Will Wallet and DApp Connections Converge on a Unified Standard?

The short answer: connection standards won't consolidate into a single "grand unification," but they are heading toward a de facto convergence at the protocol layer. That may sound contradictory, but it is exactly what is happening — there will not be only one way for wallets and DApps to connect, but the vast majority of connections will run under the same set of protocol standards.

Two standards coexist with completely different roles

To understand this issue, we need to distinguish between two things: how a wallet "discovers" a DApp and how a wallet "communicates" with a DApp.

The former is an interface standard that determines how the wallet list pops up on a DApp page. On the browser side, two standards currently run in parallel: EIP-1193 (the older standard pushed early by MetaMask) and EIP-6963 (a new standard proposed in 2023 that resolves conflicts when multiple wallets inject simultaneously). The latter is the communication protocol that determines how data is encrypted and transmitted once a connection is established. WalletConnect holds an overwhelmingly dominant position at this layer.

The two are upstream and downstream of each other and do not conflict. A DApp can support both interface standards to discover wallets, but once connected, the communication protocol used increasingly points to WalletConnect.

Why WalletConnect is becoming the "default option"

Before WalletConnect emerged in 2018, wallets essentially had two paths to connect to DApps: browser extension injection (the MetaMask model), or a built-in browser inside a wallet app. The former only worked on desktop, the latter locked users into a specific wallet brand.

WalletConnect's core contribution is cross-device connectivity — a mobile wallet can scan a QR code shown on a desktop webpage to establish a connection, with the private key never leaving the phone. Once this usage scenario proved seamless, adoption began to snowball. As of today, the numbers are: over 700 supported wallets, more than 70,000 DApps, a cumulative total of over 300 million secure connections, and coverage of more than 50 million users.

At this scale, when any new wallet or DApp makes an integration decision, supporting WalletConnect has become almost mandatory. Not because it is "the best," but because of user expectations — if a user opens a DApp and finds they cannot connect their wallet, they simply leave.

But unification applies to the protocol, not the entry point

WalletConnect's protocol is trending toward de facto standardization, but that does not mean users have only one connection entry point. The same protocol manifests in a variety of ways across different DApps:

• Desktop: a QR code pops up, and the mobile wallet scans it
• Inside a mobile DApp: the already installed wallet app is invoked directly (deep linking)
• Wallet built-in browser: the DApp page is accessed directly without going through a QR code flow

The protocol is the same, but the interaction form adapts to different terminals. This is called "unification at the protocol layer, diversity at the access layer."

Boundaries to be aware of

Scenario A – you only use a browser extension wallet (e.g., MetaMask extension)

When the extension wallet and the DApp are in the same browser environment, they still use the direct injection channel of EIP-1193/6963 without going through WalletConnect's relay. In this scenario, a "unified standard" means: the DApp front-end needs to correctly implement EIP-6963 to ensure that multiple installed wallets do not overwrite each other.

Scenario B – you use a mobile wallet to connect to a desktop DApp

This is WalletConnect's home turf. You see a QR code, scan it, and establish an encrypted session. Here you need to confirm that your wallet supports WalletConnect v2 (almost all mainstream wallets already do, including imToken, Trust Wallet, Rainbow, etc.), because v1 was deprecated in 2023.

Prerequisite: In any case, make sure your wallet is updated to the latest version. Older wallet versions may only support WalletConnect v1 and are now unable to connect to most DApps.

Common failure causes: If you see "pairing failed" or "session timeout" during connection, it is usually due to relay network issues. WalletConnect v2 relies on a decentralized relay node network, and some nodes may respond slowly. Try again at a different time, or switch relay nodes in wallet settings (if such an option is available).

Risk reminder: Protocol unification does not solve phishing problems. Whether the connected DApp domain is genuine and whether the content you are signing is readable are security issues on a different layer. Protocol unification only solves "can you connect," not "is what you're connected to a scammer."

Confirm you understand the current state: Open a DApp you commonly use (e.g., Uniswap), click "Connect Wallet," and observe whether the option list includes a WalletConnect option. If you see "WalletConnect" or "Scan with mobile wallet," it means that DApp has integrated this protocol. You do not need to take any extra action, but knowing which protocol runs behind the scenes helps you diagnose certain connection issues — if the connection fails, first check whether the counterpart supports WalletConnect v2, then look into network problems.