User experience (UX) remains one of the biggest challenges facing Web3. While blockchain technology enables new possibilities, it often comes with usability hurdles that make it harder for everyday users to participate.
If you’ve ever used a dapp, you’ve likely encountered these pain points firsthand: setting up wallets, managing seed phrases, signing every transaction, and paying gas fees. Compared to the frictionless experiences of Web2 apps, Web3 can still feel complicated and intimidating.
At Chromia, we’re always exploring ways to make blockchain interactions more intuitive without sacrificing the security and ownership that make Web3 unique. One of our recent steps in this direction is the Chromia Passkey Demo, an experiment showing how web authentication can simplify account creation and transaction signing in dapps.
A Simpler Way to Web3
Passkeys are a modern, passwordless authentication standard supported by major platforms like Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Instead of remembering passwords or managing private keys, users can sign in and approve actions using built-in device security — like Windows Hello, Touch ID, or a security key.
Chromia’s Passkey integration allows users to create dapp subaccounts and sign blockchain transactions using these existing device credentials. Your biometric identity or linked account becomes your secure Web3 key, combining the ease of Web2 with the safety of blockchain technology.
The Passkey Demo
To demonstrate this concept, we built a simple testnet dapp called Passkey Demo that utilizes web authentication. While the app itself is simple, it highlights how seamless authentication and transaction signing can be. Here’s how it works:
After entering a username and display name, the user selects “Register Passkey.” At this point, the browser prompts for biometric or device-based verification (such as Windows Hello, Google ID, etc.) Once confirmed, the credential is securely registered on Chromia.
With registration complete, the user can create a new “book” by entering a name and clicking “Create Book.” This triggers a fresh authentication request, ensuring that each blockchain action is verified in real time. There’s no credential caching, as every operation requires a live authentication through the passkey mechanism. The corresponding action is then executed on the blockchain, and users can review the event log to see all recorded transactions and their results.
Why This Matters
Passkey support could significantly enhance user onboarding and transaction signing for both existing Chromia dapps and new ecosystem projects. It lowers barriers to entry, improves accessibility, and maintains the core principles of decentralization and security.
In the long term, this approach can help Chromia move toward applications that are as easy and natural to use as any Web2 platform.
Try It Yourself
You can check out the Passkey Demo firsthand here:
https://passkey-demo-alpha.vercel.app/
You can also view the code here:
https://bitbucket.org/chromawallet/passkey-demo/
While this demo is just a starting point, it opens the door for developers to build dapps that combine ease of use with the transparency and control of blockchain.
About Chromia
Chromia is a Layer-1 relational blockchain platform that uses a modular framework to empower users and developers with dedicated dapp chains, customizable fee structures, and enhanced digital assets. By fundamentally changing how information is structured on the blockchain, Chromia provides natively queryable data indexed in real-time, challenging the status quo to deliver innovations that will streamline the end-user experience and facilitate new Web3 business models.Website | X | Telegram | Instagram | Youtube | Discord | Reddit | LinkedIn | Facebook |