If you tried out Leodex.io yesterday after its relaunch and repurposing, you noticed this:
The only way to connect your wallet right now is by using a Keystore file. Next will be implemented XDEFI not long after that, and in the end, support for Metamask will arrive (but Metamask doesn't have support for Thorchain/Maya).
I imagine most Hivers have no idea what a Keystore is, how to work with it and what are best practices to working with one.
Being on Thorchain for some time, I got used to them, and they are easy to understand once you grasp the main idea. And most importantly, they are supported on many blockchains, and certainly the most important ones.
From the list of blockchains you see in the screenshot above (Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Kuji, Thorchain, Maya, Hive), Hive is the only one that doesn't support keystore files. Other chains support them too, they are just not on this list.
Keystore is a system of determining a wallet's private key based on a small keystore file and a password. Without either piece, you can't sign transactions for the respective wallet. We'll go into more detail about that.
Hive can't work with such a system, simply because it has multiple private keys.
Without going into too deep details, what does the keystore file contain?
The keystore file is a text file (more exactly a JSON file), that contains these pieces of information:
As you can see, important information is stored in the keystore file, which should remain as confidential as the password.
I mentioned above that without either the keystore file or the password, you can no longer sign transactions for your wallet. This is Web 3, so you are responsible for keeping both the keystore file and the password safe and far from potential attackers.
Let's see what you can do:
If an attacker gets your keystore file, they won't be able to take your funds out without the password. If they get the password, they will need the file too.
I'll go through the processes through Leodex since this is most likely what you will use for the first time if you haven't already.
If you don't have a Keystore file yet, select Create Keystore and then, click the button, like in the image below:
You will reach this form:
You need to:
For connecting to an existent keystore:
Then this form appears:
You can now see you're wallet holdings on the chains you connected by clicking on your wallet at the top-right. You can swap using the "Swap" menu.
I won't cover swapping here for the time being, even though LEO is supported. I'd rather wait for Hive support to be added too, which should be later today if the schedule hasn't changed.
Let me know if you have questions.
