The problem BoAT solves

Every smart machine or physical AI agent needs a crypto wallet, but wallet software for humans is not suitable for machines. The essential reason is, majority of the smart machines are resource constrained and run Real-Time Operating System, which can not support javascript runtime (or other high-level programming languages) that is relied by traditional wallet apps for human.

That’s where BoAT comes in. BoAT is a lightweight, multi-chain Machine Wallet purpose-built for machines, designed to bridge this technological gap. Developed in C, leveraging an open-source embedded framework, BoAT harnesses the efficiency and flexibility of C to ensure stable performance on resource-limited devices. BoAT empowers a vast array of smart IoT devices to integrate Machine Wallet functionality quickly and cost-effectively. But BoAT goes beyond basic payments, it also opens the door for machines to access Web3 services like DID (Decentralized Identity), key management, and trusted data on-chain, effectively handing machines a passport to the decentralized digital world.

Challenges I ran into

Unlike computers or cellphones, embedded hardware and software are quite fragmented. Various machines have different instruction set, different computing power, different operating system, different storage space, etc. Developing one version for all machines is not possible, while developing fragmented versions for every model of machines is not practical. What's the way out? BoAT leverages IoT chips and modules as universal carriers. Any smart machine installs IoT chips or modules to establish the connectivity to the Internet. Huge number of machines utilize much fewer IoT chip and module models from Qualcomm, ST, Quectel, etc. By partnering with chip and module manufacturers, BoAT adopts a modular architecture to adapt to the mainstream chips and modules. Hence, it embeds wallet functionality directly into machines, allowing any machines to be Web3 citizens immediately.