Eco, a payments company backed by prominent Web3 venture capital firms, has introduced “Beam,” a revolutionary wallet that streamlines creating and accessing Optimism addresses. Unlike traditional wallets, Beam enables users to generate an address without storing seed words. Instead, they can use a simple Twitter login to save and recover their account.
Users visit the application’s website to create a Beam wallet, which generates a unique QR code representing their Optimism address. They can share this QR code for receiving crypto or copy the address for sending it via email or messaging applications. The wallet runs directly in the browser without any downloads required and can be accessed from desktop or mobile devices.
INTRODUCING BEAM
The first self-custody payments wallet built for the mainstream — no download or signup required.
Beam is the easiest way on the planet to send anyone money.
Try it out with a single click 👇
— Andy Bromberg (@andy_bromberg) July 27, 2023
For added security, users can back up their wallets using Web3Auth, a novel wallet technology that eliminates the need for seed phrases. The backup process involves logging into Twitter’s API, creating a new password, and completing the account backup. Since the password is a backup shard for Web3Auth, no centralised servers store any hash, ensuring unauthorised transfers are impossible.
One notable feature of Beam is its flexibility regarding gas fees. Users are not required to own Ether to pay gas fees on Optimism. Instead, they can pay gas fees using the same coin they transfer. This is achieved through two separate transactions, where one transaction is the user’s request, and the second transaction is a pledge to pay a “paymaster” account to cover the gas on the user’s behalf. This system ensures secure and efficient fee payments without intermediaries taking unauthorised fees.
After its official launch, Beam will also be released for Coinbase’s Base network. Balances from Base and Optimism will be aggregated within the Beam app, allowing users to interact seamlessly across the OP Stack ecosystem.
CEO Andy Bromberg emphasised that Beam aims to simplify crypto onboarding and offer a user-friendly experience, making it accessible to ordinary people. By abstracting away complexities like chains, addresses, and fees, Beam strives to be the first noncustodial product that even the less tech-savvy can easily use.
As Beam emerges as a “Superchain” wallet, integration with Web3Auth and Optimism promises a new level of convenience and security, making it an exciting prospect for the crypto community and newcomers alike.