Coinbase announces smart wallets for easier transition to chain

Coinbase is riding the wallet wave, with the launch of its next generation of smart wallets. A blog post from the company says the wallets “address the biggest pain points of the crypto experience today – complex onboarding, network fees, and recovery phrases – making the transition to onchain smoother than ever.”

Smart wallets are crypto wallets that are created on-chain. Unlike traditional wallets that are created off-chain and are controlled by private keys, smart wallets use smart contracts – per Techopedia, self-executing agreements in which the terms of the contract are written into lines of code.

“Until now, going onchain has been slow, expensive, and hard, with separate wallet app installs and first-generation blockchains. Smart wallets, with their ease of use, paired with next-generation Layer 2 networks like Base, finally set the stage to bring many more people onchain,” says the blog by Sid Coelho-Prabhu.

Coinbase promises “seamless, gasless transactions and cross-app portability” that drastically reduces computation costs. “By addressing the main concerns of traditional self-custody wallets and providing a seamless, secure and user-friendly experience, smart wallets are poised to transform the way we interact onchain,” says the blog.

Users can onboard using Face ID, fingerprint biometrics or Yubico’s Yubikey.

Given Coinbase’s market visibility and significant user base, their smart wallet could become an industry driver for smart wallet uptake.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometric payments  |  blockchain  |  Coinbase  |  digital wallets  |  passkeys