Bankless: A Quick Look at Top 10 Browser Wallets and Their Pros and Cons

DeFi之道

特邀专栏作者

2022-06-24 03:34

This article is about 3645 words, reading the full article takes about 6 minutes

WalletConnect is the best product overall, followed closely by MetaMask.

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WalletConnect is the best product overall, followed closely by MetaMask.

Author: William M. Peaster

Original compilation: Yangz

Author: William M. Peaster

Original compilation: Yangz

First things first: browser wallets are crypto wallets designed to be used through a web browser.

For most of us, when we see "browser wallets", we think of browser extension projects like MetaMask, which people can download directly into browsers such as Chrome and Brave.

But there are many other projects. In addition to wallet extensions, there are various browser-centric services that fall under the category of "browser wallets".

MetaMask
So, which one offers the best value? To answer this question, I reviewed 10 different browser wallet projects across four different wallet flavors. They are:
browser extension
Rabby
Math Wallet

Coinbase Wallet

Brave
Opera

GameStop Wallet

WalletConnect
Portis

Browsers with built-in wallets

Frame

"Any browser" wallet service

Today, we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of these wallets and answer the question: “Which is the best browser wallet today?”

MetaMask

website:metamask.io

let us wait and see……

website:

Supported chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

advantage:

The MetaMask extension is the most widely supported browser wallet in the crypto economy and has become the standard for all decentralized applications (dapps)
advantage:
Easy to download and use
Very good explanation of wallet recovery phrase + process for storing backups
Compatible with Ledger, Trezor and GridPlus hardware wallets

shortcoming:

In-Wallet Encryption Swap System
shortcoming:

Due to MetaMask's popularity, its users are often targeted by phishers on social media

Coinbase Wallet

website:coinbase.com/wallet

Overall score: 9/10

website:

Supported chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

advantage:

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase launched the Coinbase Wallet browser extension in November 2021. Since then, Coinbase has moved quickly, making Coinbase Wallet a viable challenger to MetaMask. It is developing fast, but the wallet is still not as good as MetaMask at the moment.
advantage:
self hosting
Easy to download and use
Easy to load wallet with Coinbase Pay
Provide a series of default networks, such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and you can also add custom networks
Provide a "logout" function

shortcoming:

Support for non-EVM cryptocurrencies (BTC, BCH, DOGE, LTC, SOL, SPL tokens, XLM and XRP)
shortcoming:
Not enough emphasis on recovery phrase + process of storing backups
Not as universally supported as MetaMask
Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

No direct hardware wallet support for now

GameStop Wallet

website:wallet.gamestop.com

Overall Rating: 8/10

website:

Supported chains: Ethereum, Loopring L2

advantage:

GameStop is the world's largest video game retailer. In recent months, the company's Web3 team has been building the GameStop wallet in anticipation of future exploration of the crypto economy. The wallet stands out for offering direct support for Loopring zk-rollup L2.
advantage:
self hosting
easy to download
Clearly spells out the risks of self-hosting
The process of recovering phrases is carefully explained
Provide wallet built-in swap system

shortcoming:

Provides direct support for hardware wallets
shortcoming:
Lack of broad direct dapp support

Currently only two chains are supported

Rabby

website:rabby.io

Overall Rating: 7/10

website:

Supported chains: Support over 30 chains, including mainstream EVM such as Ethereum, Polygon and Optimism, plus some non-EVM chains.

advantage:

Created by the DeBank team, Rabby is a browser extension wallet that emphasizes multi-chain support, a clear transaction signing experience, pre-transaction risk scanning, etc.
advantage:
self hosting
easy to download
Open source, anyone can examine or build on it
Extensive hardware wallet + institutional wallet + mobile wallet support
Provides in-wallet widget system

shortcoming:

Emphasized the security approval system in the user interface
shortcoming:
UI is a bit confusing

Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Math Wallet

website:mathwallet.org

Overall Rating: 7/10

website:

Supported Chains: Few EVM chains plus Bitcoin, Kusama, Solana, TRON, etc.

advantage:

Math Wallet is a crypto wallet browser extension that supports over 100 different blockchains. However, the project is relatively confusing to use compared to other popular crypto wallet solutions.
advantage:
easy to download

shortcoming:

Supports a wide range of blockchains
shortcoming:
Wallet creation process and wallet UI doesn't feel intuitive
Lack of broad DApp support

The risks and importance of the recovery phrase process are not emphasized

Brave Wallet

website:brave.com/wallet

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

website:

Supported chains: EVM chain is supported, so tokens such as ETH, ERC20 s are supported, in addition to Solana and SPL tokens

advantage:

In November 2021, crypto-friendly browser Brave launched a built-in cryptocurrency wallet called Brave Wallet. The app lets you interact with Web3 directly from your browser experience, offering a glimpse into the internet of the future. It currently supports all EVM-based chains and Solana.
advantage:
self hosting
Provide wallet built-in swap system

shortcoming:

Compatible with Ramp and Wyre
shortcoming:

Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Opera Wallet

website:opera.com/crypto/next

Overall Rating: 8/10

website:

Supported chains: Ethereum, BNB chain, Polygon, and Bitcoin (plus some testnets)

advantage:

In January 2022, Opera launched a dedicated encrypted browser with a built-in wallet system. The browser also has direct integration with Discord and Telegram, with a strong crypto-native feel.
advantage:
easy to download

shortcoming:

Provide wallet built-in swap system
shortcoming:
Lack of broad direct DApp support

Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

WalletConnect

website:walletconnect.com

Overall Rating: 7/10

website:

Supported browsers: any browser

Supported chains: any blockchainAccording to its website, WalletConnect is an "open-source protocol for connecting dapps to mobile wallets via QR code scanning or deep linking." For example, Rainbow Wallet is a popular Ethereum wallet, but does not yet have a browser extension.Rainbow users on mobile

advantage:

(and other users) easily access any dapp through any browser.
advantage:
Works on different browsers
open source

shortcoming:

open source

So far, no major problems have been found in WalletConnect

Portis

website:wallet.portis.io/login

Overall Rating: 9.2/10

website:

Supported chains: Ethereum, Bitcoin, Gnosis Chain, Polygon, EOS

advantage:

Portis provides a "simple in-browser email/password login method" for dapps that is intuitive and familiar to mainstream users.
Available on various browsers

shortcoming:

Backup function in the wallet
shortcoming:
The UI of the wallet is a bit confusing (personal opinion)

Lack of support for many blockchains

Frame

website:frame.sh

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

website:

Supported chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

advantage:

Frame is a desktop wallet that offers the Frame Companion browser extension. The connector can "build a connection to Frame, the desktop native Ethereum wallet, into browser-based applications that cannot connect directly to Frame."
advantage:
focus on privacy

shortcoming:

Some of my colleagues really like this project

I'm having trouble using the Frame desktop + extension combo on a new computer due to constant error messages, so it's hard for me to explore the project directly

in conclusion

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

in conclusion

After reviewing the 10 browser wallets listed above, I currently think WalletConnect (9.2/10) is the best product overall because it is an excellent "meta wallet" that allows you to places, connect any way you want.

It is followed by MetaMask (9/10), which set the standard for direct wallet connections in the cryptoeconomy and will likely continue to do so.