David Canellis

Crypto wallet MetaMask says it now has almost as many active users as during the peak of the last bull market.



MetaMask reported the number of monthly active users has climbed 55% in four months — jumping from 19 million in September to more than 30 million in January.



Those figures nearly match record highs seen in January 2022, MetaMask said, when it counted 31.7 million monthly active users. Bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) and ether (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/eth">ETH</a>) were coming down from their own all-time highs at the time and currently trade at comparable levels. 



Bitcoin has doubled in price over the past six months while ether is up about 70%. MetaMask <a href="https://consensys.io/blog/metamask-surpasses-10-million-maus-making-it-the-worlds-leading-non-custodial-crypto-wallet">reported</a> passing 10 million monthly active users in August 2021.



MetaMask allows users to self-custody and transact their crypto through a browser extension and a mobile app. “A user is considered anyone who has the MetaMask extension or mobile app installed,” Barbara Schorchit, senior product manager at Consensys, told Blockworks.



“We define a monthly active user as someone who either loads a page within the MetaMask extension or opens the mobile app at least once during any rolling 30-day period. These moments, the 2022 bull market peak and today&#8217;s figures, represent the two all-time highs for MetaMask.”



A raft of competitors have gained traction over the past year — including Rabby, Rainbow, Zeal and Phantom — indicating that MetaMask may be holding onto market share as web3 expands.



MetaMask, built by Ethereum development studio Consensys, disclosed the jump in active users alongside announcing that web3 security tool Blockaid would now be activated by default for multiple blockchains.



The Fort Worth-headquartered firm first <a href="https://consensys.io/blog/metamask-adds-privacy-preserving-security-alerts">integrated</a> Blockaid into its primary offering last October as part of a beta phase, which allowed users to opt-in to the system initially described as experimental.&nbsp;



MetaMask enabled Blockaid’s alerts on Ethereum mainnet by default through its browser extension last month, and now they’re doing the same for Polygon, Arbitrium, Optimism, Avalanche, BNB Chain and Linea through both the app and extension.



Blockaid automatically sends alerts to users about potentially malicious transactions, including ones related to phishing attempts, scams and hacks. 576,000 unique MetaMask users enabled Blockaid’s Ethereum alerts during the beta phase, which prevented more than 30,000 malicious transactions, said Schorchit.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mark-cuban-loses-crypto">Mark Cuban loses nearly $900k on MetaMask fake</a>



Blockaid protects user privacy by simulating transactions before they happen rather than sharing real data with third parties.



“By proactively preventing malicious transactions, we&#8217;re not just enhancing security, we&#8217;re empowering our users to navigate the web3 space with greater confidence,” Dan Finlay, MetaMask co-founder and chief ethos officer at Consensys, said in a statement.



He added: “This is a crucial step towards ensuring that MetaMask remains at the forefront of secure, self-custodial crypto wallets for both new and experienced users.”



Ido Ben-Natan, CEO at Blockaid, meanwhile said that malicious activity has “threatened to stifle the opportunity of wider mass adoption” of web3. Blockaid is also utilized by DEX aggregator 1inch, as well as wallets Rainbow, Zerion and CoolWallet.



Blockaid was founded in 2022 by former staff of the Israeli “Unit 8200” cyber intelligence unit, analogous to the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA).&nbsp;



The startup <a href="https://www.blockaid.io/blog/emerging-from-stealth-with-33-m-in-funding-to-secure-web3">emerged</a> from stealth last October when it disclosed the closure of a $33-million Series A led by Ribbit Capital and Variant. It was first to detect and flag the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ledger-wallet-vulnerability-connectkit">Ledger Connect Kit</a> phishing attack late last year, which resulted in more than $600,000 in crypto stolen. Estimates <a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-hacking-stolen-funds-2024/">suggest</a> $1.7 billion in crypto was stolen in 2023 overall.



Consensys reported that a previous Blockaid integration to protect OpenSea NFT traders had been adopted by 4% of MetaMask users and averted $500 million in theft. BlockAid says it has stopped more than 1.3 million malicious transactions in total.



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crypto wallet

MetaMask monthly active users nears all-time high — over 30 million

James Cirrone

New functionality from Consensys, dubbed MetaMask Snaps, will allow customization of MetaMask wallets to a much greater extent than was previously possible.



As of Tuesday’s launch, there will be <a href="https://snaps.metamask.io/">34 Snaps</a> available, all of which were created by third-party developers and audited by Consensys developers.



