later, today Ethereum is the dominant blockchain network with growing developer interest, lower transaction fees, and faster settlement times. Yet, fewer than 0.5% of the 100 million developers worldwide are actively building crypto-enabled apps. While the blockchain community has made tremendous progress in scaling infrastructure, we can do more to simplify the development of blockchain-powered apps to expedite adoption.

Since the launch of USDC, the Open Source digital dollar APIs in 2018, Circle has strived to deliver the infrastructure to improve the user experience with blockchains. USDC is now in use on multiple networks, and earlier this year we unveiled Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) that enables USDC to flow natively across blockchains – unifying liquidity in Web3 and further enhancing UX. 

Today, I am happy to announce the launch of Programmable Wallets, the first product of our Web3 Services product line, that’s designed for developers to embed secure crypto wallets in any application and tap into the speed and global reach of Web3 technology for their users. Programmable Wallets bridge the gap between today’s internet and blockchain networks by abstracting complexities such as private key security, blockchain node operations, transaction management, interoperability across blockchains, and many others to enable developers to iterate on applications faster. 

Over 4,000 businesses are already building with USDC, and we have learned that wallets aren’t one-type-fits-all. Programmable Wallets offer developers the flexibility of choosing the right security controls to customize the wallet experience tailored to their use case. For instance, money management, trading, and DeFi apps must require users to control access, and sign every transaction to maximize ownership, game developers might want wallets that can initiate asset transfers without interrupting gameplay, and e-commerce companies may want to issue loyalty tokens without the added step for merchants and users to sign each NFT transfer. Offering a wallet infrastructure that allows wallets to be configured for each use case can increase customer satisfaction while maintaining security and usability. 

Programmable Wallets is designed for developers to tailor their wallets to the UX that best fits their app. Depending on their use case, developers can choose the best wallet security and control configurations. Some developers and enterprises may prefer to host an MPC node, while others will choose to get started quickly with Circle-hosted MPC nodes. Developers can choose to share transaction signing responsibilities with the users or ensure that each transaction is explicitly signed by the users. Our comprehensive APIs and SDKs offer developers the flexibility to support the app they’re building. 

Programmable Wallets is self-service end-to-end so developers can rapidly sign up, build, and deploy their first wallets and transactions in minutes. The developer console provides a one-stop-shop platform that provides the tools needed to debug, launch, and scale Web3 applications. 

With USDC, CCTP, Programmable Wallets, and our broader Web3 Services offering, our goal is to make it easy for developers to rapidly build, deploy, and scale blockchain-powered apps for a variety of use cases, regardless of the blockchain network they choose to build on. 

Programmable Wallets Core Features 

• User-controlled wallets: Configuration where only end-users are allowed to initiate transactions, giving them full control over their assets
• Developer-controlled wallets: Configuration that grants developers the ability to manage assets on behalf of their users, enabling a more familiar, streamlined experience
• REST APIs: A robust set of APIs to manage user-controlled and developer-controlled wallets, create users and wallets, and manage transactions
• iOS and Android SDKs for faster development and wallet UI customization.
• Webhooks for real-time status updates on incoming or outgoing transactions to keep your users’ experience up-to-date
• Wallet operations dashboard that enables developers to monitor transactions, provide support in case of failed transactions, reset security PINs when users get locked out, and more 
• Multiparty computation (MPC) cryptographic security is built into all wallets, with infrastructure managed by Circle
• Blockchains Agnostic: Build once, deploy on Avalanche, Ethereum, and Polygon. More blockchain networks coming soon. 
• Pay-as-you-grow with a rebate on USDC usage, starting at $0.05/Monthly Active Wallet. Unit price decreases as you grow. 
• More features coming soon: More features such as Gas Abstraction and Smart Contract Wallets in the coming months 

The Programmable Wallets Beta is available for businesses, developers, and builders today. Get started by signing up through our Web3 Services Developer Console. 

For feedback or feature requests connect with our team here. We are excited to see what you build!

Learn more about Programmable Wallets and get started today.

Programmable Wallets application programming interface (“API”) is offered by Circle Technology Services, LLC (“CTS”). CTS is not a regulated financial services company and the API does not include financial, investment, tax, legal, regulatory, accounting, business, or other advice. For additional details, please click here to see the Circle Developer terms of service.