Coinbase, America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has made Web3 application capabilities, including a hot wallet and browser, available to a select group of its mobile app customers.
Select users will be able to use the app to access Ethereum-based decentralized apps (DApps) like Uniswap and OpenSea.
Eligible users will be able to trade on nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces, make swaps on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols to borrow and lend funds, according to Coinbase’s director of product management, Rishi Dean’s announcement.
Coinbase to ease up access to web3
Customers may exchange currency using a hot wallet in addition to using the mobile browser to access DApps. Unlike decentralized hot wallet technologies like MetaMask, the Coinbase hot wallet will be co-custodial. This means that the company will keep the wallet’s private key, which can also be maintained by the user.
The wallet and DApp capabilities are powered by multi-party computation (MPC) technology, which preserves senders’ and receivers’ privacy while ensuring transaction accuracy.
Sharing key custody, according to Dean, is a security strategy that protects customers from device-related concerns. “This means that even if you lose your smartphone, your Dapp wallet key is safe, and Coinbase may be able to assist with recovery through our live help,” he said.
The improved wallet functionality of Coinbase is positive for Web3 developers who may be having difficulty gaining new consumers to demonstrate their work. The exchange has around 90 million registered users, according to Statista.
This is the month’s second significant product launch. On May 4, the exchange debuted its long-awaited Coinbase NFT marketplace, which saw only $75,000 in sales volume from only 150 transactions on its first day.
Coinbase’s first-quarter financial report revealed that the exchange is struggling in a depressed market, with the exchange reporting its first net loss since going public last year.
Since Q1 2021, revenue has plummeted 27 percent to $1.1 billion from $1.6 billion, while monthly users have declined from 11.4 million in Q4 2021 to 9.2 million.