For the first time, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/metamask">MetaMask</a>, a platform that was primarily designed for the Ethereum network and Ethereum virtual machine chains, will be interoperable with other layer-1 blockchains through Snaps.&nbsp;



Right now, this includes Bitcoin, Solana, Cosmos, layer-2 StarkNet, and more.&nbsp;



Snaps also enable notifications for decentralized apps (dapps). Unlike the pop ups that MetaMask shows when a wallet connects to a site, notifications are specific to the various Snaps that the user has installed.&nbsp;



The notification API only exists in the MetaMask browser extension, meaning that users won’t be able to get push notifications on mobile devices just yet.



Christian Montoya, the senior product owner of MetaMask Snaps, told Blockworks that notifications through Snaps don’t require users to share an email address or a phone number.



“It’s because you deploy the snap, and you control it,” Montoya said in an interview. “[Developers] can offer it as something to users that they can install in Metamask and have notifications from your dapp, or your aggregator or your protocol.”



However, notifications require configuration after installation, according to Montoya, making it a bit more complicated for new users.&nbsp;



The transaction insights Snaps, however, don’t have as steep of a learning curve and can give users a heads up if they’re about to transact with a malicious smart contract or if they’re vulnerable to a phishing scam.



“It&#8217;ll warn you if you&#8217;re about to make a mistake,” Montoya said.



Other use cases include encrypted device storage and the customization of the wallet user experience, according to the <a href="https://docs.metamask.io/snaps/">developer documentation</a>.



There’s also a plan to make Snaps permissionless. Right now, Consensys, MetaMask’s parent company, maintains a rigid allowlist. This means that to publish a Snap, Consensys has to approve.&nbsp;



According to Montoya, this won’t be forever.&nbsp;



“We&#8217;re actually building systems [&#8230;] where we can have smart contracts that power our registry approach, and we can have ways for users or auditors or respected entities within the community to participate in vetting the snaps that developers are publishing,” Montoya said.



“We&#8217;re at the early stages of this,” Montoya continued. “We want users to try Snaps and give us feedback and help us design these types of systems in the future that will enable everything to be fully decentralized.”



Updated Sept. 12, 2023 at 10:25 am ET: MetaMask is not interoperable with Filecoin through Snaps.



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MetaMask interoperable with Bitcoin for first time

Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_628d560713130" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li> Without substantial improvements to the country’s internet and electricity infrastructure, the plans will not make it far, experts warned</li>
 <li>“Project Sango” plans to create a digital national bank, a crypto wallet and infrastructure that will allow for property payments to be made in bitcoin</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Less than two months after adopting bitcoin as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/central-african-republic-looks-for-quick-wins-becomes-second-country-to-adopt-bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">legal tender</a>, the Central African Republic has launched a “crypto hub” designed to attract people working in digital assets.



The program, “Project Sango,” includes plans to create a digital national bank, a crypto wallet and infrastructure that will allow for property payments to be made in bitcoin, according to an <a href="https://sango.org/sango.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">online presentation</a> the government released in tandem with a <a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0NMB9KS92GbwaveRhi2n4FCGCTHaPS1jNhDkA2Rspzp1e6EAEea9BDVKrQ4mKT5yAl&amp;id=100068314766662&amp;m_entstream_source=timeline" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook post</a> Monday.&nbsp;



The project will roll out legal cryptocurrency policies in phases, with plans to create a “crypto island” at some point.&nbsp;



The plans come as many question the role crypto can play in a country that lacks substantial digital infrastructure.&nbsp;



“This is a country with such limited internet availability, and, for that matter, limited availability of electricity,” said Steve Aschettino, a Norton Rose Fulbright partner concentrating on fintech. “To be able to enable bitcoin transactions requires at least two things: electricity and the internet.”&nbsp;



The Central African Republic plans to “finalize” the “Central African Backbone,” the fiber-optic Internet backbone connecting several countries in Africa, by the end of the year, making its blockchain ambitions possible, the country said.&nbsp;



The sandbox-like initiative is the latest example of emerging markets leaning into blockchain tech. Argentina recently rolled out a so-called “<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/argentina-moves-to-incubate-crypto-startups-under-regulatory-eye/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">innovation hub</a>” that allows fintech and cryptocurrency startups to build under regulators’ watchful eyes. <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/panama-moves-forward-with-crypto-regulation-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Panama</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jamaica-to-launch-cbdc-this-summer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jamaica</a> are also exploring crypto regulation and related use cases.&nbsp;



“Having embedded compliance and embedded supervision is something that can really accelerate innovation,” said Carmelle Cadet, founder and CEO of CBDC infrastructure provider EMTECH. “If you&#8217;re waiting for the regulatory framework to be in place before the innovation, that&#8217;s not happening right now.”&nbsp;



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Africa

Shrugging Off Crypto Doubters, Central African Republic Forges Ahead

<div id="highlights-block_61faae21d00c4" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>El Salvador has recruited US-based crypto wallet provider to address Chivo concerns</li>
 <li>The partnership comes after months of reports of fraud and difficulties with the application</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Nearly five months into the uneven rollout of El Salvador’s experiment to make bitcoin the country’s currency, the Central American nation has tapped an institutional crypto wallet provider to improve its in-house Chivo Wallet.



