The problem is that all the effort is still on the developer to actually build a user interface, while Gridlock already has it built. Additionally, any company can build on the Gridlock storage network using the SDK. It's secure MPC without the work of bringing that to the user and explaining it. In a clear way.
I actually just has a call with David from Lit Protocol. He patiently explained some of the nuanced pieces of Lit Protocol. A lot of this information is out there but they are moving so fast that it's hard to find. They are going to update their docs to make it more apparent but they have named their providers and appear to have a robust distributed network for key storage. Sorry for the hasty comment! It looks like Lit Protocol is one of the few non-custodial and resilient systems out there.
It's the same space but most "solutions" in the space (like Lit Protocol) are actually custodial solutions parading as non-custodial. If you look closer at Lit Protocol, you will see that their nodes are unknown and unamed providers. Reading between the lines, it's just Lit hosting everything.
It looks like an interesting approach but it seems conceptually complex and difficult for general users to consume. Can you explain how this differs from Gridlock which is an app that allows any level user create a network of storage devices using threshold cryptography?
I founded a company that makes a distributed wallet that is immune to these types of problems. You might be scammed out of your specific keyshare, but the scam would need to compromise all nodes at once which is nearly impossible. It's called Gridlock.
Unfortunately we have not completed a satisfactory security audit. We engaged with one company, but I don't think they were worth their salt. The problem is that the "good" companies are much more expensive, so it's a consideration of the value of the security audit. (If you know of a reputable company that would like to audit for free though...)
The code is not yet open source, but we are primarily expanding on this open-source library. https://github.com/ZenGo-X/multi-party-ecdsa
We still have plans to make it open-source eventually, but we haven't seen the demand, so it has so far not made it to the top of our to-do list. The way I see it, there are tons of crypto apps and programs out there that are closed-source, or worse, "open-source". People are using those apps today, and they don't offer the same distributed security that we do. So yea, perhaps not the answer people want to hear, but it's the best we have given our limited development bandwidth.
Great questions! I've answered them below and am happy to expand if needed.
Who is your target demographic? -
Our target demographic is males between 20 and 50, mostly because that's the value majority of crypto users. A smaller subset of that would be lighter blockchain users, just starting to explore the space.
How is this better than a paper wallet? -
Gridlock is better than a paper wallet because each storage device is not critically important. If your paper wallet is lost, destroyed, or stolen, then you lose everything. With Gridlock, the loss of any single (or even multiple) storage devices does not affect your stored assets. If someone can compromise your storage device, they get nothing unless they can compromise multiple devices...on different platforms...in different parts of the world.
What happens if Gridlock disappears? -
If Gridlock disappears, you will have to collect encryption keys from your storage devices manually. The security of the product remains intact with or without Gridlock. The initial product uses a centralized communication layer because decentralized communication is tough, and we decided to focus on security over the very small chance of a service outage. That said, the move to a decentralized communication layer is on our roadmap. Once complete, the system will be secure and 100% available without Gridlock servers.
Do you have plans for a security audit? -
Yes, do you have suggestions on the best company?
Where's the code? Is this going to be open-sourced? -
Yes, the code will be open-source and available once we release it. We don't want people judging our mess while we are under construction. :)
How are you going to make money? -
The core product will be free for life. We are looking to monetize with premium value-add services as well as commercial use licenses.
Who are your direct or close-enough competitors? -
Argent is a good comparable that provides enhanced security with built-in usability. Unfortunately, they can only support Ethereum+. Trezor does have key sharding capabilities (I use this personally). However, it is very much a recovery-only solution, and it's not very usable (much like the rest of Trezor's model). For example, if you don't have physical access to your Trezor, you can't do anything. This restriction isn't great, and I have a painful recent experience with this in particular. cough SEC and XRP over Christmas cough