Creating a Crypto Wallet with Rika

Recently Rika and I reconnected over Zoom and she kindly updated me on the crypto space. Rika has been deeply involved in DeFi for many years, freelance writing, creating technical documents, and participating in DAO governance. Remarkably, she earns her income entirely in stablecoins (a type of cryptocurrency token). It reminded me of how blockchain technology created a multi-billion-dollar decentralized finance ecosystem, supporting an active community of builders, traders, and professionals that make a living.

We created a new self-custody wallet for me. Instead of Metamask, Rika recommended the Brave browser's built-in wallet for its superior user interface. The setup process was just a few steps. It's refreshing how email and password are all it takes to complete the full sign up and receive the famous recovery phrase.

While Bitcoin and Ethereum still dominate the scene, their technical constraints result in high transaction fees (also known as gas fees in Ethereum). For Ethereum, this led to the rise of many Layer 2 blockchain networks like Aurora, Polygon, or Optimism, which implement sophisticated systems to reduce costs. Rika highlighted Arbitrum, a platform receiving a lot of support from experts in the field.

It was great to reconnect with Rika and glimpse into the crypto space. Check out her writing in her newsletter archive , her digital garden, or her most recent article on staking ETH.