While working on this PR https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/18570 I ran into a bit confusing situation where in one function a **CWallet reference** was expected while two others dealt with **CWallet pointers**. My initial reaction was: `let's harmonize them by making them references`. However, not being part of the PR itself I did't change anything and completed the PR first.

Now, after having analyzed the `rpcwallet.cpp` code I came to the conclusion that:

* converting them all into references is not the solution as they're originally **shared_ptr**s
* but also: there is no (visible) reason why every RPC function should begin like this:

```cpp
std::shared_ptr<CWallet> const pwallet = GetWalletForJSONRPCRequest(request);
const CWallet* const pwallet = wallet.get();
```

This clearly defeats the purpose of shared pointers for no obvious reason. *Maybe I am missing something?*

In my (unpublished) [code changes](https://github.com/brakmic/bitcoin/commit/0b3ee615491edf6f542631bf6ae6f72eac406550) all raw pointers got replaced with **shared_ptr**s but kept their original names (that is, *pwallet*). In the end, they're pointers too, so the most of the original code remained untouched.

However, some of the helper functions couldn't be changed because external code is accessing them and I didn't want to make this task "virulent". So I introduced new ("Ref") variants that expect **shared_ptr** parameters, namely: 

```cpp
void EnsureWalletRefIsUnlocked(const std::shared_ptr<CWallet>);
bool EnsureWalletRefIsAvailable(const std::shared_ptr<CWallet>, bool avoidException);
```

I have tested the code, with python and boost-tests, and could not find any errors. 
But before opening a PR I would like to open a discussion about this. 

Is there any reason to keep on working with raw pointers when every function call actually begins with *shared_ptr*s?

Regards,
if (internal && data.exists("label")) {
            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "Internal addresses should not have a label");
        }
        const std::string& label = data.exists("label") ? data["label"].get_str() : "";
        const bool add_keypool = data.exists("keypool") ? data["keypool"].get_bool() : false;
        
        if (add_keypool && !pwallet->IsWalletFlagSet(WALLET_FLAG_DISABLE_PRIVATE_KEYS)) {
            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "Keys can only be imported to the keypool when private keys are disabled");
        }
        ImportData import_data;
        std::map<CKeyID, CPubKey> pubkey_map;
        std::map<CKeyID, CKey> privkey_map;
        std::set<CScript> script_pub_keys;
        std::vector<CKeyID> ordered_pubkeys;
        bool have_solving_data;
        if (data.exists("scriptPubKey") && data.exists("desc")) {
            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "Both a descriptor and a scriptPubKey should not be provided.");
        } else if (data.exists("scriptPubKey")) {
            warnings = ProcessImportLegacy(import_data, pubkey_map, privkey_map, script_pub_keys, have_solving_data, data, ordered_pubkeys);
        } else if (data.exists("desc")) {
            warnings = ProcessImportDescriptor(import_data, pubkey_map, privkey_map, script_pub_keys, have_solving_data, data, ordered_pubkeys);
        } else {
            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "Either a descriptor or scriptPubKey must be provided.");
        }
        
        if (pwallet->IsWalletFlagSet(WALLET_FLAG_DISABLE_PRIVATE_KEYS) && !privkey_map.empty()) {
            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_WALLET_ERROR, "Cannot import private keys to a wallet with private keys disabled");
        }
        
        for (const CScript& script : script_pub_keys) {