By skyforbes 
Background
In the development of the blockchain industry, wallets play a crucial role as one of the most important infrastructures. They serve as the bridge connecting users to the blockchain ecosystem. The growth of any public blockchain ecosystem relies heavily on quality wallets, just as Ethereum has benefited from the well-known MetaMask wallet. Polkadot, as one of the new-generation public chains, introduces a unique parachain architecture and cross-chain interoperability, bringing a new multi-chain ecosystem to the blockchain industry. However, this also raises higher demands for wallet products.
Within the Polkadot ecosystem, several wallet projects have emerged, each with its unique features, but they all face similar challenges: How to provide a more convenient asset management experience while ensuring security? How to better support cross-chain operations? How to integrate more ecosystem applications? Solutions to these challenges directly impact user experience and influence the overall development of the Polkadot ecosystem.
Against this backdrop, wallet products must continuously innovate. They need to meet basic user needs while keeping up with the industry’s rapid pace. Especially in an era where cross-chain interoperability is becoming increasingly important, wallets must be capable of managing multi-chain assets and supporting complex cross-chain operations. This is why it is crucial to delve into the development status and future plans of various wallet projects.
In the Polkadot ecosystem, one wallet is making great strides toward achieving this goal. Today, we’re fortunate to have Ryan Dinh, Head of Business Development at SubWallet, with us. We’re excited to learn more about how SubWallet has improved and what kind of opportunities it’s bringing to users in the future. Here’s the full interview!
1. Why is SubWallet So Optimistic About Polkadot?
Zou Yang: As a well-known wallet in the Polkadot ecosystem, SubWallet has been closely following Polkadot’s development over the years, continuously improving along with its technological updates. So, why is SubWallet so optimistic about Polkadot? What aspects of Polkadot attract you the most?
Ryan Dinh: From the very beginning, when we started developing the wallet, our team conducted extensive research. We decided to develop within the Polkadot ecosystem because we were deeply impressed by, and attracted to, several aspects of Polkadot.
First, it’s Polkadot’s incredible interoperability and scalability that showed us its immense potential. Polkadot’s unique architecture allows different parachains and applications to interact seamlessly. Its ability to handle multiple transactions across various parachains simultaneously enables it to scale effectively, improve transaction times, and reduce congestion. This makes the Polkadot ecosystem ideal for high-demand applications and users who value fast transaction execution.
Secondly, Polkadot’s unique OpenGov governance model really drew us in and made us want to explore on-chain governance. We truly appreciate the OpenGov approach because it allows anyone holding DOT tokens to participate in proposals and voting. This governance model not only helps decentralize the ecosystem and make it more democratic, but it also ensures that treasury management is more effective and transparent.
Another key factor is that Polkadot is naturally a multi-chain ecosystem, which promises a more diversified ecosystem in the future. As the number of parachains and decentralized applications (dApps) continues to grow, Polkadot offers an attractive environment for both developers and users. This diversity fosters innovation and encourages projects from various fields to deploy on Polkadot. Recently, we’ve seen some large-scale, high-potential projects like Mythos, peaq, and Hyperbridge, all of which highlight the diversity and appeal of the Polkadot ecosystem.
Finally, it’s Polkadot’s passionate and active community that makes us feel there’s even more potential ahead. Polkadot has a vibrant, engaged community, and it boasts one of the top three developer communities in the industry. The official support for developers is significant, with ongoing hackathons, grants, and treasury applications helping to fuel the continuous birth of new tools and projects within the ecosystem. These factors have greatly enhanced the appeal of Polkadot, making it a promising ecosystem for developers, users, and investors alike.
With Gavin Wood’s plans for JAM and his speech about JAM at the event in Thailand recently, which was met with a great reception, we are confident that Polkadot’s ecosystem will continue to thrive and return stronger than ever in the near future.
2. How SubWallet Improves Usability and Lowers the Entry Barrier
Zou Yang: Polkadot, as a multi-chain ecosystem, not only involves interactions between different chains but also has a large number of voting and governance mechanisms. Wallets serve as a simplified entry point for users, and when UX/UI design is polished, they can achieve greater success. So, what efforts has SubWallet made to improve usability and lower the entry barriers for users?
