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In my (unpublished) [code changes](https://github.com/brakmic/bitcoin/commit/0b3ee615491edf6f542631bf6ae6f72eac406550) all raw pointers got replaced with **shared_ptr**s but kept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,
{"maximumAmount", RPCArg::Type::AMOUNT,  "unlimited", "Maximum value of each UTXO in " + CURRENCY_UNIT + ""},
                            {"maximumCount", RPCArg::Type::NUM,  "unlimited", "Maximum number of UTXOs"},
                            {"minimumSumAmount", RPCArg::Type::AMOUNT,  "unlimited", "Minimum sum value of all UTXOs in " + CURRENCY_UNIT + ""},
                        },
                        "query_options"},
                },
                RPCResult{
                    RPCResult::Type::ARR, "", "",
                    {
                        {RPCResult::Type::OBJ, "", "",
                        {
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR_HEX, "txid", "the transaction id"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::NUM, "vout", "the vout value"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR, "address", "the bitcoin address"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR, "label", "The associated label, or \"\" for the default label"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR, "scriptPubKey", "the script key"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR_AMOUNT, "amount", "the transaction output amount in " + CURRENCY_UNIT},
                            {RPCResult::Type::NUM, "confirmations", "The number of confirmations"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR_HEX, "redeemScript", "The redeemScript if scriptPubKey is P2SH"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR, "witnessScript", "witnessScript if the scriptPubKey is P2WSH or P2SH-P2WSH"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "spendable", "Whether we have the private keys to spend this output"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "solvable", "Whether we know how to spend this output, ignoring the lack of keys"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "reused", "(only present if avoid_reuse is set) Whether this output is reused/dirty (sent to an address that was previously spent from)"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::STR, "desc", "(only when solvable) A descriptor for spending this output"},
                            {RPCResult::Type::BOOL, "safe", "Whether this output is considered safe to spend. Unconfirmed transactions\n"
                                                            "from outside keys and unconfirmed replacement transactions are considered unsafe\n"
                                                            "and are not eligible for spending by fundrawtransaction and sendtoaddress."},
                        }},
                    }
                },