Background
Cryptocurrency users have a hard time securing their assets on the blockchain. Typically all value of a cryptocurrency “account” is tied to a private key. Users can use many cryptocurrencies each with their own private keys.
The most safe way to store this private key is probably to use a hardware encrypted device like a Ledger Nano S or Trezor, but the down side of these devices is that they can be too cumbersome for daily use and also not all software supports them yet. A potential best practice can be to store most of your value on a hardware encrypted device while having secondary accounts with less funds on them for more day to day use, kind of like a bank account vs a wallet.
So there is a need to store some private keys more “traditionally” on your normal desktop or mobile devices for quick use. This is where password managers like BitWarden come in.
Current user experience
I have never heard of BitWarden before today, I was a long time 1Password user. I am happy to see there is a free alternative with a great user experience. I am already nearly convinced to migrate over and evangelize BitWarden, but there would still be a few improvements that could both make my experience better and result in the app being more welcoming to new cryptocurrency users.
Support for cryptocurrency accounts was not implemented directly in 1Password either, I still had to create a “Login” type item and then create custom fields to store the public/private key pair. But it was a bit easier for me to use there because of one major feature: Ability to clone/duplicate a Login. Then I can quickly edit the copied item and just edit the name and paste in the new private key and public key without having to create the same set of custom fields again and again.
But it would of course be even more amazing if BitWarden could recognize the importance of cryptocurrency accounts as its own type.
Opportunity
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain is a sector exploding with growth right now. Most users have horrible security practices, and either no money or knowledge for hardware encrypted devices.
If an app is only slightly marketed towards them with a type like that then I could see it being accepted even easier. Especially your ability to host your own cloud backup server is a big deal for hardcore cryptocurrency users that might have used 1password before.
Requirements
The bare minimum is the ability to store a public key and private key pair (private key should be a hidden field) and of course give it a name. Optional fields would be useful as well. For example the EOS blockchain has the concept of a username, whereas Bitcoin and Ethereum do not.
Alternatively it would be a long way to at least implement a Duplicate feature in all the apps to make it easier to manage multiple cryptocurrency accounts.
