How to build a crypto wallet? Let’s explore the systems that manage users’ private keys through custodial (centralized) or non-custodial frameworks.
Wallets are the heart of blockchain security. Unlike centralized exchanges (the collapse of FTXs highlighted the danger of entrusting others with your digital assets), wallets earn lifelong user loyalty by prioritizing technical rigor.
Features such as multi-signature authentication, cross-chain interoperability, atomic swaps, and gas-fee optimization algorithms can reduce user costs by over 30% during network congestion.
This guide will walk you through the steps required to satisfy wallet users of all technical levels, with API endpoints for fiat on-ramps, customizable fee structures, or gas optimization. By the end, you’ll have a much more informed idea about how to build a wallet that offers a steady form of recurring revenue.
First, it’s important to point out that digital vaults offer far more than just a secure place to store funds. Let’s look a little deeper.
Why Are Wallets So Important?
Ask any crypto enthusiast about the exchanges and wallets they’ve used. While they might list dozens of exchanges, their wallet choices rarely exceed two or three trusted names. This loyalty comes from reliability.
Here’s the secret recipe…
Wallet loyalty comes when the tool balances advanced features, like NFT vaults or staking interfaces, with intuitive UX design principles, like QR codes, zero-knowledge proof privacy layers, and native token rewards for regular use.
What Makes a Fantastic Wallet?
There’s a reason the wallet market has fewer players than the exchange market. Many wallet builders fail to realize something crucial from the start. A top-tier wallet isn’t just about storing keys. It’s about building an ecosystem where cybersecurity engineering meets human-centric design. While that may sound complicated at first glance, it’s not what you’d think. It’s simply a mindset to take into your development.
Now, this part is about to get more technical, so if you’re not quite ready to dissect a quality wallet at that level of detail, scroll to the next section.
Here are the core components of a world-class wallet.
Core Security Frameworks
1. Non-custodial architecture:
Users retain private key control via Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) design or Shamir Secret Sharing (for multi-sig).
2. Attack mitigation:
Brute-force resistance via entropy-strengthened seed phrases (>256-bit entropy), hardware-backed encryption modules (HSM integration), and blockchain anomaly detection algorithms for fraud monitoring.
Technical Functionality Requirements
1. Cross-chain interoperability:
Native support for ETH L2s like Optimism and ZKSync, as well as Solana SPL tokens and Cosmos IBC protocols.
2. Gas fee optimization:
Implement EIP-1559-based fee estimation tools that auto-adjust priority gas during network congestion and batch transactions to reduce costs.
User Experience Design Principles
1. Low-tech accessibility: QR code send/receive workflows, paired with NFT metadata rendering libraries, make it easy to visually validate digital collectible.
2. Advanced UX layers: Things like customizable gas sliders, API access control panels, and “one-click swap” flows, without forcing trade-offs, will earn your wallet a lot of credit.
Before we move on, let’s quickly share some pitfalls to avoid before you start building a wallet.
The Don’ts of Building a Wallet
First, avoid CLI-only interfaces. These might seem like a good idea to high-level developers, but outside of dev circles, they’re pretty inaccessible and only provide value to extremely niche cases. The other main thing to avoid is building a GUI-less platform. The great design of your interface will be crucial to building loyalty and earning fees.
Sometimes, however, you can build on the great existing GUI of another platform, such as Telegram. If that’s your intention, we have a better guide for you.
Now that you have some technical knowledge about wallets, how are you going to bring your build to life?
Here are two options to help you get started.
Option 1: Build Your Dream Wallet
Remember, your goal here isn’t just to build a simple piece of software. It’s to create a trust architecture that loyal users will defend fiercely for years to come. No pressure!
First, like with any product or business, you must define your audience and their needs. For crypto wallets, and the benefit of this guide, let’s say there are three simplified audiences:
General retail: your friends who buy Bitcoin to hold long term.
DeFi power users: liquidity providers and whales.
