Coinbase, a leading digital currency exchange, is advancing its technological footprint by introducing two innovative wallet solutions aimed at enhancing the integration and balance transfer capabilities across Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) applications. These initiatives are part of the company’s strategic efforts to facilitate developer onboarding to its layer-2 blockchain, Base, and to streamline the overall user experience in the Web3 domain.
The first of these pioneering solutions is a smart wallet designed to seamlessly allow users to carry their balances across different EVM-compatible applications that are integrated with the Coinbase Wallet Software Development Kit (SDK). This feature is set to revolutionize how users interact with multiple applications, enabling a fluid transfer of assets without the need for multiple wallet setups.
The second feature introduces an embedded wallet that empowers developers to embed noncustodial, white-labeled wallets directly into their applications. This development is particularly noteworthy as it addresses one of the critical pain points for developers in the Web3 space: creating a user-friendly experience without compromising on security or functionality.
In an effort to understand the rationale and the technology behind these new offerings, Yuga Cohler, senior engineering manager at Coinbase Embedded Wallets, shared insights with Cointelegraph. Cohler highlighted the continuous effort and the learnings from customer feedback that have culminated in the launch of the Embedded Wallets. According to Cohler, these innovations are part of Coinbase’s broader strategy to refine the product experience across its services, making it easier for developers to incorporate digital wallets into their applications without the need to build the underlying technology from scratch.
Coinbase’s expansion into wallet-as-a-service builds on the existing model that allows for the integration of digital wallets into third-party applications, facilitating the incorporation of digital assets into diverse products and offerings. This approach contrasts with the traditional self-custodial wallet model and aims to provide a more integrated and native user experience.
The technology underlying these services, notably multiparty computation (MPC), plays a crucial role. MPC technology allows for private data to be computed by multiple parties without the data being revealed to others, enhancing the security and privacy of transactions. This off-chain cryptographic protocol distinguishes Coinbase’s offerings from traditional smart contract-based solutions.
These developments come in the wake of Coinbase’s decision to phase out support for native Bitcoin payments on its merchant platform, Coinbase Commerce. The company cited challenges in implementing recent updates to its EVM payment protocol as the reason for this shift, underscoring its commitment to evolving its services in alignment with the latest technological advancements and user needs in the crypto space.
