Section One: Tangem to overturn the “crypto is too difficult to use” narrative
Paul, GetBlock: Can you tell us what Tangem is and what services it offers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space? What sets it apart from other wallet solutions?
Andrey, Tangem: Since 2017, the main driver behind our project is to simplify using cold cryptocurrency wallets. We noticed that the main hurdle for new crypto users is to grasp the concept of safe seed phrase management, which defined our mission.
Form factor: Tangem is a credit-card-sized hardware wallet powered by a microchip and NFC antenna to allow it to interact with a mobile application. It comes in a box of two or three cards that share the same private key and address.
A unique approach to private key management: private keys are generated during the setup procedure and never leave the wallet – neither the manufacturer nor even a user can import that data.
Ease of use: it takes only 2 minutes to set up the wallet. Whenever you need to use the wallet, just tap it on the phone and access 6,000 assets (and counting).
P.: How does Tangem ensure the security of your hardware wallets and protect users from potential threats?
A.: The Tangem card is a combination of an antenna, a microchip, and durable plastic. At the core of our technology is a microcomputer manufactured by Samsung resistable to any cyber or physical attacks.
During the setup process, it randomly generates private keys that cannot be extracted, imported, or recovered. By doing this, Tangem eliminates the main point of vulnerability which is a seed phrase that can eventually be lost, stolen, or compromised.
P.: Tell us about the latest version of Tangem. What does this bring to users?
Daria, Tangem: In just a month we’re launching the redesigned application and a new version of the card that will get a seed phrase integration. After the update, there will be two options to use the wallet – continue using the seedless version, which we strongly recommend for the utmost security, or set up or import a recovery phrase. Additional security settings are also being audited.
A.: Other than that, we’re working on adding more supported chains and expanding functionality to the app. For instance, Tangem will support cross-chain swaps (Tangem Express) and transaction history previously accessed via block explorers.
Section Two: GetBlock x Tangem Partnership Details
P.: Has the partnership with GetBlock resulted in any products, services, or features that users can take advantage of?
A.: GetBlock’s node service is contributing a lot to making existing blockchains more resilient to network issues and adding redundancy to our project.
Speaking in detail, GetBlock provides us with access to blockchain data and enables pushing transactions directly into the blockchain. Later on, our collab will fuel our new in-app transaction history feature.
Thanks to GetBlock's extensive list of operated chains, especially some rarer networks, we’ll be able to support more blockchains. To give an example, not many providers give access to Terra, which is really popular within our community so we got requests to add this one in particular.
GetBlock’s flexibility is what amazed us: our team was able to request a custom node to the blockchain that is not on the list and get it set up for us in a matter of one day.
D.: To add, we want to provide the best service to our users so we really care about who we collaborate with. And we’re happy with your service; everything is working like a clock. Thank you very much for your great service.
P.: Could you share your plans for expanding your ecosystem? Any upcoming partnerships to excite your community?
D.: Going back to what makes us unique is the ability to pack our technology into different forms not limited to a card design. The possibilities to expand in this direction are literally endless and we’re already investigating this opportunity.
Tangem-powered wearables: Imagine a ring that will be used the same way as a card wallet, by tapping it on the phone to sign transactions and connect to dApps. Using everyday objects for managing crypto will take the user experience to a whole new level.
Currently, we’re in negotiations with various companies that will help bring this idea to life and we can’t wait to share more details soon!
Do you want to know more about wallets? Follow the link: https://beincrypto.com/learn/hot-wallet-vs-cold-wallet/
Section Three: Bridging the two worlds
P.: What other contributions can your organization make to advance Web3 development and integrate it seamlessly into our daily lives?
D.: We try to foster mass adoption of crypto by providing a user-friendly experience to our users.
Easy onboarding: Aside from providing an easy solution for storing crypto, we guide and educate people who are not familiar with cryptocurrencies yet.
Focus on customer support: Staying in contact with our community is of major importance to us. Our help center is responsive to all the requests sent our way so we get a lot of insights on product improvements directly from our users.
P.: The cryptocurrency market has witnessed various trends and shifts over the years. How does Tangem foresee the role of hardware wallets evolving in the future, and what steps are you taking to stay ahead of the curve and meet the changing needs of the crypto community?
D.: First of all, we’re adjusting our product according to our community needs. Specifically, Tangem is exploring various form factors to offer to our users and working on implementing a seed phrase solution for those who are feeling more accustomed to managing holdings this way.
In general, we in Tangem believe that the cold wallet future is seedless and that more and more companies will embrace this approach. Our mission, in this case, is to keep educating our users on the difference between custodial and non-custodial storage solutions, the idea of ownership in crypto, and the freedom it brings.
Section Four: GetBlock gets interrogated, too!
D.: What are GetBlock’s competitive advantages over other blockchain providers?
P.: GetBlock operates a distributed network of nodes hosted across various geographical locations in different regions to provide quick and easy access to blockchains. Here’s what our clients enjoy the most:
More than 50 chains supported: if you think of any large blockchain that is popular or gaining traction, you can be certain that GetBlock is supporting it or will shortly add it to the list of services;
Reliability & Scalability: our high-end servers guarantee the highest possible availability to every client and allow scaling up seamlessly;
Flexibility: in addition to offering diverse packages fitting every need, the GetBlock team strives to offer customizable node solutions.
D.: What is your company's long-term vision and mission? Which other great products is Getblock working on now and what are your next important milestones?
P.: We at GetBlock are always trying to top ourselves in the quality of services we provide. Currently, we’re expanding our geographical coverage to USA and Canada, updating our website, and expanding the range of services.
To name a few, our block explorer service is already up and running and we’re now in the progress of launching the API Marketplace.
D.: What are the most popular nodes in your infrastructure? Which blockchains do users request the most?
P.: It would be safe to say that all the mainstream blockchains enjoy the greatest popularity within our service too. We notice the highest developer activity in BNB Smart Chain, Polygon, roll-up chains, and Layer2s. Several newer chains are also getting traction: Sui Network, our partner, is catching up extremely fast.
A.: What is the process behind adding new nodes either in a shared or in a dedicated config? What are the requirements?
P.: Despite our unmatched list of available RPC endpoints, we’re very picky when it comes to adding new chains. There’s a lot of work done prior to adding every chain you see on the crypto node list. Typically, we evaluate the blockchain protocol itself, node hosting requirements, and the developer activity for each chain.
Sometimes it’s our clients who request adding support to certain networks. It’s not a rare case when we spin up a dedicated node for the chain that is not on our list for a specific client. Our community has a say in what we add, too.
Another case is blockchain representatives reaching out to us about getting their nodes hosted by GetBlock. All of them go through the same procedure, no bias. We do not limit ourselves to serving popular chains only, we try to support exotic ones too, and encourage developers to try them out.
D.: How do you envision the future of blockchain development and what role does GetBlock play in accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology across different industries?
P.: We’re envisioning the future where blockchain tech is seamlessly integrated into our daily lives without a regular user even being aware of that. Blockchain will certainly transform finance, healthcare, governance, supply chains, and many other spheres.
Our contribution is to accelerate this adoption by making our platform accessible to developers of all levels of expertise. Another thing that we do is partner with Web2 companies and help them to retool their infrastructure towards Web3 as well as educate them on possibilities blockchain opens for traditional web companies.
D.: Thank you very much, Paul, and everyone for joining! It was a great pleasure to share our updates with you and learn more about GetBlock.
P.: Thanks! See you in the next one!
