Infinex: A complete presentation of the everyday crypto application

What is Infinex

Infinex is a new generation crypto wallet designed to compete with centralized exchanges. It is a web app that natively integrates numerous applications, providing a simplified DeFi experience while maintaining the benefits of decentralization.

Despite over 15 years of existence, the crypto ecosystem still suffers from its lack of accessibility for beginners. Newcomers often rely on centralized exchanges, which offer simple interfaces and eliminate the need to manage seed phrases, but they miss out on numerous on-chain opportunities.

In fact, most wallets are relatively complex to use and require significant knowledge to master DEX, bridges, lending, and other DeFi tools. Infinex aims to provide a multichain wallet with a simple interface that allows everyone to navigate easily between different blockchains and enjoy DeFi while maintaining a high level of security.

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Infinex Features

To compete with centralized exchanges, Infinex must gather tools typically scattered across multiple protocols into a single intuitive and elegant interface. Here are the first features already available on Infinex:

• Storage: This is an often-overlooked aspect of centralized exchanges, but they facilitate the storage of numerous cryptocurrencies in one place. Infinex allows holding hundreds of different tokens from Ethereum and its L2 (Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Blast, etc.), Solana, and recently, Berachain. Infinex also supports several major NFT collections on Ethereum (CryptoPunks, Pudgy Penguins, Milady, etc.) and plans to integrate other blockchains in the future.
• Vault: The vault offers a second storage option for long-term asset holding. This allows differentiating between funds on the primary wallet that can be used for DeFi or daily transactions and funds set aside for long-term investments. The vault provides additional security options, including the possibility of transferring all funds to a third-party address if needed.
• Swidge: This is Infinex's latest feature. It is a combination of a DEX and a bridge, enabling token exchange on the spot market regardless of the blockchains they are on. This offers a user experience similar to that of a centralized exchange.
• Earn: Most centralized exchanges integrate investment products to earn returns on cryptocurrencies, but they are often not very transparent about the origin of the returns. In contrast, Infinex natively integrates products provided by external protocols like Lido, Ethena, Jupiter, etc., ensuring transparent returns and long-term viability.

In the future, Infinex plans to integrate other tools to offer a comprehensive experience covering both centralized exchange features and DeFi protocol features:

• Trading: Infinex aims to add various options for trading directly on their platform. This will involve integrating perpetual trading protocols like Synthetix, dYdX, and GMX, options protocols like Derive or Squeeth, and margin trading.
• Lending and Borrowing: Infinex plans to integrate collateralized lending, notably via Aave on Ethereum and Kamino on Solana. This is another aspect of DeFi that has shown resilience and is very popular.
• Launchpad: Infinex also considers adding a launchpad to facilitate the launch of new projects and provide easy access to individual investors.

The simplified integration of numerous features will be crucial for Infinex's success. In the long term, Infinex could become the number one platform for blockchain service distribution, benefiting both protocols by increasing activity and users by providing a simpler interface and centralizing all dapps in one place. Within a few years, this could lead to a new paradigm where most users prefer to use their wallet interfaces rather than those provided by protocols.

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Infinex Wallet Security

Infinex's goal is to provide services as easy to use as centralized exchanges while maintaining control like on-chain wallets. To achieve this, Infinex relies on a set of proven technologies.

Passkey

When a user registers on Infinex for the first time, a passkey is generated and stored locally on their device. This passkey works on the same principle as private and public keys used on the blockchain, allowing for more secure authentication. Unlike passwords, which need to be transmitted to the server for validation (often in hashed form), passkeys are resistant to leaks since they are never meant to leave the device that stores them.

When the user wants to log in, they send a request to the server, which transmits a challenge that must be signed with the passkey to prove their identity. If the challenge is completed correctly, the server opens a session for the user. This is simple and effective.

Additionally, passkeys are resistant to phishing since if the user is on a malicious site, the URL will not be correct, and the signature generated by the user will be incorrect and cannot be used by the hacker to log in fraudulently. Depending on the device used, passkey usage can be activated via a security key, biometrics, or the device password.

Double Authentication

Passkeys are a superior solution to passwords, but they are not perfect, as there is always a risk that the user's passkey could be stolen during a hack. To add a layer of security, Infinex allows setting up double authentication (2FA) via the TOTP (Time-based One Time Password) protocol. This is an open-source protocol that enables generating a one-time password that refreshes every two minutes.