NFT collectors: PFP holders trading generative art.
Next, when building out our wallet, we have to ask, what do they want?
General retail: Fiat on-ramps, SEPA, bank transfer, easy interface.
DeFi power users: Staking rewards dashboard, cross-chain liquidity aggregator.
NFT collectors: Built-in NFT vaults with IPFS metadata backup, easy minting support.
So, we know who we want in our wallet and what they want in our wallet. How are we going to implement that into our build?
General retail: Partner with a reliable on-ramp provider with a plug-in API, such as ChangeNOW.
DeFi power users: Leverage Chainlink price feeds and embed protocol aggregators under the hood.
NFT collectors: Prioritize fee reduction optimization for minting costs.
Our toolkit cuts dev time from months to days, but let’s not get into that yet. Perhaps you’re interested in a no-code way to build a wallet.
Option 2: Outsource It Smarter (No-Code Path)
If you’re not a dev and you just want to get to market fast, we’re delighted to reveal that you don’t need to learn any coding skills. No-code white-label solutions exist, and they make this easy, with customizable features and the ability to outsource core engineering risks.
Here’s how the pros do it. They look for pre-built, non-custodial wallets with a range of modular feature toggles, as well as:
Staking options for yield farmers (with node integration)
NFT storage vaults for PFPs and other digital collectibles
Native crypto exchange with 1,250+ coins
The ability to make fiat purchases inside the wallet (Stripe, Visa, SEPA, etc.)
Customizable transaction settings (like gas fee optimization)
One big red flag to avoid when looking for a partner is if they offer per-user fees. What you really need is to enter into a revenue-sharing model to make sure the wallet provider has your best interests in mind.
The best situation you can hope for is one where the wallet provider wants you to hit the ground running, provide ongoing support, and make sure that everything works so that you can monetize from day one. Here’s what a quality partner will offer:
Ongoing security audits & compliance checks
Performance monitoring for peak uptime
Critical bug fixes (priority response times)
App Store/Google Play listings and account configurations (done professionally)
Compatibility guarantees across platforms (iOS/Android/Desktop)
Regular software updates (to stay secure & feature-rich)
Fill Your Wallet to Fill Your Wallet
Whether you’re building your wallet yourself or outsourcing it, ChangeNOW’s API can make your build much faster and smoother. We aren’t here for a sales pitch, but we do want you to know that 50+ top wallets have already been built with our tech and are generating passive income streams as a result. You could be next.
We apply a default affiliate fee of 0.4% to all transactions processed via your wallet, but the actual value lies in its unparalleled flexibility:
You can adjust commission rates dynamically to align with your business goals. That could mean increasing fees for high-margin transactions, or reducing them to reward your community or incentivize volume on popular pairs!
By tailoring fees by currency pair, with precision, you can capitalize on specialized demand, or go the other way and gain mass adoption by being known as a very affordable place to trade.
When launching your wallet, you’ll need to ask yourself:
Are we going to pump high-frequency, low-volume exchanges for steady income?
Are we going to focus on large-value transactions for higher per-transaction earnings?
Wait, here are some common questions wallet builders and owners need to ask!
FAQ: Tackling the Big Questions
How much do wallet owners make?
Our default affiliate fee is 0.4%. You can charge higher if you’d like (the API is fully configurable). Be careful though, if you charge too much, the customers might not like it.
For every $1 million in trading volume, you’d get $4,000.
Is $1m a lot? In crypto trading terms – not really. Some users might move that much per week. If you get a few whales using your wallet, you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank!
How much can I make?
Well, how big can you dream? If you’re willing to put in the hard yards to grow a community, manage your users, do great marketing, and continue improving your wallet, you could feasibly grow to a 6-figure revenue per month with our API.
However, remember – the wallet is more than just a passive income business. It’s your entry into the Web3 sphere. Once you establish a brand name, you can launch multiple projects using your influence.
