Cautionary Note:
The ideas canvased here reflect a point of view, and end state, that has authoritatively been described as “fundamentally mistaken”
To understand the effect and importance of reciprocal account creation between Relay Chains consider the following, where you substitute “Entity X”, first with “Big Bank X” and then with “Big Chain X”.
A user satisfies the account opening requirements (KYC or wallet etc) for Entity A (a dominant incumbent).
Upon opening their account the user wants Entity A to create an account for them with Entity B (a new entrant), which has the exact same account creation requirements. The user would also like Entity A to facilitate other functionality, but for now just consider account creation.
Entity A says no (Entity B says no to its new customers, but only because Entity A refuses to reciprocate). The substantial, if not sole reason, is that Entity A fears (correctly) the user can freely move their business to the competitor. Entity B would agree if A reciprocated. Entity A, not being entirely foolish offer variations on the following reasons (some possibly unspoken):
- We have Diamond level security, Entity B is just offering you rocks.
- We have the same account opening requirements, but ours are better.
- You can do it yourself, (but don’t expect us to aid in any way).
- Yes someone might offer a service-for-a-fee that keeps these accounts in sync, ensuring you have no disruption in the event either Entity fails. We think it is better we don’t have the risk you decide they might be superior enough to move all your business there.
A reasonable observer could conclude that both Big Chain and Big Bank are indistinguishable, or Big Chain is worse (see below).
This is not surprising.
Both are being conceptualized, developed and motivated by the same security incentives (stock / speculator token).
Scenario:
After some time it becomes apparent Entity X’s claim about diamond level security is “mistaken”.
Customers in Big Chain not only lose all their financial wealth, they also lose whatever was secured on the block chain.
Customers in Big Bank lose nothing, either via the FDIC insurance or some equivalent.
Recommendation:
Substrate Relay Chains that have the same account creation requirements should support reciprocal account creation actions.
Substrate should have a default pallet (in the Omni-Node) that supports account creation with non-Substrate Relay Chains (IIUC, we can’t control their code base so reciprocity requirement can’t be enforced as a default).
This configuration must be public and be made the default.
A culture of promoting cross Relay Chain account creation should be encouraged (wallets etc). Initially this would be Kusama and Polkadot and opt-in for other existing RCs.
Related:
- Keyless Accounts