For new users, the process of making their first transaction on a blockchain can be intimidating and hard to understand. But with the increasing availability of user-friendly tools, navigating the process has become much easier. For example, using a simple graphical user interface (GUI) can make it easier to understand the details of a transaction.

One such tool that can help is txstreet.com. This website allows you to visualize transactions on the blockchain using a bus analogy, with Southpark characters representing transactions. By clicking on each character, you can view all the information about the transaction, including the amount and the recipient. The speed of the bus represents the rate at which blocks are processed on a blockchain.

Another tool that can help protect against scams is FIRE. This tool allows you to view the details of a transaction before it is sent, giving you the opportunity to review and practice before making a real transaction. This can help protect against scams that mimic legitimate transactions but steal your crypto or non-fungible tokens.

![https://twitter.com/\_joinfire

](https://images.mirror-media.xyz/publication-images/w4yW2Ir9V9va-ZbiEkN02.jpeg?height=580&width=1014)

In conclusion, this blog post has provided an overview of how to view your crypto transactions and introduced tools that can help you stay safe and avoid scams. By using tools such as txstreet.com and FIRE, you can better understand and control your transactions, and protect your funds.

Have you ever heard of being "rugpulled"? It's a term used for people who have lost funds due to the project team taking the funds and leaving. I was rugpulled for the first time since being in crypto yesterday, and it was a tough lesson to learn. But as I was feeding my child and contemplating about life, I realized that humans are learners by doing. How can we translate this experience to crypto?

As new parents learn about how to do everything for their baby - burping, feeding, and looking for facial expressions - they are also learning by doing. These things can be read about and watched, but until you actually do them yourself, you have no idea how to do it. We simply learn by doing. Crypto is very similar. You can read articles and watch YouTube episodes about blockchains and dAPPs (Decentralized APP), but until you actually try these things out - setting up a wallet, getting crypto, making transactions, borrowing and lending - you won't really understand how great DeFi can be.

Reflecting on my rugpull experience, there were several red flags that I missed. Other communities that I respect were publicly partnering with the project on twitter, and I saw familiar faces from other communities in the discord. These are usually things that tell me something will be good. But the main red flag was the lack of an audit. I asked about it in their discord and was told that it was holiday season and they were talking to several different companies. I usually follow a tenant of never putting crypto into an unaudited project from a reputable company, but I overruled this red flag and paid the price. This is extremely important because, as a user, you cannot verify or have friends verify an unaudited smart contract to tell if it is legitimate. You are your own bank, and you must have your own due diligence.

But the story doesn't end there. Crypto is all about communities and people caring for each other. Within an hour, there were many people trying to help others retrieve part of their funds. It was a process not for new people, but a lot of users were able to get back half of their funds thanks to people like @abmisx0 and @Jeffcryptoo. These two are programmers who write great articles on projects on twitter and discord.

One problem I hope wallets can tackle is providing some type of warning before signing something that is not audited. Another problem is the lack of social trackers that give valued opinions about a project that can be read directly in the wallet. An example of how this could work is projects like @GoplusSecurity, which is a crypto security firm with APIs that can verify code in real time within a wallet (more on this in another post.

In conclusion, I hope that wallets can implement warning systems for unaudited projects and social trackers to provide valued opinions about projects. This will help users make informed decisions and protect their funds. My goal for 2023 is to research and share every company / protocol helping users protect their selfHappy New Years and let's make a better 2023!

Cryptocurrency Wallets: An Intermeidate User Experience Test—ZenGo

As someone who is deeply involved in the crypto community, I often hear about the difficulties people have when it comes to setting up and using cryptocurrency wallets. For most people, the idea of having to remember or securely write down a 12-word phrase is simply unacceptable. That's why I decided my first experiments will be to test out different wallets with new users and get their experiences.

Before installing the wallet, I asked the users what they were looking for in a crypto wallet. I didn't want to talk too much about security or how to keep from getting hacked – that will come later. I just wanted them to start thinking about what they need the wallet for.

During the installation process, I asked questions about ease of setup and any pitfalls the users ran into. (I didn't walk them through the process – I wanted them to try it on their own first.) And after the installation, I showed them different things they could do with the wallet and shared some basic security tips.

For my first test, I asked a coworker named Jasper to try out a new wallet. He already had MetaMask on his computer, but didn't have anything on his iPhone. We decided to try out ZenGo. <>

The first problem we encountered was when we tried to download the app from the Chinese App Store – it wasn't available. So, we switched to the US App Store and were able to download ZenGo without any issues.

Jasper quickly went through the welcome screen without reading it, so I had to remind him to go back and read everything. Once he did, he noticed the caption "don't need to remember passwords or key phrases."

He was intrigued, but asked how that was possible. I explained that the wallet used facial recognition to access the wallet, and it was saved to his iCloud.

We tried a few different ways to trick the facial recognition, such as using a photo of Jasper on another phone or a printed picture, but none of them worked. Jasper really liked this feature and asked if he could switch his MetaMask address to ZenGo. Unfortunately, we found out that ZenGo and MetaMask are not compatible and this was confirmed through customer support.

Despite this, Jasper had a positive overall impression of ZenGo. He liked that he didn't have to remember a key phrase, and he was interested in exploring different protocols using the wallet. Will write further blogs about this in the future.

For my next test, I plan to try a completely new user to cryptocurrency. I'm excited to see how they fare with the ZenGo wallet setup process and gather their thoughts on the experience.

As a final note, I want to mention that I am not currently affiliated with ZenGo, but an employee did ask if I wanted to join their ambassador program yesterday (from a different tweet thread from yesterday). What a small world life is sometimes. Anywho, please let me know if this is helpful or how to improve the blog. I want to help new people but also let the builders know what works and doesn’t.

As a crypto consultant for Opera Browser in Beijing, I have the opportunity to shape the crypto news that is presented to our users. I believe it is important for the industry to focus on the builders and good actors in the community, rather than dwelling on the negative aspects such as scams and grifters.

To that end, I plan to test various cryptocurrency products on individuals with no prior knowledge of the space. I will provide a basic overview of each protocol and report on how user-friendly they are for non-crypto users. This will allow me to identify technologies that are truly transformative and have strong underlying fundamentals.

I encourage my readers to share this blog and help spread the word about the exciting developments happening in the cryptocurrency industry. Thank you for joining me on this journey to help people experience the benefits of a bankless life.