The TOTP protocol is widely integrated into many common applications: social media, banking apps, cloud services, entertainment, etc. It is not a perfect solution since it requires a secret to be stored and shared initially between the client and server, but it still enhances security and mitigates potential passkey theft.

Fund Recovery

Finally, Infinex adds a last layer of security through recovery addresses. The user can provide a Google account, an Apple account, or an EVM or Solana address to initiate fund recovery.

In case the user's passkey has been compromised or lost, they can log in via one of these methods to recover their Infinex wallet funds. For Google and Apple accounts, Infinex acts as an intermediary in identity verification. For EVM and Solana addresses, they are registered directly on the blockchain, ensuring that a simple signature is sufficient to recover funds, even in the event of a discontinuity in Infinex's services.

This way, Infinex gives the user total control, like on a classic crypto wallet, while enhancing login and fund recovery methods.

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NFT Patrons: Governance and Fundraising

Infinex also stands out for its project financing choices. Led by Kain Warwick, founder of the Synthetix protocol, Infinex decided to raise funds through the sale of an NFT collection called Patrons.

This NFT aims to participate in Infinex's governance, which is slightly different from traditional DAOs. Instead of asking all NFT Patrons to vote on every decision, they elect 6 members of a council that make decisions on their behalf. This council also includes 2 other members nominated for their technical expertise.

Governance aims to develop Infinex and allows users to vote on important decisions, such as assets, protocols, or features to implement. In the future, NFT Patrons are expected to deliver additional exclusive benefits to their holders, although these benefits are not yet known.

The sale of NFT Patrons took place in September 2024 and was open to everyone, including VC firms, foundations, and individuals. Over 43,000 Patrons were sold, raising over $67 million, which is colossal for NFTs. Many personalities supported the project by participating in this sale, including Vitalik Buterin, Jesse Polak of Base, Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana, Guy Young of Ethena, Stani Kulechov of Aave, Luca Netz of Abstract, Namik Muduroglu of MegaETH, SmokeyTheBera of Berachain, and many others.

Out of the 100,000 available NFTs, 43% were allocated during this sale, 20% are reserved for the project team, 10% for community rewards (with about half already distributed), and approximately 27% for the project's treasury.

The NFTs acquired during the sale were offered at three price levels, with different vesting periods:

• $5,000: immediate liquidity
• $3,000: 12-month linear vesting (e.g., if 2 Patrons are bought, the first is released after 6 months and the second after 12 months)
• $1,250: 12-month lock, followed by 24-month linear vesting (similar calculation to the $3,000 option)

Note : The team behind the project has the same conditions as the $1,250 Patrons sale, i.e., a one-year lock and two years of linear vesting.

To benefit from the NFT Patron benefits, it must be held on an Infinex wallet. Currently, NFT Patrons represent 92% of the value deposited on Infinex. Therefore, it is more accurate to consider that the actual TVL (Total Value Locked) of assets deposited on Infinex is $39 million.

The price of an NFT Patron is just under 2 ETH, but as its supply is very high (100,000), the capitalization of NFT Patrons is currently $530 million, making it theoretically the second largest NFT collection after CryptoPunk ($955 million) and well ahead of Bored Ape ($360 million) and Pudgy Penguins ($219 million).

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Conclusion

Crypto is still a relatively inaccessible sector, requiring a great deal of skill and knowledge. This is a real problem that hinders adoption and poses a significant risk for users, who stick to easier-to-access solutions such as centralized exchanges while exposing themselves to the risk of default.

Infinex's ambitious gamble is to reinvent the wallet by providing an alternative that combines the sovereignty of crypto wallets with the security and ease of use of centralized exchanges. Completely replacing CEXs will require a great deal of work, as Infinex still has a number of limitations.

To mention just one point, Infinex cannot fully compete with CEXs until on-ramp and off-ramp solutions are in place. Nevertheless, Infinex finally offers a serious alternative that could shake up both the wallet and CEX markets in the months and years to come. It remains to be seen whether it will establish itself as a new benchmark in the ecosystem, or whether its technology will be ignored.