Brave Introduces Built-in Browser Wallet for Ethereum
Brave will let users exchange Ethereum-based assets directly through their browser.
Key Takeaways
- Brave's latest update provides access to a native Ethereum wallet.
- Brave Wallet can be used directly within the browser and bypasses the need to download extensions.
- Brave said a native crypto wallet will be useful in overcoming security issues associated with extensions.
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The latest update to Brave Browser (version 1.32) now offers a native wallet for the Ethereum ecosystem.
Brave Introduces Native Ethereum Wallet
In a Tuesday press release, the team announced Brave Wallet will allow its 40 million+ users to exchange assets and access decentralized apps (dApps) hosted on Ethereum Layer 2 solutions and other EVM-compatible sidechains like Polygon and xDai.
While most Web3 wallets are offered via extensions, Brave Wallet can be used directly within the browser and bypasses the need to download extensions.
Brave’s built-in wallet will compete with popular Web3 wallets, including MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Wallet Connect.
In the press release, Brave said a native crypto wallet will be useful in overcoming security and performance issues that are usually associated with browser extensions. Brave claims that Web3 wallets used primarily as browser extensions may be more susceptible to thefts and other attacks.
In the past, users have reported losing funds to hackers through fake web extensions. By emulating popular wallets like MetaMask, hackers can trick users into entering their private keys.
Explaining the features of native browser wallet, Brian Bondy, CTO and co-founder of Brave, said:
“The Brave Wallet requires no extensions and is instead browser-native, removing key performance and security concerns while preserving the core features of popular crypto wallets.
With the latest offering, Brave users will be able to import their existing wallets from MetaMask or hardware wallets such as Trezor or Ledger. The latest update also allows users to swap Ethereum-based tokens and provides historical market data via CoinGecko APIs in addition to a fiat onramp through a partnership with Wyre.
For now, the native Web3 wallet is available only on a desktop browser and will be launched later for mobile use. Brave Wallet is different from Brave Rewards, the opt-in feature that rewards Brave users with Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) for viewing privacy-protecting ads.
Just last week, Brave revealed plans for integration with Solana, another high-performance Layer 1 blockchain. However, this is yet to be implemented, as the native support for Solana wallet and dApps is slated for 2022.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH, MATIC, and several other cryptocurrencies.
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