Chivo launched with a host of glitches, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/fraud-funding-woes-and-a-president-who-wont-quit-el-salvadors-bitcoin-experiment/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">citizens said</a>. The administration has since tapped AlphaPoint to integrate with Chivo in an effort to make the wallet more stable and support instantaneous bitcoin transactions.



Igor Telyatnikov, co-founder and CEO of AlphaPoint, told Blockworks the company was chosen to “deliver the scale and stability required to enable an application at the size of the Chivo wallet.”



“An improved lightning (a bitcoin scaling solution) integration, application responsiveness and enhanced administrative tools for increasing customer service response time are elements delivered in the implementation,” Telyatnikov told Blockworks.&nbsp;



Over 4 million Salvadorans currently use the Chivo app, <meta charset="utf-8">Vadim Telyatnikov, co-founder and chairman of AlphaPoint said. 



The implementation comes after months of complaints. When it launched in September, the app did not require photo identification, only a citizen’s date of birth and national identity card number (similar to a social security number), resulting in fraud. Citizens and business owners also expressed concern with the amount of time it took to access funds, according to <a href="https://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/nacional/chivo-wallet-fraudes/889706/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">local reports</a>.



As a result, relatively few businesses now accept bitcoin, citizens say.&nbsp;



“The only businesses that are accepting bitcoin readily, aside from a few, are big corporations like Starbucks and McDonald’s that have tech teams to implement it,” said Alexandra Dumitru, a cryptocurrency consultant and advocate living in El Salvador. “It’s a pretty small percentage of businesses in the country, especially considering how many small tiendas [convenience stores] and whatnot there are.”



Problems aside, El Salvador is still the only country in the world to accept bitcoin as legal tender. Even if only large corporations are playing along, that’s still a significant development, the AlphaPoint team said.&nbsp;



“Notably, for the first time anywhere in the world, major chains such as Super Selectos, McDonalds, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Subway, Walmart and government offices are already accepting Bitcoin with Chivo,” Vadim Telyatnikov, said. “Adoption on such a broad scale has not been achieved yet anywhere else in the world.” 



Meanwhile, El Salvador officials are working to roll out an additional 1,500 bitcoin ATMs across the country with the aim of easing adoption.&nbsp;



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Bitcoin

El Salvador Turns to US Bitcoin Wallet to Revamp Chivo

<div id="highlights-block_61f9488984b83" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>MetaMask will soon support desktop, mobile, extension and browser wallets</li>
 <li>MyCrypto is an ethereum wallet integrated with web browsers and desktops</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>





Blockchain infrastructure company ConsenSys has acquired open source crypto wallet MyCrypto in a bid to eventually merge the two products.&nbsp;



MyCrypto is set to be combined with MetaMask, ConsenSys’ Ethereum wallet, to boost security and increase usability, both companies said Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed



Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask, said in a statement that the collaboration will be better placed to help users “ make the best decisions through this rapidly evolving Web3 wallet landscape.”&nbsp;



“MyCrypto has consistently been one of the most reliable and intercompatible wallets in Ethereum, often shipping cutting-edge Ethereum features ahead of other wallets, while MetaMask has focused on general-purpose dapp interactions,” Finlay said.&nbsp;



MyCrypto, founded in 2015, supports Ethereum wallets via web browsers and desktops, while MetaMask employs mobile and browser extensions. The idea in combining the two wallets is to create a product that supports desktop, mobile and browser-based wallets. 



“With the rapid growth of the ecosystem and products racing to ship slick features, it is imperative that the leading wallet continues to build foundational and secure self-custody tools that empower the user,” said Taylor Monahan, founder and CEO of MyCrypto, in a statement.&nbsp;



The acquisition comes shortly after <a href="https://metamask.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MetaMask</a> expanded its institutional offerings with the addition of its first <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/custodial-solution-for-metamask-institutions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">built-in custodial</a> solution that supports multi-chain compatibility.



MetaMask’s institutional clients can now access the same multi-chain connectivity across all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains that MetaMask provides retail traders. Compatible chains include Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon and Avalanche.&nbsp;



Both products will continue to operate separately in the near term. Within the MetaMask team, MetaMask co-founders Finlay and Aaron Davis, along with MyCrypto founder Taylor Monahan, will work toward a unified product. MyCrypto’s team of 12 employees will be joining ConsenSys. 



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