WalletConnect Network

WalletConnect Network is the open-source connectivity layer that allows cryptocurrency wallets and decentralized applications to communicate securely and in real time. Rather than a wallet or an application itself, it is shared infrastructure — a relay network that sits between a user's wallet and the dApp they want to interact with, passing encrypted messages so that private keys never leave the wallet. The network currently powers connections for over 23 million users across more than 600 wallets and 40,000 application projects on all major blockchains.

Background and Founding

Pedro Gomes founded WalletConnect in 2018 after observing how fragmented and cumbersome the wallet-to-dApp connection experience was in early Ethereum applications. The original protocol established the QR-code-based connection pattern that became ubiquitous across Web3: a dApp displays a QR code, a mobile wallet scans it, and an encrypted session is established without either party ever exposing a private key. From that starting point, WalletConnect grew into critical infrastructure relied upon by institutions including Fireblocks, Ledger, Robinhood, Binance Web3 Wallet, OKX Wallet, Blockchain.com, and Gemini Wallet.

In 2024, WalletConnect Inc. completed a corporate restructuring and rebranded the developer tools business as Reown, with former COO Jess Houlgrave becoming CEO of Reown. Pedro Gomes moved to Director and Founder of the newly established WalletConnect Foundation, which now governs the decentralized network and its token.

How the Network Works

The WalletConnect Network operates as a relay layer between wallets and applications. When a user initiates a connection, the network establishes an end-to-end encrypted channel: the relay nodes route messages between the dApp and the wallet but cannot read the contents. The network has no access to wallet addresses, transaction hashes, KYC information, or any other data passed between the two parties.

The architecture uses two node types. Service Nodes form the storage layer, operating as a permissionless rendezvous-hashing based distributed database. Gateway Nodes handle encrypted communications and data routing. Together they ensure that connection state is available close to the user and that no single operator controls the flow of messages.

WalletConnect Network 2.0

The current generation, WCN 2.0, launched in 2024–2025 as a substantial infrastructure upgrade. The previous version replicated all data globally regardless of where users were located, introducing unnecessary latency. WCN 2.0 replaces that model with regional clusters that process messages closer to their users.

The architectural changes are concrete. Network coordination moved from ad-hoc operations to smart contract-based coordination recorded transparently on-chain, eliminating single points of failure. The node architecture was split into independent WCN Node (coordination and consensus) and WCN Database (storage and retrieval) components, enabling upgrades without downtime. The results are significant: latency in some regions dropped by up to 85%, read and write speeds improved roughly 75% globally, and p95 latencies fell from 80–200ms to a consistent 30ms across all regions. The network registered 179 million connections in 2024, a 340% increase over 2023, and surpassed 4.1 million unique active wallets.

The network transitioned from a single operator to over 20 independent node operators across multiple continents. Operators earn rewards based on reliability (connection success rate) and performance (response time), with quarterly budget reviews creating economic alignment between operator behavior and service quality.

The WCT Token

The WalletConnect Token (WCT) is the native token of the WalletConnect Network, launching initially on Optimism's OP Mainnet before expanding to Ethereum and then Solana. Total supply is fixed at 1 billion WCT. The token distribution allocates 17.5% to network rewards, 18.5% to airdrops, 18.5% to the team, 27% to the Foundation, 11.5% to backers, and 7% to core development.

WCT serves four functions within the network. First, it will be used to pay protocol fees once the network is mature enough to introduce them — fees are calculated in USD but paid in WCT, applying only to transaction activities (swaps, payments, deposits) and not to authentication or login services. Applications generating less than $1 million in monthly volume would be exempt. Second, WCT rewards participants including wallets, node operators, and other contributors based on performance metrics. Third, token holders can stake WCT to support network stability and earn rewards, with lock-up periods ranging from one week to two years — longer commitments and larger stakes earn higher rewards. Fourth, WCT governs the network, with token holders voting on proposals as the WalletConnect Foundation transitions toward a decentralized autonomous organization.

The fee model, still in a discovery phase pending governance approval, is designed as a flywheel: collected fees are redistributed to node operators, wallet providers, stakers, and community grants, creating recurring demand for WCT while rewarding the infrastructure contributors that keep the network running.

Solana Integration

WalletConnect's integration with Solana has deepened substantially since the network's early Ethereum-centric origins. Wallets including Phantom, Solflare, and Backpack support WalletConnect connections, as does the Solana Mobile Stack. Developers building Solana applications can integrate Reown's AppKit SDK — the developer-facing product layer built on top of the WalletConnect protocol — to offer users wallet connections through the standard WalletConnect interface. Solana applications already using AppKit include Backpack, Drift, Kamino, and Marinade.

In 2025, WalletConnect expanded WCT itself to Solana as its third supported chain, using Wormhole's Native Token Transfers (NTT) framework. The NTT approach means WCT moves natively across Ethereum, Optimism, and Solana rather than as a wrapped token — tokens are burned on the source chain and minted on the destination chain, keeping total supply constant. The expansion to Solana came with a 5 million WCT airdrop directed at active Solana users who had been transacting with partner protocols. Eligible recipients included users of Phantom, Jupiter, Backpack, and Solflare. Trading of WCT on Solana routes natively through Jupiter DEX.

Pedro Gomes noted the significance of the move: "WalletConnect was once very Ethereum-centric. But we've become truly chain-agnostic."

Security

WalletConnect v2.0 underwent an independent security audit by Trail of Bits, one of the leading blockchain security firms. The audit found four issues. A medium-severity finding identified that HTML5 local storage holding session data lacked access controls, making it potentially vulnerable to XSS attacks; the team continued working on solutions that do not rely on centralized entities. Three additional findings of informational or undetermined severity — outdated dependencies, a key derivation configuration gap, and missing replay attack protections — were all resolved: dependencies were updated, the rejectZero flag was enabled for key derivation, and timestamps and pairing topics were added to signature payloads to prevent replay attacks. The audit found no significant flaws conclusively in the core protocol.

By design, the relay layer provides privacy by default: the network has no visibility into wallet addresses, transaction contents, or user identity. The non-custodial model means WalletConnect never holds user funds, and the encrypted channel architecture ensures that even if relay infrastructure is compromised, message contents remain opaque.

Products and Developer Tools

Beyond the relay network, the broader WalletConnect and Reown ecosystem includes several developer-facing products. AppKit is the primary SDK for integrating wallet connections into web and mobile applications, supporting all major wallet types and chains including Solana. WalletConnect Pay is a separate payments infrastructure product aimed at merchants, enabling cryptocurrency and stablecoin transactions through 700-plus digital wallets with built-in sanctions screening, Travel Rule compliance, and SOC 2 certification — processing over $30 billion in monthly transaction volume.

The network's open-source foundations and multi-chain reach have made it a standard connection layer that protocol developers rarely build around: it is simply assumed to be available wherever a wallet-to-dApp interaction occurs.