Wallet Logins Under Scrutiny as SIWE Creators Push Back on UX Criticism

The long standing debate around Login with Wallet resurfaced this week after fresh comments from DeFi analytics platform leaders & the original creator of Sign In with Ethereum highlighted both the shortcomings & unrealized potential of wallet based authentication. The discussion was sparked by Oxngmi, a core contributor at DefiLlama, who questioned why more companies even within crypto have avoided implementing wallet logins in production systems.

• Real World Friction with Wallet Based Authentication
• SIWE Creator Responds Login With Wallet Is Not the Same Thing
• ENS Persistent Sessions & Hybrid Identity
• Adoption Still an Open Question

Real World Friction with Wallet Based Authentication

Drawing from DefiLlama’s production experience Oxngmi outlined several persistent user experience challenges that arise when wallets are used as the primary login mechanism. One of the most common issues is account recall. Users frequently forget which wallet address they used to sign up particularly when wallet login is later combined with traditional Web2 services like Stripe for subscriptions.

In many cases users attempt to log in via email when managing payments only to discover that their account is bound to a wallet address they no longer recognize or remember. This confusion often escalates into mistrust with users believing platforms are intentionally blocking account access to prevent subscription cancellations.

Even when users recall using a wallet they may still forget the specific address especially if they manage multiple wallets across devices. Oxngmi also highlighted limitations around user communication.

This is a valid question, why havent more companies (even within crypto) implemented "log in with wallet"?

At DefiLlama we've run wallet logins in production for a while and the truth is there are significant issues with them

One of the biggest issues is that users forget the… https://t.co/ZXvFfbJseJ

— 0xngmi (@0xngmi) January 20, 2026

Wallet only systems struggle to deliver standard SaaS notifications such as API usage warnings or billing alerts without reintroducing email collection which adds friction & undermines the original simplicity of wallet native authentication. While acknowledging that wallet logins offer stronger security than email password flows Oxngmi argued that their benefits are largely limited to high security or crypto native applications making them unsuitable for the majority of consumer apps today.

SIWE Creator Responds Login With Wallet Is Not the Same Thing

The critique prompted a direct response from Brantly.eth, creator of Sign In with Ethereum, who pushed back on the idea that SIWE’s slow adoption is purely a UX failure. Brantly pointed instead to organizational stagnation.

According to him the company originally funded by Ethereum Name Service & the Ethereum Foundation to steward SIWE took grant funding but failed to finalize the EIP or meaningfully advance the project. That changed recently he said when his company EthID took over stewardship at no cost finalizing the EIP rebuilding brand assets & restarting integrations under Sign In With Ethereum.

ENS Persistent Sessions & Hybrid Identity

Brantly also challenged the assumption that wallet based identity must be fragile. He argued that pairing SIWE with ENS names significantly reduces account confusion as users are far more likely to remember human readable identities than raw addresses.

Recent SIWE upgrades now support persistent sessions narrowing one of the biggest usability gaps compared to traditional login systems. Additionally platforms are not forced into a binary choice.

hey, as the creator of Sign in with Ethereum here are my thoughts

1) the company charged by ENS and EF with leading Sign in with Ethereum took the grant money and abandoned the project without even finalizing the EIP, which is why little happened with SIWE in the last few years…

— brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) January 21, 2026

Email verification can still be required on first login while keeping wallets as the core authentication primitive. From his perspective SIWE is not merely Login with Wallet but a broader authentication username & profile standard one that more closely resembles a decentralized alternative to OAuth rather than a replacement for passwords alone.

Adoption Still an Open Question

Despite improvements Brantly acknowledged that SIWE still requires significant development education & ecosystem coordination before it can achieve mainstream relevance. Wallet native identity remains powerful but only if infrastructure UX & expectations evolve together.

For now the debate underscores a larger tension in Web3 balancing decentralization & self custody with the usability norms users have grown accustomed to in Web2. Whether SIWE becomes the bridge between the two or remains a niche standard will likely depend on how well the ecosystem addresses the very real friction surfaced in this discussion.

If you find any issues in this blog or notice any missing information, please feel free to reach out at yash@etherworld.co for clarifications or updates.

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