If you lose access to your Argent wallet, you can recover it to a new phone. Because your wallet is a smart contract built on Ethereum, there is an Ethereum network fee ("gas") to recover it.
As of July 2021, Argent users will have to cover this network fee.
This post explains more about this process. For an introduction to network fees, see this guide.
Does Argent profit from this fee?
No. It is to cover the network fees for recovering your wallet, it goes to miners.
How do you pay?
You will pay the network fee from the existing funds in your Argent wallet. If you don't have funds in your wallet, you will need to deposit enough to cover the fee, at which point you'll be able to recover.
You can pay in ETH, DAI, USDC or USDT.
The fee is set at the beginning of the wallet recovery and is charged once the recovery completes.
What is the fee?
The fee will be clearly shown in-app during recovery. The fee will be determined by the gas cost at the time.
Is it a recurring fee?
No. It is a one-time fee to recover your wallet.
Why don't all wallets require this fee?
Unlike traditional crypto wallets with seed phrases and limited functionality, Argent is a smart contract wallet. It requires network fees to recover as it is built on the Ethereum blockchain. Smart contract wallets such as Pillar and Loopring also require fees.