Making web3 and the world of crypto more user-friendly and accessible

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By Sid Coelho-Prabhu, Group Product Manager

More and more people are discovering the benefits of crypto, web3, and blockchain-enabled experiences. To meet the needs of these new users, we are investing in accessible and user-friendly experiences that make it easier to participate in decentralized finance (DeFi) and collect non-fungible tokens (NFTs). We believe this is especially important for self-custody wallets given the added responsibility placed on the user in managing their own crypto.

With Coinbase Wallet, we are building the most user-friendly self-custody experience in crypto, including making it easier to manage your crypto across a range of supported networks. We are also adding some of our users’ most requested features to Wallet extension, including the ability to natively trade on decentralized exchanges (DEXes) and bringing NFT collections directly into the browser.

Many networks, one wallet

The surge of interest in crypto this year has sparked many positive developments, but it also has exposed some of the pain points associated with scaling. High network fees and longer processing times on the most popular blockchains are major hurdles for continuing to grow the use of crypto around the world.

Fortunately, there is a lot of activity within the crypto community that aims to address today’s scaling issues. Layer 2 solutions, sidechains, and Layer 1 networks that are compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) are playing a vital role in helping Ethereum scale, making it more affordable and efficient to trade crypto, buy NFTs, or borrow from a liquidity pool.

And these networks are becoming more and more popular. Over the past 60 days, we have seen a 300% increase in the number of daily Coinbase Wallet mobile users who switch their active network at least once. This means that users are increasingly using Coinbase Wallet to access dapps, including DeFi, gaming, and NFTs, on networks that may offer lower network fees and faster transaction times.

But more networks can mean more work for the user. Having to keep track of token balances split across multiple networks and manually switch between networks to access dapps and crypto experiences makes for a prohibitively complex user experience.

Coinbase Wallet is making it easier than ever to enjoy the benefits of these networks without the hassle or headache. In both the mobile app and desktop browser extension, Coinbase Wallet will now show your token balances across all supported networks in one simple, unified view. In addition to assets held on the Ethereum mainnet, Wallet will display tokens on the Arbitrum, Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, Fantom, Optimism, Polygon, and xdai networks.

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To round out our scaling updates for 2021, we have also added support for EIP-3085, which allows dapps to suggest a specific network to the user. When a dapp wants to suggest a network that differs from the user’s current network, Coinbase Wallet will ask the user to confirm the switch. This removes the guesswork of picking the right network and cuts down the number of steps it takes to change between networks — with just one tap on mobile or one click on desktop, your wallet will be ready to go.

Direct access to decentralized exchanges

At the beginning of 2021, we introduced support for Coinbase Wallet mobile users to trade on decentralized exchanges right from their Wallet home screen. Powered by APIs with Uniswap and 0x, Wallet users suddenly could trade over 4,000 tokens right from the comfort of their Coinbase Wallet app.

In November, we launched our standalone browser extension for Coinbase Wallet, making it easy for users to engage with dapps, earn interest with DeFi, and collect NFTs from their computer. The latest update to Wallet extension brings the native DEX trading functionality that Wallet mobile users have enjoyed on their phones into the Wallet extension.

With Wallet extension’s built-in price charts and the new ‘Convert’ button, users can stay up to date on what’s happening in the crypto markets and execute trades with just a few clicks.

Looks rare

We are excited to announce that your NFT collection is coming to Coinbase Wallet’s browser extension. Soon, users will be able to view their NFT collection from within the Coinbase Wallet extension, easily see their NFTs’ attributes, and easily access popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea.

We will be launching support for NFTs in the browser extension in just a few days, so make sure you have the latest version of the browser extension installed from the Chrome webstore.

Unlocking the world of crypto in 2022

This year has been filled with major milestones for Coinbase Wallet, but it is truly just the beginning. We want to empower everyone to use dapps and web3 by building the easiest-to-use and most accessible self-custody wallet in the ecosystem, with a major focus on lowering the barriers to entry for self-custody.

We have ambitious plans for Wallet next year, including making our native DEX trading feature more accessible and affordable and leveling up the experience of buying, selling, and collecting NFTs. And just last week, we announced that Wallet will support hardware wallets in early 2022, a major enhancement that will introduce new levels of security and choice to Wallet’s users.

Experience the latest enhancements for yourself by downloading Coinbase Wallet for free from the App Store on iOS, Google Play on Android, or the Chrome web store. Make sure to follow us on Twitter @CoinbaseWallet for the latest Wallet-related news.

Making web3 and the world of crypto more user-friendly and accessible was originally published in The Coinbase Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.