On Thursday, crypto wallet MetaMask Institutional and platform for secure DeFi access Fireblocks announced a partnership to provide institutional investors and blockchain developers with a complete solution integrating wallet security, portfolio management and app connectivity. Decentralized.
This collaboration will therefore combine the security of the wallet of Fireblocks and the improved functionality and web3 access provided by MetaMask Institutional to meet the requirements of institutional investors such as banks, management funds or financial institutions.
A solution to meet the requirements of institutional crypto investors
Concretely, the more than 1,800 organizations currently using Fireblocks will have access to MMI's range of crypto portfolio management solutions and connectivity with more than 17,000 DeFi and web3 applications, as detailed in a video presentation on the site. From MetaMask:
By connecting their Fireblocks accounts to MMI, users can participate in activities such as investing, trading, lending, borrowing, providing liquidity, and bridging assets across various Ethereum virtual machines ( MVE) chains.
MMI will provide Fireblocks users with features to enhance their web3 portfolio management experience. This includes digital asset tracking, protocol breakdown, and in-depth transaction reporting, presented on a single dashboard.
In the release announcing the partnership, Johann Bornman, global product manager for MetaMask Institutional, explained that the integration was done in part in response to growing demand from institutions to enter the Web3 marketplace:
"With the exponential increase in demand for organizations to enter Web3,
MetaMask Institutional is focused on providing access to the broadest ecosystem. This integration brings two leading products together and furthers our goal of enabling all organizations to access Web3," he said.
Encourage the return of institutional investors to cryptos
It should be noted that the collaboration between MetaMask Institutional and Fireblocks, which mainly concerns institutional investors, comes as they are becoming increasingly more interested in cryptocurrencies.
Indeed, according to a recent study by Ernst & Young, nearly 60% of institutional investors actively explore the idea of investing in cryptos, recognizing the long-term benefits of digital assets.
This is a development from last year when the crypto bear market and industry scandals kept institutions on the sidelines. However, the year 2023 has so far been marked by a return of these to crypto, although the phenomenon is still modest.
However, as this craze increases, the need for secure and efficient digital asset management solutions becomes increasingly pressing. So that's what MetaMask and Fireblocks are addressing with their partnership, which combines extensive access to MMI's ecosystem with the institutional-grade security and key management of Fireblocks.
MetaMask now allows the direct purchase of cryptocurrencies.
It's official that MetaMask now allows you to buy crypto-currencies directly via its Portfolio Dapp by allowing you to use different means of payment such as a bank card, a bank transfer or an ACH transfer.
A new weight feature for MetaMask
One of the most popular crypto wallets in the industry has just added one more feature to its application via its Portfolio Dapp. This is the possibility of directly buying crypto-currencies with various means of payment, including using fiduciary currencies by credit card or PayPal.
In a world where it is necessary to encourage the development of the crypto-currency industry to the general public, we need adapted and simple methods to access various services. However, the possibility of buying cryptos with standard payment methods makes it easier. Therefore, this new feature is timely!
Thus, this "Buy Crypto" option now allows MetaMask users access to a wide range of crypto-currencies while buying them with a credit card, a bank card, a bank card, a bank transfer or even a transfer. ACH.
This new service will be available in 189 countries and offer more than 90 tokens among eight different networks. Ethereum, Optimism, Celo, Avalanche, Fantom, BNB Smart Chain, Polygon and Arbitrum will be part.
A simple method to buy cryptos
Besides the fact that this new method brings different means of payment, it also offers accessibility and simplifies the process of buying cryptocurrencies.
Thus, users will only need their MetaMask wallet and connect via Portfolio Dapp or directly click "Buy" through the MetaMask extension. From there, all that remains is to select a region to make the purchase, the payment method, the desired crypto and the blockchain network to use among the eight available.
As a bonus, the new feature considers the users' location to provide an estimate of the price to pay based on exchange and transaction fees. Once individuals choose a price, they will be sent to a third-party application to complete the transaction.
Finally, once everything is in order, the funds will go directly to the user's MetaMask crypto wallet without any further manipulation to be performed.
MetaMask diversifies
MetaMask is one of the most widespread hot wallets, unlike the Ledger and Trezor cold wallets, which dominate the other part of this huge market.
Indeed, hot wallets have an online function which can present a risk but allow them to interact more quickly with their funds. In contrast, cold wallets do not have access to the internet, allowing them to reinforce security at a higher level.
Thus, for most beginners who want to avoid embarking on a generally paid solution with a cold wallet, MetaMask is an excellent alternative, offering many features with a relatively intuitive and easy-to-use interface.
MetaMask has notably multiplied partnerships recently, particularly with PayPal, allowing its users to buy ETH directly via this platform.
