👋Welcome to Othent

Merging Web2 to Web3 user logins with a familiar and simple interface

Othent is pronounced OH-thent is a neologism of "OAuth" and "Authenticate".

Othent is a service to manage Arweave & ao wallets backend by Auth0 and Google Key Management Service, enabling access to blockchain networks and making blockchain more widely accessible by customizing the authentication process.

Othent offers a powerful and user-friendly way for individuals and developers to access blockchain networks and create web3 applications. With its design and seamless integration with existing Web2 technologies, Othent is targeting the next evolution of blockchain and decentralized systems.

We leverage existing encryption and standards such as RS-256 and JSON Web Tokens, which are generated by Auth0 using the users choice of traditional log in service, such as but not limited to:

• Google

• Twitter

• GitHub

• LinkedIn

• Microsoft

• Apple

We currently have support for 64 social connections, which is over 5B user log ins! Meaning over 5 billion people now can easily have access to an Arweave & ao web3 wallet with their existing credentials.

🥗 Othent's Features

Examples of some of the social logins Othent supports.

Onboard through social logins:

Othent can be integrated by wallets and dApps to offer social logins. This can make the onboarding process smoother for users and enhance their reach to Web2.

Allow dApps to onboard through Web2:

One of the biggest barriers to entry for many people when it comes to using dApps and interacting with the Web3 ecosystem in general is the complexity involved in setting up and managing a digital self-custodial wallet. However, by allowing users to authenticate familiar Web2 mechanism that they are already familiar with (such as different social media providers or email), it becomes much easier for them to start using dApps without needing to worry about the technical details of setting up a wallet.

Web2 apps as a channel to Web3 dApps and blockchains:

By using Web2 apps as a channel to connect users to Web3 dApps and blockchains, we can help to bridge the gap between the two worlds and make it easier for more people to start using decentralized applications. This can also help to increase the overall adoption of blockchain technology and provide more opportunities for developers to create innovative new dApps.

Compatibility with the user, app, and blockchain:

One of the key benefits of using a solution like Othent is that it is designed to be fully compatible with existing web2 applications and blockchain networks. This means that users can continue to use the same familiar tools and interfaces that they are used to, without needing to learn a new set of skills or technologies.

Additionally, developers can easily integrate Othent into their existing applications without needing to make any major changes or modifications to their code.

Prevent losing private keys:

By using Web2 authentication, your users don't need to fear losing their private keys or passphrase. If they forget their password, they can simply reset it, just like they are used to.

👻 Othent's Missing and Upcoming Features

No support for other blockchains:

At the moment, Othent is only available on the Arweave network and ao network.

No support for multiple addresses:

Othent does not currently support creating and managing multiple private keys on the same account, or manually linking different addresses to a specific account.

Right now, the only workaround around this is signing up using a different provider, which creates a different private key and links the corresponding address to that new account.

No support for importing and exporting private keys:

Similarly, Othent doesn't currently support importing or exporting users' private keys, not even when they are first created. Their public RSA key is accessible, thought.

Right now, the most similar thing to this is using Arweave Wallet (arweave.app) to watch a public address, but you won't be able to transact using that wallet. Note ArConnect does not currently support watching public addresses.

No support for asymmetric / public key encryption / decryption:

Othent currently only supports symmetric / private key encryption when using encrypt() and decrypt(), using the currently authenticated user's AES (AES256-GCM) private keys. It does not support asymmetric encryption, neither using the authenticated user's RSA key, which is only used for signing, nor any third party's public RSA keys.

No support for custom salt length for signing:

Othent doesn't support passing in a custom salt length when calling sign().

No permission management:

Othent's permissions are hardcoded and cannot be changed.

Caution: Users using Othent are giving dApps that use Othent full control of their wallet , as discussed in connect().

No public Key Directory (PKD):

Othent doesn't offer a Public Key Directory (PKD), so if you need to verify third-party signatures, you'll have to get the corresponding public keys from the original signer.

No subsidized transactions:

Coming soon through @othent/pay.

No automatable money or smart contract wallets:

Othent does not provide smart contract wallets. Therefore, it doesn't currently support programmability or transfer automation.

🌎 How does Othent work?

Signing and verifying transactions using a private and public key, respectively.

Blockchains need private keys to ensure secure ownership and control over individual accounts and transactions. Private keys play a crucial role in cryptography-based systems by providing a means of authentication and digital signature, while public keys are used to identify the owner and verify transactions and other cryptographic operations on the blockchain.

For instance, to authorize and submit a transaction to, or permanently store data on the Arweave network, it first has to be signed using the user's private key, and it can later be verified by other users using the signer's public key.

Without private keys, anyone could falsely claim ownership of someone else's assets or manipulate transactions. By requiring private keys, blockchains maintain the integrity and security of the decentralized ledger, enabling individuals to securely manage their digital assets and participate in trustless transactions.

Therefore, storing private keys securely and keeping them secret is critical to protect your assets and data.

Othent provides a simple and secure platform for transactions and data storage, prioritizing user security and privacy.

Othent under the hood

Othent's transaction flow leveraging Google KMS and Auth0.

Othent creates an Arweave wallet (an address plus its corresponding public-private key pair) for every account, either email-password or social login, and stores it in Google KMS.

When users wants to do any cryptographic operation with their keys (sign a transaction or encrypt/decrypt/hash some data), they request an access token from Auth0, which contains a hash of the data to be used (the transaction or the data to be encrypted/decrypted/hashed), and sends that, along with the data, to Othent's API.

Othent's API can then use Auth0's JWT token to authenticate the user and perform the operation they requested. That access token is then invalidated. This offers a tamper and reply proof system.

🥊 Othent vs Alternatives

Wallet types or key storage / custody methods.

Non-custodial / Self-custodial wallet (e.g. ArConnect):

Non-custodial wallets / private keys has certain negatives associated with them:

• Firstly, there is a lack of redundancy, meaning that if the single private key is lost or compromised, there is no backup or alternative to recover the associated cryptocurrency funds.

• Secondly, a single private key is vulnerable to theft. If the key is stolen or accessed by unauthorised individuals, they gain complete control over the associated cryptocurrency funds.

• Lastly, managing a single private key requires careful handling, as a simple mistake such as misplacing or forgetting the key can lead to permanent loss of access to the funds.

Othent:

While Othent limits users autonomy in managing their own cryptocurrency assets, it also allows them to use traditional authentication methods such as email and password, 2FA, social login, password/account recovery...

However, there are still security risks involved, and end users must secure their accounts and credentials properly.

MPC wallet:

MPC (Multi-Party Computation) wallets / private keys come with their own challenges:

• Firstly, there is added complexity compared to traditional single private keys. The setup and infrastructure required for MPC can be more intricate, making it harder for average users to understand and implement.

• Secondly, there is a potential for coordination failure. MPC relies on the cooperation of multiple parties to compute and manage the private key securely.

  Any failure or compromise in the MPC protocol or the participating parties could result in the loss or exposure of the private key and the associated funds.

• Lastly, MPC private keys may have a performance overhead, as they often require higher computational resources compared to single private keys, which can impact the speed and efficiency of transactions.

🧑‍⚖️ License

The Othent Library is licensed under the MIT License. Please see the LICENSE file for more information.