Argent Wallet Is Now Ready: What Changed and How It Works

Argent Labs Limited is registered in England, at 5 New Street Square, London. It is the contracting party in the terms for both the Ready app and Ready X ²³. The company says it has worked on wallet security since 2017 ¹². In 2023 it was led by CEO Itamar Lesuisse ¹⁴.

Its strategy has narrowed over time. Argent began as an Ethereum mainnet wallet ¹⁰. In October 2023 it stopped developing zkSync Era accounts to focus on Starknet, cutting zkSync Era support from January 31, 2024 ¹⁴. In 2026 it moved its consumer app to Base ⁴.

Ready's own terms state that it is not authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and that assets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme ³.

• Ready app. A self-custodial account on Base for holding, sending and spending dollar stablecoins, built on Safe smart accounts ⁶. It includes a Ready Card for spending and community-linked rewards, depending on your country ⁶. See how crypto cards work.
• Ready X. The Starknet wallet formerly known as Argent X, on iOS, Android and as a browser extension ¹²¹³. It supports swaps, staking of ETH, STRK and BTC, DeFi, Ledger connections and multisig ¹²¹³. Ready X is secured with a seed phrase, unlike the Ready app ⁴.
• Ready Multisig and Web Wallet. Starknet tools documented for users and developers.
• Argent Vault (Ethereum L1). The original Argent smart wallet, still documented. It also serves as the exit route for leftover zkSync Lite funds ⁹¹⁰.

Argent and Ready accounts are smart-contract wallets, not plain key-pair addresses (see software wallets). The account itself is a contract that can enforce rules: who may sign, how recovery works, time delays and batched transactions ⁶¹⁰.

This design is what enables:

• gas sponsorship: Ready covers network fees on some actions, such as mobile transactions in Ready X since version 1.6.0, and migration transfers ⁵¹²;
• multicalls, which bundle several actions into one transaction;
• 2FA protection on transactions ¹².

On Ethereum, Argent Vault signs through EIP-1271. Apps that check signatures the old way (ecrecover) may not recognize Argent wallets ¹⁰.

Argent made social recovery popular. Instead of a seed phrase, you nominate guardians who can help you regain access after a time delay ¹⁰. Under Ready's current terms, guardians can be your own devices, people you trust or third-party services, including Ready's automated guardian, which uses two-factor authentication ².

Recovery today depends on the product:

The waiting periods are enforced by the wallet's smart contract and exist to give you time to stop an unauthorized recovery ⁷. If you get a recovery email you did not request, treat it as a warning sign. See crypto phishing.

When the Ready app moved to Base, Starknet balances did not move automatically ⁴. Ready gave users two options ⁵:

1. Send to Ready X. Ready pays the fees. This moves tokens only, not NFTs, STRK staking or borrowing positions.
2. Import on Ready X. This brings across the whole Starknet account, including its address, history and positions. You must first permanently disable Ready guardian, and the imported account then has no Ready backup or email 2FA. Ready warns that losing your phone between those two steps means losing access ⁵.

If neither option works, "Recover on the web" is a last resort for users who still control the account's email ⁵. Old zkSync Lite balances are withdrawn through the Argent Ethereum Vault app ⁹. Never send Starknet assets to a Base or Ethereum address ⁵.

There is no subscription fee for the wallet itself. The costs you may meet ²³⁸:

• Swaps in the Ready app carry a 0.49% fee, shown before you confirm ⁸.
• A "Ready Fee" may apply to buys or sells routed through third-party crypto platforms ²³.
• Network fees can be due even when a transaction fails, unless Ready sponsors them ³.
• Ready Card: the current card is being deactivated as Ready moves to a new issuer, and fees for the new card have not been published ⁴.

For gas basics, see what is a layer 2.

Smart-contract accounts remove the single point of failure of one seed phrase, but they add other risks:

• Contract risk. Ready says its contracts are open source and audited. The Starknet contracts and audit reports are on GitHub ¹¹.
• Service dependence. Guardian-based recovery relies on Ready's guardian service, your email or 2FA, and the encrypted cloud backup. Lose the encrypted key and that recovery route is gone ².
• Irreversible choices. Disabling Ready guardian cannot be undone ⁵.
• Wrong network. The account models on Starknet and Base differ, so sending assets to the wrong address type can make them unrecoverable ⁵.
• No deposit protection. Ready is not FCA-authorised, and there is no FSCS cover ³.