Or the recent addition of an authentication function for any Ethereum holder. Finally, MetaMask has recently collaborated with MoonPay to allow Nigeria to buy cryptos directly via bank transfer.
In conclusion, the new functionality available through Portfolio Dapp and MetaMask mobile allows you to buy cryptos cheaply.
Metamask adds a new way to authenticate Ethereum holders.
Metamask has just introduced compatibility with EIP-4361. Thus, behind the name of this protocol hides quite simply "Sign in with Ethereum", an alternative means of authentication to the crypto wallet as it is possible to do very often via an email address on most websites.
Setting up Sign in with Ethereum
It is now official that Metamask supports Sign in With Ethereum, a feature allowing users to use the crypto wallet to authenticate to web services.
Metamask has developed the implementation of the EIP-4361 standard for its wallet, which aims to provide a more efficient way for its users with Ethereum to authenticate to off-chain services.
Metamask has partnered with Spruce, specializing in digital identity management and data management, to implement this new method that guarantees more security and integrates it into their crypto wallet.
In particular, thanks to the EIP-4361 standard, users of tools like Metamask can identify themselves using a simple message to connect to certain websites. Thus, each site supporting this procedure will offer a pop-up gathering all the information, such as the name of the website, the session details and the security mechanisms, and the domain to which the individuals will connect.
All this is to prevent possible unauthorized access from sites that offer a similar rendering, as is often the case with phishing attacks.
As a result, it is a good alternative to the need to identify yourself to websites via an email address or even a telephone number.
Metamask listens to its users.
Also, Metamask continues to develop its crypto wallet and listen to its users by offering a wide choice of options while offering maximum security. They specified:
This is part of our ongoing effort to provide more options to our community. Our new feature also detects malicious domains by detecting malicious addresses and signatures.
A recent standard
Developers introduced Sign In with Ethereum aka EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal) 4361 in 2021 as a mechanism for crypto wallets to authenticate any Ethereum holder to off-chain services.
Moreover, new technologies such as the blockchain are emerging to allow authentication in addition to traditional email addresses or telephone numbers.
Thus, Metamask is not the first crypto wallet to offer such a feature since Phantom implemented a relatively similar option through the Solana blockchain last February.
MetaMask Bridges integrates the Arbitrum and Optimism networks.
In a blog post published on February 22 on its official website, MetaMask announced the integration of two new major networks to its list of compatible systems. The popular crypto wallet now supports the two growing networks of Optimism and Arbitrum.
An action that brings the number of MetaMask bridge networks to six in total. The famous crypto wallet is investing in new utility tools to strengthen its usefulness to crypto users.
Expansion of MetaMask Bridges services
A few months ago, MetaMask announced the start of a beta phase on MetaMask Bridges aimed at evaluating the performance of the Arbitrum and Optimism networks. This evaluation phase has been a success since this week. The crypto wallet declared the end of the process and the integration of the two networks into the system.
Today, six blockchain networks are available with the MetaMask Bridges service. The system was previously limited to Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche and Binance Smart Chain blockchains. Now it also includes Optimism and Arbitrum.
The new blockchains complement the growing suite of offerings offered by MetaMask to its users. The latter can already access functions of swaps, purchases, staking and, of course, the standard transactional support from their electronic wallet.
What is the MetaMask Bridges service?
For MetaMask officials, the Bridges service was born from a concept intended to be similar to air flight aggregator sites, except that it has received changes to adapt to the crypto industry.
So, using a set of carefully selected and arranged decks, the service can provide an all-in-one solution to its users. According to MetaMask explanations, Connext, Hop, Celer cBridge and Polygon Bridge systems were chosen to serve as bridge aggregators.
Because of this, they allow users to select a route of their choice or a recommended route by default.
As a result of this latest beta phase, MetaMask Bridges will now offer less than 1% fees for linking. In addition, the transfer limit, once set at $10,000, is now $50,000 and as a bonus, the whole system has much greater stability.
MetaMask Bridges New Blockchain Networks
The two new blockchain networks are attracting the attention of many investors lately. Arbitrum is special, as it is one of the few large blockchains without native tokens. A feature that has yet to stop it from taking DeFi by storm.
Its constant development has enabled it to build a solid network with around 200 native protocols. Together they form an ecosystem that ranks 4th in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi with nearly $2 billion in total TVL.
Optimism performs just as well as Arbitrum, although its approach is much more moderate. The blockchain network ranks 7th in total DeFi TVL, approaching $1 billion in funds currently locked.
Moreover, unlike Arbitrum, Optimism does have a native token. The latter has also benefited from a jump following the announcement of MetaMask. Thus, it has seen a rise of 22.48% over the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $3, according to CoinMarketCap.