What Is a Passkey? Ushering in a New Era of Passwordless Authentication in the Crypto Industry

What is a Passkey?

Passkey is a passwordless identification method that uses a public-private key pair generated by the device to complete the login operation. Users no longer need to enter passwords or save mnemonic phrases, but instead complete authentication through methods such as mobile fingerprint, facial recognition, or device PIN. This mechanism is based on the standards of the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance and supports multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows.

Why is Passkey suitable for the encryption industry?

Users in the encryption industry often face high-risk issues such as “lost wallet private keys” and “incorrectly recorded mnemonic phrases,” which are especially challenging for new users. Passkey technology has the following advantages:

• No need to remember complex passwords, the user experience is friendlier.
• Anti-phishing attacks, as there is no password input phase.
• Cross-device synchronization, such as Apple’s iCloud Keychain

These features make Passkey an important tool for building a more secure and user-friendly identification system for Web3 wallets and trading platforms.

Comparison with traditional passwords and mnemonics

Compared to traditional passwords or mnemonic phrases, Passkey has significant advantages in usability, security, and recovery capability. Firstly, traditional passwords often require users to remember complex character combinations, while mnemonic phrases, although secure, are extremely user-unfriendly during the memorization and writing process, and a slight negligence can lead to permanent loss of assets. In contrast, Passkey is based on local device identification, allowing users to confirm their identity through methods such as fingerprint, facial recognition, or device passwords, without the need to remember any sensitive information.

In terms of security, passwords and mnemonic phrases are vulnerable to brute force attacks, phishing attacks, and social engineering attacks. In contrast, Passkey is based on public-private key pairs and local storage mechanisms, which do not expose private keys directly in the online environment, preventing phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks. Additionally, Passkey can usually be backed up and synchronized through iCloud, Google Key Management, and other methods, significantly improving account recovery capabilities, whereas traditional mnemonic phrases cannot be retrieved once lost.

Therefore, Passkey is not only more user-friendly in terms of user experience, but also provides stronger security guarantees at the technical level, making it particularly suitable for novice users and groups with high demands for asset security.

The typical application of Passkey in encryption wallets.

Multiple Web3 wallets have begun integrating Passkey, such as MetaMask and others.

These innovations allow users to enter the blockchain world just like unlocking a phone, greatly lowering the entry barrier.

Future Development Trends and Considerations

With Apple, Google, and Microsoft fully supporting Passkey, the encryption industry is expected to accelerate the adoption of this standard in the future. However, it is still important to note:

• The synchronization of Passkey relies on the operating system ecosystem, which is not suitable for users with strong anonymity.
• In certain cases, a backup recovery method is still needed, such as an email or hardware backup.
• Although the security is strong, users need to protect their device security.