Wallets

When a Web3 game asks you to connect a wallet, it is asking for a cryptographic identity: an address plus the ability to sign actions that move or prove ownership of assets. The app icon is only the UI. Games, marketplaces, and explorers read the address you present on a specific network.

This guide explains wallet types, connect vs sign, network matching, approvals, and basic safety for players and collectors on Web3Raider. If where assets live is still fuzzy, start with Chains & Layers.

The sections below walk through what a wallet is, how gaming wallets differ from general EOAs, how connect and sign flows work, how Web3Raider surfaces wallet and chain expectations, and mistakes that lose funds or inventory.

Day to day, a wallet gives you three practical things:

• An address others use to send assets or check ownership
• A way to sign transactions and messages (mint, list, claim, approve)
• A view of balances and NFTs on the networks you have selected

The same 0x address on Ethereum and on Ronin can hold different assets. What you see depends on the selected network, not on the address string alone.

Rule of thumb: Your wallet UI shows ownership on the selected network. Wrong network looks empty, even when an explorer shows the asset on another chain.

The wallet a hub expects changes how you pay gas, recover access, and connect day to day. An EOA seed-phrase wallet, a Passport-style smart wallet, and a Ronin app wallet can all hold assets, but the signing UX and recovery model differ.

Labels vary, but the patterns below cover what you will meet in gaming docs and on Web3Raider platform pages.

• Non-custodial: You hold the keys (or device-bound keys). The provider cannot move funds without your signature. Most gaming wallets marketed as “your wallet” fall here, including Passport and Ronin Wallet.
• Custodial: A company holds assets on your behalf (exchange account). Fine for trading on centralized exchanges, but it is not the same as an NFT sitting in an address you control.

EOA wallets (MetaMask, Rabby, and similar) usually show a seed phrase when you create the account. Anyone with that phrase controls every asset in that wallet, on every chain you use with those keys. Keep it offline. Never type it into a website, Discord bot, or “support” form.

Smart and embedded wallets (Passport, Ronin social login, Abstract AGW) often use email, social, or passkey onboarding instead of a day-one seed phrase. Recovery runs through the provider’s account system and on-chain guardian policies. You still own assets non-custodially in most gaming setups, but you depend on that recovery flow if you lose device access.

A useful habit: a hot wallet for new mints and experiments, and a vault wallet for long-term collectibles.

Most Web3 games ask you to connect before minting, trading, or syncing inventory. The shape of the flow is shared across products:

1. Open the game (browser, launcher, or mobile app)
2. Choose Connect wallet or Sign in
3. Pick a provider (MetaMask, Immutable Passport, Ronin Wallet, WalletConnect, and so on)
4. Approve the connection in the wallet UI (usually read-only)
5. When you buy, mint, or claim, approve transactions or typed signatures separately

The same account type can ship as a browser extension or a mobile app; deep link and WalletConnect change how you approve, not which address model you hold.

Note: Connecting only shares your address. Moving assets still needs explicit signatures. If a site asks for your seed phrase to “connect,” treat it as a scam.

The most common beginner failure is owning an asset on chain A while the wallet UI sits on chain B.

Symptom: the explorer shows the NFT; the wallet looks empty.

Fix:

1. Check which network the collection uses (game docs, Web3Raider collection page, or explorer URL)
2. In MetaMask or Rabby, switch network to match, or use the game’s built-in wallet (Passport on Immutable, Ronin Wallet on Ronin)
3. Re-open the game or marketplace and reconnect

See Chains & Layers for how L1, L2, and gaming chains differ. For per-chain RPC and explorer setup, open the Guide tab on the relevant network hub. Start with examples that show up often in gaming: Ethereum, Immutable, Ronin, and Base.

When you mint, transfer, claim, or list, the wallet asks you to sign. That signature authorizes a transaction or a structured message (marketplaces often use EIP-712 typed data).

• Gas: Most networks charge a fee in the native token (ETH, RON, and similar). Gaming smart wallets and some hubs sponsor gas so play is not blocked by an empty fee balance.
• Session keys: Some games request limited permissions for a play session so you are not prompted on every action. Revoke old sessions in wallet security settings when you stop.
• Irreversibility: Confirmed on-chain transfers cannot be undone. Read the wallet popup before you approve.

For contract-level detail (approvals, explorers, gas mechanics), continue to Smart contracts.

Before a marketplace or third-party contract can move your tokens, you usually grant an approval. That step is separate from connecting.

• Token approval: allow one contract to spend a specific amount of an ERC-20 token
• NFT approval: allow a marketplace to transfer one NFT, or setApprovalForAll for an entire collection

Broad approvals are convenient and risky if the spender is malicious. Prefer limited approvals when the UI offers them, and revoke unused ones. Depth lives in Smart contracts: Transactions, gas, and approvals.

Pick the wallet the hub expects for daily play, then add a general-purpose EOA when you need multi-chain trading. You can use both, as long as you track which address holds which assets on which chain.

Web3Raider links games, networks, platforms, and collections so you can see which wallet and chain a title expects before you install anything. Treat those pages as a parallel reference next to official studio docs, not as a substitute for them.

1. Game page: linked networks, tokens, and platforms
2. Platform hub (/platforms): Wallets field lists supported options (Passport, Ronin Wallet, MetaMask, and similar)
3. Network hub (/blockchain): Guide tab covers per-chain wallet setup and explorers
4. Collection page: contract address and network for checking ownership

Product wallet guides (for example MetaMask, Immutable Passport, Ronin Wallet, Abstract Global Wallet) go deeper on setup. This edu page stays concept-first.

• Ethereum.org: Wallets⁠ (opens in new tab)
• Ethereum.org: Accounts⁠ (opens in new tab)
• WalletConnect⁠ (opens in new tab)
• EIP-7702⁠ (opens in new tab) (optional AA / EOA UX context)
• Web3Raider: Chains & Layers
• Web3Raider: Smart contracts
• Web3Raider: NFTs
• Web3Raider: Platforms
• Web3Raider: Networks & tokens

Wallet products, chain merges, and account-abstraction features change quickly. Check setup steps on official project documentation before high-value transfers.