Ryan Dinh: This is indeed a big challenge for us as a wallet development team. To improve the user experience and reduce barriers to entry in the Polkadot ecosystem and Web3 overall, we’ve made a lot of efforts.
First, one of our main focuses is on creating a user-friendly interface, using more intuitive pages to make it easier for users to understand and navigate. SubWallet always prioritizes clear and simple UX/UI design to cater not only to new users but also to more experienced ones. Although it’s a multi-chain wallet, we’ve worked to simplify the interface to make it feel as straightforward as a single-chain wallet.
SubWallet allows users to enable or disable networks on the same page, eliminating the need to manually switch networks like MetaMask does. This way, users can manage all their assets across different networks from a single page. We’ve also integrated several in-app solutions, such as in-app swaps, in-app cross-chain bridges, and in-app staking. This means users don’t have to go to third-party apps to perform these actions.
A well-organized interface helps users easily navigate and quickly find the features they need. Additionally, SubWallet ensures that the interface, navigation, and processes are consistent across extensions, mobile apps, and web dashboards, so users can manage their assets and execute transactions on both mobile and desktop, anytime and anywhere.
Second, we’ve invested a lot of effort into creating a simple onboarding process. SubWallet allows new users to create an account and start managing assets in just a few simple steps. During this onboarding process, SubWallet also provides detailed instructions and tips to guide users before they start exploring the Web3 world.
In addition, SubWallet has developed a comprehensive, regularly updated Wiki and guide content to help users better understand and operate the wallet during their usage. Specifically, for Polkadot’s widely used staking scenario, SubWallet integrates a complete in-app staking solution, including direct nominations, joining nomination pools, parachain staking, and liquid staking. We also provide detailed explanations so users can operate without needing to understand the underlying mechanisms, yet still ensuring security and effectiveness.
Third, we’ve integrated cross-chain functionality to bridge the Polkadot ecosystem with other public blockchains. By incorporating various cross-chain solutions, SubWallet facilitates interaction between networks and dApps, aiming to reduce the complexity of multi-chain asset management. To date, SubWallet supports over 200 networks and more than 1,000 tokens across the Polkadot, Ethereum, and TON ecosystems.
Besides supporting cross-chain asset transfers, SubWallet also integrates Chainflip’s cross-chain swap function, enabling users to easily swap assets within the Polkadot ecosystem and between Polkadot and Ethereum with just one click. Additionally, SubWallet provides comprehensive staking solutions on both Polkadot and Ethereum, allowing users to earn rewards with ease. These solutions include joining nomination pools, direct nominations, parachain staking, and liquid staking. This way, users can interact with various networks effortlessly, without needing deep technical or blockchain knowledge.
Fourth, another reason why SubWallet has been well received is our strong focus on user feedback and self-iteration. SubWallet is always actively listening to user feedback and using it as a foundation to improve the wallet’s features. User experience has always been our top priority, and we will continue to improve and contribute to attracting more users to the Polkadot ecosystem.
3. How SubWallet Integrates Snowbridge and Hyperbridge
Zou Yang: In addition to being a multi-chain ecosystem, Polkadot has recently introduced cross-chain applications like Snowbridge and Hyperbridge to connect with more blockchain ecosystems. What features has SubWallet launched in response to these developments?
Ryan Dinh: In response to the growing trend of cross-chain applications like Snowbridge and Hyperbridge within the Polkadot ecosystem, SubWallet has introduced several related features:
First, we’ve integrated Snowbridge. SubWallet has completed the integration of the Snowbridge cross-chain bridge, allowing users to transfer WETH and WBTC between Ethereum and the Polkadot Asset Hub in both directions. Not only that, but we are also continuing to explore support for additional token pairs and regularly update our community via our social media channels. https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1805601650318700771
Second, we’ve integrated the cross-chain bridge between Polkadot and Kusama. SubWallet is the first wallet in the Polkadot ecosystem to announce support for this cross-chain bridge, enabling bidirectional transfers of DOT and KSM between the Polkadot Asset Hub and Kusama Asset Hub. https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1803772300136997335
We’re also working hard on integrating Hyperbridge, which will help users easily transfer DOT from Polkadot to Ethereum and other networks and ecosystems.
