The Awakening Dragon: A Detailed Explanation of MetaMask's Major Upgrades in the Past Year
With 30 million monthly active users, a small step for MetaMask can be a giant leap ahead of other wallets.Written by: Fu Ruo, Odaily Planet Daily
Edited by: Hao Fangzhou
MetaMask, as the first stop for most people to start their on-chain activities, is also the entry point for Web3 traffic. However, in recent years, various public chain ecosystems and Web3 wallets with different conceptual features (such as AA, MPC, etc.) have emerged like mushrooms after rain, indeed winning some users with better product experiences. Nevertheless, MetaMask still holds a leading position in the wallet domain. According to data disclosed by Consensys, the total number of MetaMask users has reached 100 million, associated with 17,000 DApps, and the daily interaction volume has reached 244,000.
In the past year, MetaMask has been active, launching a series of new features, such as the "Snap" feature similar to WeChat mini-programs, compliant deposit and withdrawal channels "Sell" and "Buy" for relevant regions, and a simple and convenient Ethereum staking module "Stake," among others. Odaily Planet Daily presents a summary of the important product developments added to MetaMask in the past year and discusses their pros and cons.
MetaMask Snap
MetaMask Snap is a plugin platform for user-customized wallet features launched by MetaMask, currently containing 34 third-party created Snaps. It enables cross-platform transaction insights, notifications, and interoperability features.
In fact, as early as 2019, MetaMask proposed the concept of MetaMask plugins, which was equivalent to the earliest expression of the Snap idea. In July of this year, it was also announced that the Snap protocol would go live by the end of the year, and developers could conduct preliminary related testing through MetaMask Flask.
On September 12, the public beta version of MetaMask Snap was launched, allowing users to associate the desired features through the following operations.
- Select the Snap project you want to install through the Snap directory platform.
- This article takes the Cosmos Extension as an example to add the Snap to MetaMask.
- The above image shows the Snap added to MetaMask, but you still need to enter the Cosmos Snap webpage to achieve related functions through the MetaMask extension.
MetaMask Snap serves as an important cornerstone for MetaMask to become a universal interface for Web3, helping MetaMask expand to non-EVM chains and achieve transaction insights, message notifications, and other functions. The official likens this move to Web3's "Google" (for us, it might be more like Web3's "Alipay").
MetaMask Portfolio
At the end of September last year, MetaMask launched the MetaMask Portfolio DApp—related product suite for MetaMask, helping users manage and summarize assets, and facilitating operations on on-chain assets. MetaMask Portfolio currently offers features including Sell, Buy, Stake, Dashboard, Bridge, and Swap.
Sell
On September 5, MetaMask launched the "Sell" feature, allowing users to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies (such as USD, EUR, GBP) through MetaMask Portfolio and send funds to their bank accounts. This feature is currently limited to users in the US, UK, and parts of Europe. Details are as follows:
Overseas users reported that during the Sell process, there would be third-party fees including Gas Fee, transaction fees, and partner service fees. Based on the stability of Gas fees in the early stages, the entire Sell process will incur nearly 10% in transaction fees. This has somewhat enhanced MetaMask's revenue capabilities. Specific phased results will await further disclosure from the official side.
Buy
In April of this year, MetaMask launched the "Buy" feature, offering cryptocurrency purchasing services for over 90 tokens to users in more than 189 countries. Users can purchase over 75 tokens across 8 blockchains in multiple countries through this feature. Buy accepts debit card and credit card transfers, PayPal transfers, bank transfers, instant ACH transfers, and other transfer methods.
The launch of the Sell and Buy features by MetaMask has streamlined the entire process from Web2 users to Web3 users, forming a closed loop for traffic and paving the way for mass adoption.
Stake
In January of this year, MetaMask launched the "Stake" feature. MetaMask Stake allows users to participate in liquid staking with Lido or Rocket Pool, helping users easily achieve ETH staking functionality.
Bridge
In November last year, MetaMask launched the "Bridge" feature. MetaMask Bridges is a bridging aggregator that helps you find the best route to transfer tokens from one chain to another.
Currently, it supports Ethereum, Optimism, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Avalanche, and supports 7 types of assets including Ethereum and USDT.
Dashboard and Swap
Dashboard and Swap are relatively common wallet features.
Dashboard provides a comprehensive asset overview, supporting aggregated asset overviews for 7 chains and features such as NFTs and on-chain activities.
Swap, as an early feature of MetaMask, provides token exchanges. There is no need to elaborate further on this.
Since the launch of the product suite DApp, MetaMask has continuously improved its related features. The newly added fiat deposit and withdrawal functions have further streamlined the entire process for users to participate in Web3, allowing novice users to meet various on-chain needs through MetaMask. This lays a solid foundation for mass adoption.
Better Late Than Never, MetaMask Aims to Become the Universal Operating Interface for Web3
In the past year, MetaMask has continuously launched new features, but compared to the development of other wallets, it is still relatively slow. Most of the aforementioned features have already been implemented by other wallets, such as OKX Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, etc. Moreover, other wallets offer more features, such as instant messaging, airdrop interactions, and so on.
However, MetaMask has a natural advantage with its nearly 30 million monthly active users. It has relied on its first-mover advantage and the Ethereum team's characteristics to occupy half of the hot wallet market. As shown in the image, according to CoinGecko's report, as of August this year, MetaMask's download volume has reached 22.66 million.
Since the launch of the product suite DApp last year, MetaMask's goal has been to become the universal interface for Web3. Especially with the realization of deposit and withdrawal functions, it is gradually moving towards the path of decentralized exchanges.
Although the vision of the MetaMask Snap feature is quite attractive, its public beta version has only been launched now, four years after the concept was proposed in 2019, which is indeed too slow compared to other projects. In terms of supporting new public chain ecosystems, the integration speed is still acceptable.
If we were to suggest the next steps for development:
The operation interface is quite complex, and the process is relatively cumbersome. Of course, this may be related to the inherent disadvantages of EOA wallets. We hope MetaMask can improve this through EIP 4337 and account abstraction.
New features are more suitable for novice users, with poor experience and functionality completeness. For example, the Bridge feature has limited coverage and high fees. The additional costs of deposit and withdrawal also make it difficult for veteran users to accept.
Since Snap is built by third parties and will have no permissioned access in the future, it is likely to become a hotspot for security risks. It is recommended to introduce user ratings or third-party security feature audits to help new users better choose useful and safe Snaps.
In summary, as the primary tool for most people to engage in on-chain activities, or even the only tool, MetaMask's performance in the past year is commendable. Despite numerous external competitive factors, a small step by MetaMask is enough to match a giant leap by other projects.
