Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, is making a significant stride in the digital wallet space with the introduction of its new Smart Wallet. This groundbreaking product aims to reshape the way users participate in the decentralized finance ecosystem, addressing some of the most common challenges faced by crypto enthusiasts today.
The overarching goal of the Smart Wallet is ambitious yet straightforward – to streamline the process of onboarding potentially a billion users in the future. With this vision in mind, the wallet offers innovative features such as gasless transactions, which removes the need for network fees, providing cross-application portability, and creating a seamlessly intuitive user experience.
The Coinbase Smart Wallet heralds three main developments. Firstly, there’s a dramatically simplified onboarding experience designed to make it easier for new users to start using blockchain services. Gone are the daunting recovery phrases that were a barrier to entry for many; instead, users can initiate the onboarding process using familiar and secure methods like Google Chrome profile, Face ID, fingerprint, or even a Yubikey.
Second, the Smart Wallet does away with network costs generally associated with onchain transactions. This is a game-changer for users frustrated by the ever-fluctuating and sometimes exorbitant gas fees on networks like Ethereum. The third and equally compelling feature is cross-application portability, which allows users the flexibility to transfer their wallets to other onchain applications along with their existing balance and identity.
Coinbase is also making it easier for existing users to transition to the Smart Wallet by developing migration tools. This effort demonstrates the company’s commitment to ensuring that the benefits of the new technology can be enjoyed by its seasoned users without the hassle of starting from scratch.
Once onboarded, users with Smart Wifi can engage in a variety of activities such as minting NFTs, trading on decentralized exchanges (DEX), and diversifying their investments in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications without fretting about network fees.
In a move to cultivate and support a strong developer community, Coinbase has introduced a range of incentives. These incentives include base gas credits to facilitate zero-cost transactions through the Base Gasless Campaign, with gas credits capped at $15,000. Additionally, there’s the lure of winning ETH and participating in the company’s Onchain Summer event, with Coinbase announcing an additional pool of 40 ETH for developers – a notable sum considering a single Ether’s price hovered at $3,849.19 at the time of writing.
The launch of the Smart Wallet represents a significant leap in onchain transaction efficiency and the promotion of self-custody among crypto users. With these developments, Coinbase is solidifying its position as a forward-thinking player in the crypto space, setting the stage to welcome a myriad of new users into the fold of blockchain and cryptocurrency.
