BLOCKSMITH&Co. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tetsuya Sanada; hereinafter "BLOCKSMITH") has collaborated with Liquid Inc., a member of the ELEMENTS Group (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takaki Hasegawa; hereinafter "Liquid"), to jointly develop the "BLOCKSMITH WALLET," a non-custodial Web3 wallet utilizing face recognition technology from Liquid's identity verification service "LIQUID Auth." This wallet eliminates the need for seed phrases. The wallet is now available within BLOCKSMITH's user-generated rewards quiz app "QAQA."

Note:
A "seed phrase" is a list of words used to recover access to a wallet. 
A "non-custodial wallet" is one where users manage their own private keys.
 

Traditional non-custodial wallets often require users to manage seed phrases—randomly generated lists of 12 to 24 words—for wallet recovery, especially during device changes. Losing a seed phrase can result in permanent loss of access to the wallet's assets. Managing these phrases can be cumbersome, and forgetting them means there's no third-party recovery option. These challenges have been significant barriers to the widespread adoption of Web3 technologies.

To address these issues, BLOCKSMITH, specializing in Web3 services, has integrated Liquid's robust face recognition technology—proven in over 60 million identity verifications—into its proprietary Web3 wallet.
 

This non-custodial wallet allows users to manage their private keys without the need for seed phrases. It leverages face recognition and Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology to manage private keys. During wallet recovery, such as after a device change, users can authenticate using facial recognition instead of relying on potentially lost seed phrases. This approach reduces the risk of losing access to wallet assets and offers a user-friendly experience, especially for beginners.

Note: 
A "private key" is confidential data that proves ownership of cryptocurrency. 
"MPC" is a technology that enables computations on encrypted inputs without revealing them.

＜Mechanism of Wallet Recovery Using Face Recognition and MPC＞
With MPC technology, the private key is divided and stored across three parties: the user's device, BLOCKSMITH, and Liquid. In the event of device loss or change, the wallet can be recovered by combining these fragments after successful face recognition by the user. This method prevents unauthorized access to key fragments stored on servers and reduces the risk of full key exposure even if a single server is compromised.

 

Service providers only hold fragments of the private key and cannot transfer assets without user involvement, maintaining the non-custodial nature of the wallet. BLOCKSMITH has obtained a patent for this biometric-based distributed key management system.

QAQA is a user-generated quiz app where players can submit and answer quizzes to earn in-app currency called "CHIP." Accumulated CHIP can be exchanged for products, gift certificates, or cryptocurrencies. Leveraging its ability to communicate strong passions and messages through quizzes, QAQA has collaborated with many companies and continues to seek new corporate partners for future collaborations.

Download:
iOS:https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/id6450161082
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blocksmith.quiz

Official Links:
QAQA Official Site: http://qaqa.io
LINE: https://lin.ee/2r3jdvZ
X (formerly Twitter, Japanese): https://twitter.com/qaqa_jp
X (formerly Twitter, English): https://twitter.com/qaqa_en
Discord: https://discord.com/invite/x94WMNJJ9y
Telegram: https://t.me/qaqagroup
 

LIQUID Auth is a service that verifies whether a user is the same individual who registered at the start of service usage. It offers various authentication methods, including FIDO authentication using smartphones and "Auth Face," which utilizes facial recognition with identity-verified facial data linked to the "LIQUID eKYC" identity verification service. These methods are selected based on the specific use case. Since identity-verified facial data is extremely difficult to alter post-registration, even if other authentication information like passwords or devices is compromised, unauthorized access can be prevented.
 

BLOCKSMITH&Co. was established on April 1, 2022, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of KLab Inc., specializing in Web3-related businesses. Leveraging extensive know-how in game planning, development, and operations, BLOCKSMITH is creating original blockchain services. The company developed "Captain Tsubasa -RIVALS-," a new type of blockchain game based on Japan’s iconic soccer manga "Captain Tsubasa," in collaboration with Thirdverse Inc. (now Mint Town Inc.) and officially released the user-generated rewards quiz app "QAQA" in December 2024. BLOCKSMITH also holds two patents related to proprietary Web3 wallet technologies.

Company Name: BLOCKSMITH&Co.
CEO: Tetsuya Sanada
Established: April 1, 2022
Capital: 14,999,950 yen
Headquarters: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Business Areas: Development and distribution of blockchain-based products, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs
Website: https://www.blocksmithand.co.jp/

Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blocksmithandco/
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/BLOCKSMITH_JP
 

Company Name: BLOCKSMITH&Co.
President and CEO: Tetsuya Sanada
Establishment: April 1, 2022
Capital: 14,999,950 JPY
Head office: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-6122
Business: Development and distribution of products such as blockchain technology and crypto assets utilising NFTs
URL：https://www.blocksmithand.co.jp/en/ 

【SNS】
Linkedin：https://www.linkedin.com/company/blocksmithandco-en/
X：https://twitter.com/BLOCKSMITH_EN
 

Liquid aims to create a seamless society where all 8 billion people worldwide can easily and safely access various services in their natural state by utilizing biometric authentication. The company provides mechanisms for cross-industry fraud detection, enhancing both convenience and security. Liquid offers services like "LIQUID eKYC" for identity verification and "LIQUID Auth" for user authentication.

Headquarters: Nihonbashi Life Science Building 3, 5th Floor, 3-8-3 Nihonbashi-Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
CEO: Takaki Hasegawa
Established: December 2018
Website: https://liquidinc.asia
 

Headquarters: Nihonbashi Life Science Building 3, 5th Floor, 3-8-3 Nihonbashi-Honcho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Chairman: Yasuhiro Hisada
CEO: Takaki Hasegawa
Stock Code: TSE Growth Market 5246
Established: December 2013
Website: https://elementsinc.jp/