Coinbase launches smart wallet with hopes of addressing crypto's 'pain points'

by RT Watson

Exchanges • June 5, 2024, 10:04AM EDT

Published 1 minute earlier on

The Block

Quick Take

Coinbase announced it is launching a new “smart wallet,” which, among other features, is designed to ease onboarding and facilitate gasless transactions.

Coinbase is officially launching its new "smart wallet" with the hope of improving the user experience for its clients.

"These next-generation 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," the company said in a statement.

The U.S.-based exchange initially announced the new wallets back in February at EthDenver.

Coinbase has designed the new smart wallet with the idea of making the onboarding experience easier. The company said new users can now create a wallet with "Face ID, Google Chrome profile, fingerprint, or Yubikey without recovery phrases."

The company has also tried to address the worrisome issue of users being told they don't have enough available funds. "Use self-custodial wallet balance or Coinbase account balances, avoiding 'insufficient balance' errors," Coinbase said in its announcement.

Gasless transactions will also be possible, according to the statement. "Developers can sponsor transactions via paymaster integrations," Coinbase said.

Coinbase's wallet supports eight networks, including Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB and Zora. The company said it plans to add more.

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About Author

RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.