A lot of big names in crypto started small from a simple solution and then built entire ecosystems around those projects.
A crypto wallet is a platform – and with the right tools at your disposal, you can offer many services to your users such as staking, crypto-swaps, fiat purchases/settlement, and so on.
ChangeNOW’s API comes with all of this functionality from the get-go.
Is it really that easy?
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, right? It’s easy to install the API – that only takes a few minutes, but running a wallet is like running any other business… you have to wear many hats and play the long game.
Could I sell my wallet to a big company one day?
Absolutely, that’s an end goal for some of our API partners, who see the wallet they are growing as their ticket to an early retirement (or entry into the big boy’s club).
Has anyone sold their wallet with a ChangeNOW API?
Yes, but out of privacy and legal obligations to our clients, we have to keep that confidential.
Remember – the API / Whitelabel solution is designed to integrate 100% into your project. We never show our branding to your users and our software works purely in the background.
Your favorite wallet might be using our API – and you would never even notice.
Now, let’s look at some wallets that have made the change to ChangeNOW and have never looked back…
Case Studies: Wallets Connected for Success
Example One: Cake Wallet’s 5-Year Success with ChangeNOW API
“Cake Wallet has integrated ChangeNOW for nearly five years, and we have an excellent relationship. ChangeNOW’s simplicity and reliability perfectly complement the goals of our wallet.” Vik Sharma, CEO of Cake Wallet.
Thanks to the ChangeNOW API, Cake Wallet’s users can swap cryptocurrencies directly within their apps. No more hopping, skipping, or jumping between platforms!
This saves a lot of time, boosts satisfaction (because who loves extra steps?), and keeps things completely secure so that users trust every trade.
Happy customers stick around longer (remember what we said about turning customer retention into profits), so it makes sense that Cake Wallet is reaping bountiful rewards through transaction fees and referral bonuses.
[Read the full case study]
Example Two: Edge Wallet’s Seamless Crypto Swaps
“It has been great working with the ChangeNOW team. They provide fast swaps with exceptional customer support and nearly zero technical issues. We are proud to have them as a partner in Edge.” Paul Puey, CEO of Edge Wallet.
Edge Wallet users can swap 1,250+ cryptos instantly thanks to ChangeNOW’s API, all at top rates, with zero extra fees, and no boring sign-up needed! You can’t ask for much better than that now, can you?
The team at Edge love how they can blend our services with their secure, privacy-focused design to keep trust at an ATH. That means more loyal customers and crypto enthusiasts flocking in to help them pocket some extra revenue from transaction fees. Their users love the seamless experience and security, so they stick around longer and recommend others.
Now, Edge has the edge.
[Read the full case study]
Example Three: IoPay
By teaming up with ChangeNOW’s API for fiat swaps (think buying BTC with $20 from your bank card), ioPay’s users became able to trade crypto and convert real money, all within one app.
For ioPay’s decision-makers, this integration was an obvious solution. To be able to solve their swaps and ramping with one API saved them heaps of time, energy, and resources, and allowed them to win favor with their loyal users by helping them avoid hidden fees and tedious switching between services.
ioPay Multi-Chain Wallet became fast and furious as a result of the integration.
[Read the full case study]
Conclusion: Why Launch A Wallet & Not a Token?
Technically speaking, wallet development demands robust infrastructures: cryptographic key management systems (HD wallets), cross-chain interoperability protocols (IBC/layer 2 scaling), and gas-optimization algorithms to create long-term value through trust engineering rather than volatile token economics. If you can do the hard part, that’s half of the battle.
The other half lies in the execution, not just the code, but designing interfaces that balance usability (smooth fiat on-ramps) with enterprise-grade security (hardware-backed cold storage integration). Focus here ensures your project withstands market cycles through reliability alone.
The final factor is having suitable partners who want you to succeed and have all the tools to do so. That’s where ChangeNOW comes in.
Reach out to us to get started: partners@changenow.io
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