The problem AI Smart-Wallets solves

Think of a traditional custody account at a bank. The bank holds your assets, and only authorized signatories can move funds. Now replace the bank with a smart contract, and replace the signature card with an ERC-20 token.

The Collateral Desk turns a smart account into a collateral vault — similar to how a MakerDAO CDP or a prime brokerage margin account works. You deposit assets (native currency or tokens) into the vault, and a separate "control token" determines who can operate it. This is the on-chain equivalent of a bearer instrument: whoever holds enough control tokens above the threshold has full signing authority over the vault's assets.

In traditional finance terms, the control token functions like a transferable power of attorney over a custodial account. Transfer your tokens to a counterparty and they inherit your position — no account re-papering, no KYC re-verification, no custodian involvement. Burn the tokens and the vault becomes permanently locked, like a frozen account with no authorized signatories.

This primitive maps directly to institutional workflows: a compliance team mints control tokens to approved portfolio managers or AI trading agents. Revoking access is as simple as burning their tokens — instant, on-chain, no key rotation required. The vault enforces access rules autonomously, 24/7, with no intermediary.

Challenges I ran into

Testnet faucet issues.

Use of AI tools and agents

I used shelly to help construct the UI and deployed the Mech primitive contracts to the ADI main net