Coinbase launches standalone browser extension for Coinbase Wallet

Self-custody wallets have proven extremely popular among users looking to access decentralized exchanges and NFTs.

United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has rolled out a new standalone browser extension for its Coinbase Wallet, giving users the ability to more easily access thousands of digital assets on decentralized exchanges, commonly known as DEXs. 

Beginning Monday, Coinbase Wallet will be available as a standalone browser extension, which means new customers can download the tool for free on Chrome. New users also have the option of importing an existing Ethereum-based wallet, such as MetaMask, the company said.

Existing customers who have been using the Coinbase Wallet through WalletLink will also have the opportunity to use the new feature by importing the wallet and entering their recovery phrase. Coinbase initially launched its downloadable browser extension for existing customers in May of this year.

Self-custody wallets like MetaMask have proven extremely popular in the era of DeFi and NFTs, also known as decentralized finance and nonfungible tokens, respectively. Self-custody wallets allow users to more easily transfer funds to decentralized exchanges and NFT marketplaces to buy assets that otherwise wouldn’t be available on centralized platforms.

Related: MetaMask integrates with Bitfinex Pay amid growing demand for crypto payments

Self-custody has become a hot-button topic within crypto as the industry seeks to onboard tens of millions of new users. A spate of centralized exchange hacks over the years, combined with the most recent DeFi exploits, has placed newfound emphasis on security. Efforts to introduce new self-custody services that prioritize ease of use have grown as a result. Earlier this year, the Jack Dorsey-led digital payments company Square announced plans to build a new Bitcoin (BTC) hardware wallet with “assisted-self-custody” features. The wallet is intended to “simplify custody” without compromising security.