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RSK3 Libraries & RWallet Announcement

Published on: 26 May, 2020

IOV Labs is excited to announce the first public release of rsk3.js, a powerful suite of Javascript libraries built specifically for developers looking to build on the RSK blockchain. Those developers who have used Ethereum’s very popular web3 Javascript library will find themselves in familiar territory, with most function calls being very similar in syntax to those in web3 but adapted for RSK’s blockchain. This should ease the process for those developers wanting to port their web3 dependent applications from Ethereum to RSK. 

And that’s not all! We are also excited to announce the creation of RWallet, the official wallet with initial support for RBTC, BTC and RIF cryptocurrencies. The new RWallet is designed for mobile users, and has been developed to support both Android and iOS devices. In addition to being open-source, it provides the user with full custody of their cryptocurrencies stored in the wallet, since we believe in putting the power of decentralized finance in the hands of the individual. The wallet uses a secure seed to generate the private key and provide the users with a backup and recovery process to restore it if they misplace or lose access to their device. In addition to storing, sending and receiving, the wallet provides swap functionality, enabling certain assets to be swapped within the wallet using third party services. This will be especially useful to users looking to swap between BTC and RBTC. 

The RWallet will be continuously improved to support the most powerful and useful capabilities of the RSK blockchain and RIF services. The wallet is also the first production example using the rsk3.js libraries (details below), and can be a useful reference example for wallet developers looking to build RSK blockchain compatible wallets, since it is also fully open-sourced. Future release plans include support custom tokens created on the RSK blockchain (eg. ERC-20), multisig wallets, and other RIF and third-party services through an integrated dApp browser. The RSK Wallet first release is now going through the publishing process, and we expect Android publishing to complete first. Once the wallet is ready for download from the app stores, we will announce where you can go to download it and provide some basic instructions for getting started. 

More about the RSK3.js suite

The rsk3.js suite is a collection of libraries to interact with a local or remote RSK blockchain node, with the intent of making common function calls easier to perform and to provide rapid development building blocks for DApp developers. The libraries are available in open source, with the goal of providing these valuable tools to developers around the world that are building applications on the RSK blockchain.

The main focus areas of these rsk3 libraries are:

  • Security
  • Straight-forward compatibility with the RSK blockchain
  • Reduced verbosity vs web3 (shorter function calls)
  • Lightweight codebase that remains powerful. 

The libraries enable interacting with RSK network accounts, contracts, network properties, DApps, as well various utility functions. Major uses include account creation, account management, token issuance (e.g. ERC-20), and transaction formation plus signing.

Before releasing these libraries to the public we have completed an independent security audit to ensure that we provide the best possible security for those looking at building their apps using these libraries. We are using these libraries in projects we are building, so we know how important it is to build on top of a secure platform, and believe strongly in providing our development community with best in class tools that are robust, tried and tested. Presently we are building multiple applications using these libraries and invite you to do the same and send us feedback or ideas. 

We believe these libraries will be useful for both new and experienced blockchain developers, whether you are looking at creating your first application on the RSK blockchain or want to build a complex wallet, create a token, build monitoring tools, or check the network properties for your DApp game. We’re excited to learn more about the projects that use these libraries, and we are committed to supporting the development of these tools into the future, so your feedback is welcome!

To install these libraries, you can do so using NPM.

To install the entire suite of rsk3 libraries:

npm install @rsksmart/rsk3

You may also wish to install individual rsk3 libraries. This is useful when you only need a subset of them in your projects. At present, there are six:

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-abi

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-account

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-contract

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-net

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-personal

npm install @rsksmart/rsk-utils 

Alternatively you may build the libraries from source using instructions in their Github repository:

github.com/rsksmart/rsk3.js 

Our developer portal contains detailed API documentation and usage guides:

developers.rsk.co/libraries/rsk3js/

We invite you to download and explore the rsk3.js library suite and begin building your first applications with it immediately. As with any new technology, we welcome your feedback, questions, suggestions and bug reports. As for the RWallet, we are eager and excited to share with you information about its availability to be downloaded from the app stores soon. Stay tuned!