4. SubWallet’s Achievements and Future Plans
Zou Yang: As different blockchain ecosystems continue to grow, multi-chain development has become an important trend in the industry. I’d like to ask, what achievements has SubWallet made in expanding into other blockchain ecosystems? Additionally, are there any important development plans for SubWallet in the near future that you can share?
Ryan Dinh: SubWallet is focused on being a multi-chain wallet, and we are continually exploring how to extend our reach beyond Polkadot and Ethereum into other ecosystems. Recently, we launched the Unified Account feature, which is a significant milestone and marks our first step in expanding into other ecosystems, in this case, TON.
This feature allows users to manage assets across more than 200 different networks in the Polkadot, Ethereum, and TON ecosystems using just one mnemonic and one account. This eliminates the need to manage separate accounts across three different ecosystems. It helps reduce the risk of losing accounts due to the complexity of remembering multiple mnemonics, and it also enables users to have a smooth interaction experience across multiple ecosystems. More details here: https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1843607149181796672
So far, SubWallet is the top EOA (Externally Owned Account) wallet in the Polkadot ecosystem. Our wallet has been downloaded more than 2 million times across platforms, including browser extensions, mobile apps, and web dashboards. We now have over 1 million active users and devices from over 100 countries and regions worldwide. In the future, SubWallet plans to expand further into other prominent ecosystems such as Solana and Bitcoin.
5. SubWallet’s Opportunities and Key Features
Zou Yang: As a user entry point, wallets are best known for collaborating with ecosystem applications to enhance the user experience. I’d like to ask on behalf of some users who may not be very familiar with the latest industry opportunities: What opportunities can users participate in through SubWallet, and what are some of the key features that SubWallet excels at and that users are most satisfied with?
Ryan Dinh: Currently, users can directly experience the one-click cross-chain swap feature in SubWallet. This is a very important feature integrated from the Chainflip provider, which allows users to easily swap assets across chains with just one click — without needing to perform complex cross-chain bridge operations.
This not only simplifies the user experience but also helps facilitate liquidity between the Polkadot and Ethereum ecosystems, as well as between Ethereum and Arbitrum L2.
So far, SubWallet supports the following token swap pairs:
- DOT on Polkadot ↔ ETH, USDC, USDT on Ethereum
- DOT on Polkadot ↔ ETH, USDC on Arbitrum (More details here: https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1846199105896566808)
- ETH on Arbitrum ↔ USDC, USDT on Ethereum
- ETH on Ethereum ↔ USDC on Arbitrum （More details here: https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1849035626689282554)
- Additionally, SubWallet has integrated an in-app swap feature from Hydration, supporting over 200 token pairs:（More details here: https://x.com/SubWalletapp/status/1851111838425256044)
Of course, as Polkadot keeps moving, we’ll keep improving as well, integrating the latest features, products, and assets to make it even easier and more convenient for users. We also encourage everyone to stay tuned and keep using SubWallet. Thanks for your support!
Afterword
Through SubWallet’s journey, we can clearly feel that as the Polkadot ecosystem continues to grow, the construction of infrastructure is steadily advancing. At the same time, user education is becoming increasingly important, with a need to build a path that guides users from “Polkadot newcomers” to deep, experienced users. This includes not only educating users about Polkadot itself but also providing detailed guides for common operations and simplifying processes using various tools.
Given that Polkadot is a multi-chain ecosystem with a large and diverse user base, wallets, which directly interact with users, have naturally become a key application in making Polkadot more user-friendly and widespread. Whoever excels in this area will be able to capture more of Polkadot’s massive user group and become the primary gateway to the ecosystem. This is a significant opportunity within the Polkadot ecosystem.
However, some of the challenges with Polkadot’s user experience are mainly due to design choices. But with the launch of Gavin’s JAM, many of the interaction difficulties are expected to be addressed. Additionally, with teams like SubWallet making significant efforts in UX/UI, we are confident that as Polkadot reduces its usage barriers and improves ease of use, it will experience significant growth. Let’s wait and see!