Coinbase launches the new browser extension for its wallet, allowing more and more wallet users to enjoy dapps without the need for their smartphones. This new extension is an improvement of the old one launched just over 5 months ago.
New Coinbase Wallet extension: a serious competitor for MetaMask
On November 8, 2021, Coinbase announced that its wallet is now available as a standalone browser extension. The latter allows users to use services such as trading, decentralized applications or NFTs, directly from their browser without having to confirm transactions on their smartphones.
With this new extension, Coinbase Wallet enters into direct competition with wallets like MetaMask. Coinbase’s product manager, Sid Coelho-Prabhu, emphasized the exchange’s ambitions in creating “the easiest to use and most accessible self-custody wallet in the ecosystem.”
Smartphone-free dapps: tangible improvements on the new extension
Users of the new extension will no longer need the Coinbase Wallet mobile app once installed, an important point that differentiates it from the previous extension launched by the exchange:
“The previous downloadable browser extension Coinbase Wallet, while a step in the right direction, still required the user to have the Wallet mobile app installed, while the new version does not.”
The previous extension launched in May 2021, aimed to make it easier to access and use decentralized apps on the desktop, by providing a solution that would allow instant access to these dapps, without having to scan a QR code with a smartphone every time users want to log in.
This new extension of Coinbase Wallet can only contribute positively to the growing popularity of the exchange, especially in the United States. The number of downloads of Coinbase’s iOS app had exploded by the end of October 2021, propelling the exchange’s mobile app to the number one spot in the US Apple Store.
Coinbase continues to innovate with its new browser extension for its wallet. The exchange seems to be determined to conquer new territories in the cryptosphere by embarking on ambitious, sometimes risky new projects, such as offering million-dollar loans against cryptocurrencies as collateral.
