By
Temitope Olatunji
April 18th, 2024
MetaMask, the most popular Ethereum and ERC20 standard wallet developed by ConsenSys, has released its mobile client at this year’s DevCon.
First launched in 2016, Metamask has only been accessible through browser extensions on Chrome, Brave, and Firefox and was restricted to mobile users. This meant that it worked like a bridge between normal browsers and the Ethereum blockchain. The browser extension is mainly popular amongst Ethereum and ERC-20 users due to its simple user interface and its ease to handle decentralized applications (dApps) requests.
For many years, MetaMask users have been asking for a mobile client of the wallet, as the vast majority of Ethereum users have started to rely on MetaMask as the main ETH and token wallet.
During this major conference, hosted by Ethereum Foundation, the founder and CEO of ConsenSys, Joseph Lublin, finally announced the launch of the mobile user interface. He also wrote at his Twitter page:
“The @metamask_io mobile app was just announced at #Devcon4! Everyone’s favorite #Ethereum browser extension is coming to your phone. The team is focusing on not being ‘just a wallet’, but a portal to the world of all things #blockchain.”
Metamask Mobile, lays on the industry belief that mobile phones are more secure than desktop computers due to their architectural designs. Most cryptocurrency users already have a preference for mobile wallets and this will enable users to have full control of their funds. Although, users will have to take responsibility for their private keys (or passwords). Storing that on a cloud seems now pretty insecure. MetaMask communicates with the Ethereum ledger through a system called Infura. This means that it trusts other computers to keep it up to date with the Ethereum network. Full node systems are generally preferred to systems that involve trusting middlemen like Infura.
The added feature that is bundled with Metamask mobile is the dApp support. With it, users can interact with different decentralized applications that they couldn’t do. The mobile client will be able to function as a dApp browser or a “Google Play Store for dApps.”
Also on MetaMask mobile, users can run various dApps such as CryptoKitties by connecting the wallet to the dApp to seamlessly process information on the Ethereum mainnet. Some dApps you can also explore are Digital art, where auctions are held and users can buy and sell unique collectibles. Also, there is, built by gamers, Blockchain arcades where gamers can use Ether and tokens to enter video game tournaments.
Metamask Joining The Big dApp Company
Until now, there were only several dApp browsers available on the market, including some backed by large organizations. In July, leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, bought the Trust Wallet, a secure and intuitive mobile wallet that supports Ethereum’s ether (ETH), GoChain (GO), Wanchain (WAN), Ethereum Classic (ETC), POA Network, (POA) VeChain (VET), and TRON (TRX).
Coinbase also has its own cryptocurrency wallet and dApp browser, the Coinbase Wallet that is set to also support other popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and litecoin.
Earlier this year, Opera introduced a mobile browser for Android devices with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. A version of the wallet has been added to its desktop browser.
In July, Metamask announced its removal from the Chrome Web Store, the reasons for which were not explained. Several hours later, it was listed again. While MetaMask was delisted, an Ethereum-based prediction market protocol Augur, which recently got under fire for speculating on death benefits, warned users to not download the MetaMask extension that was actually present in Google Chrome’s store, as it was a fake application. Even though it got listed only few hours after, there never came an explanation for this event.