Introduction:
Why do we conduct a competitive analysis on crypto wallets?

We were engaged initially by a client, let’s call it X coin, to work on a project to design a non-custodial wallet. We take a step further to understand the marketplace and if creating a crypto wallet is the right strategy for X coin. We took an in-depth look at a series of competitors related to X coin, both direct and indirect competitors.

We collect a range of qualitative and quantitative data points , and by comparing the crypto wallets, we help X coin understand what kind of marketplace they might be entering. At the end of the day, we need to know what works well right?

Our Approach

1.What is the goal of this competitive analysis?

The main goal of our competitive analysis of crypto wallets is to identify the strength and weaknesses of the competitors in their business and product and evaluate the high-level user experience and marketing activities.

2.Who are the competitors we are looking to target?

We want to get a border view of the market players, so the list of competitors for this analysis is more diverse. We identified the competitors with support from the client.

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3.Which area are we focusing on?

We compare and analyze the crypto wallets in the following aspects:

• Business — How do they make money?
• Product — What product features are available in the crypto wallet, and which one stands out?
• User Experience — How is the high-level user experience of the product?
• Marketing — How does the user know them?

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Overview of the Crypto Wallets Analysis

We conducted the complete analysis in Google spreadsheets. As suggested by Jamie Levy, a spreadsheet with a relevant matrix is the most efficient way to do the cross-comparison for competitive analysis. But here in this case study; I will just walk you through the key learnings we gained.

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Business: comparing the revenue stream of the crypto wallets

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Product: common and competitive features analysis

1. Among all the competitors, Trust Wallet (launched 2017) and Exodus (launched 2015) have the highest number of downloads in Google Playstore, 10M+.
   
   
2. Exodus supported the widest range of platforms, from mobile to desktop and compatible with Trezor Hardware wallet.
   
   
3. Trust Wallet has the highest number of supported assets (160k+), followed by Exodus (137 assets) and Nowpayments (85 assets).
   
   
4. The common core features of all the competitors is buy, store, send and receive crypto currencies.
   
   
5. The competitive features are:

Maiar wallet offers the Herotags feature. They use DNS to replace the complex user address. It also supports staking with a minimum 1eGLD stake amount.

Valora is a light wallet that doesn't require a lot of bandwidth. Valora supports 30+ Celo tokens, including 3 stablecoins: Celo Dollar (cUSD), Celo Euro (cEUR), and Celo Real (cREAL). Users can cash out Celo to fiat, gift card, or mobile top-up of partner shops. Besides that, Valora also has a new DApp page where users can access 20+ DApps.

Trust Wallet and Exodus support multiple assets. Trust wallet is renowned for being the native Wallet of Binance. If you are into DApps, you should know Trust wallet. One of the key features of the Trust wallet is the DApps browser. Users can easily access the ever-expanding apps via Trust wallet. Besides that, there is also NFT storage and gallery feature, currently supporting ERC721, ERC1155 on Ethereum, BEP721, and BEP1155 on Binance Smart Chain. It also supports staking for selected tokens and NFT.

Exodus is available on mobile and desktop and is also compatible with the hardware wallet, Trezor. Being a lite wallet, Exodus also doesn't require much bandwidth. Exodus also has a unique security feature. It automatically locks your wallet after a selected period and advises you to use a password manager.

Nexo is an exciting project that allows loans and repayment backed by cryptocurrencies. Users can earn up to 12% interest on coins and fiat curries via their savings accounts. Nexo even enables users to borrow against their NFTs! Nexo also has advanced security features and impressive insurance coverage. In addition, Nexo also launched a governance voting, allowing users to participate in their business decisions.

StormX is a popular Adtech application in the blockchain space. StormX allowed users to earn cashback rewards in crypto by completing microtasks. StormX is also targeting freelancing industries. They aim to solve the inefficiencies and excessive fees of freelancing platforms by using smart contracts.

User experience: High-level review of the crypto wallets experience

We compare the UX of the crypto wallets and rate their user interface, navigation and guidance on a score of 1-3.

1. In general, most competitors have relatively simple interfaces and straightforward navigation.
   
   
2. Exodus has a beautiful dark mode theme, but some users might find it difficult to read due to the low contrast ratio of colors.
   
   
3. Our analysis showed that there is still a lack of in-app guidance given to the users. The majority of the competitors do not provide proactive help when users first launch the app. Users will have to rely on “Help and Documentation” to learn.

Marketing platforms used by the competitors

1. Twitter and Facebook are the most popular social media channels among all the competitors.
   
   
2. The majority of the competitors also have Instagram, Youtube and Reddit accounts.
   
   
3. In general, the tone of voice of all the competitors' platforms are formal but with simple language so most of the users would understand. StormX is the only platform that adopts the informal tone of voice but it is also easy to understand.

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Conclusion: insights from the competitive analysis

There are a few notable competitors' experiences we can learn from:

1. Onboarding - The majority of the competitors use onboarding carousels to highlight the top benefits of the apps. It should be short and engaging with relevant visuals. Consider also using contextual onboarding to offer a hand-held walkthrough for new users.
   
   
2. Sign Up – Maiar's sign-up experience with mobile and OTP is very fast and seamless. As for signing up by email, Nexo uses a puzzle and email verification link, which is also straightforward.
   
   
3. Login – Although app lock is not compulsory in some of the competitors' apps, logging in with either Touch ID or pin/passcode is very useful.
   
   
4. Back up security phrase – The step-by-step guide and instructions must be crystal clear. There should be a prominent reminder to highlight the risk of losing the security phrase and keep the phrase secure. Also, never allow backing up the security phrase online because it will raise security concerns.
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5. By comparing different crypto wallets, we can provide our clients an overview of the competitor, inspiring them to revisit the product decisions and direction. While there are many exciting data collected, there are some questions that competitor analysis cannot answer. For example:

• Is a non-custodial mobile wallet something that the community needs?
• What is the motivation of the community members investing in X coin?
• How does the community use X coin?
• What is the community perception/ experience in staking?

We suggest using mixed-method research to help the client understand their community in-depth, motivation, needs, and pain points. I will explain more about the mixed-method research in the next part of the case study.

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Good reference:

UX Strategy by Jaime Levy

Read more:

• UX Audit of MetaMask: 7 Usability Issues & Redesign Ideas
• Crypto UX/UI: Key for Cryptocurrencies & DeFi to Grow
• UX Research Cheat Sheet and the Best Methods in Web 3.0
• Case Study: A Competitive Analysis of Crypto Wallets
• What is UX Writing? Best Practices for Crypto Apps & Websites
• Mixed Methods UX Research: A Blockchain Community Case Study