What Is the Most Secure Way to Connect To rhino.fi?

This article is meant as an overview of the technology, and should not be considered an endorsement of any individual wallet, or taken as any sort of crypto/wallet security advice. Please be sure to conduct your own research and make sure that you are comfortable holding custody of your own assets in the wallet of your choice before using rhino.fi, as well as making sure you understand how rhino.fi operates on layer 2.

You can connect to rhino.fi using one of the following wallets:

Metamask
Metamask + Ledger
Ledger
Other hardware wallet via Wallet Connect
Metamask Mobile
Trust Wallet (Mobile)

When you interact with rhino.fi (placing orders, swapping etc) you are interacting with rhino.fi technology on layer 2 using a special trading key. This trading key is necessary as the cryptography used by rhino.fi (STARKs) is different to that of the main Ethereum chain.

It is widely accepted within the industry that hardware wallets are the safest type, as they ensure that the Ethereum signing process happens on the device and not on your computer. Therefore, if your computer were to be compromised, your Etheruem key would (in theory) stay safe.

So which wallets are the most secure when interacting with rhino.fi?

Ledger Hardware Wallet

Connecting to rhino.fi directly with a Ledger hardware wallet could be considered the safest option, as both the trading key and your Ethereum key signing takes place on the device itself. This is thanks to the wonderful team at Ledger supporting the STARK cryptography on the Ledger devices themselves (native integration). Therefore in theory, if your computer was compromised then both your trading key and your Ethereum key would be safe.

The only disadvantage is that you need to sign every message and therefore, if you are after a fast trading experience on rhino.fi, this may not be the best option for you.

Metamask (Software Wallets)

Software wallets such as Metamask do not support Stark (trading key) cryptography natively yet. Therefore when you connect to rhino.fi, you use your Ethereum key to generate a rhino.fi trading key that is stored in your browser. This means that trading on rhino.fi is quick and easy, as the signing happens instantaneously once you initiate an action on the rhino.fi UI.

The disadvantage to using software wallets such as Metamask is that if your computer is compromised then your Ethereum private key could be stolen, as well as your rhino.fi trading key. It is generally recommended not to keep a large amount of funds in a software wallet.

Metamask + Ledger

The Metamask + Ledger (using Metamask with a linked Ledger) integration with rhino.fi is a half-way-house between the two above options (Hardware vs Software wallet). As Metamask does not allow rhino.fi to access native trading key generation on Ledger (remember that Ledger supports native Stark trading key generation), then the Ethereum key is used to generate a trading key instead. Similar to the Metamask integration, this trading key is kept within the browser, allowing you to quickly trade on rhino.fi.

Advantages: Quick trading. Also, if your computer were to be compromised then your Ethereum private key would remain safe (as it is on the Ledger).

Disadvantages: If your computer were to be compromised then your trading key could be stolen and your funds on rhino.fi could be at risk.

Updated on: 15/08/2022