The Edge cross-platform web browser developed by Microsoft and first launched in 2015 is testing the Web3 wallet.
Formerly Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge is being integrated Web3 wallet crypto and NFT friendly. The new feature was discovered by Albacore, a Windows geek, and shared a series of screenshots showing the new wallet’s initial user interface (UI) embedded in Microsoft’s browser.
Newest in the gauntlet of questionable upcoming Microsoft Edge features, a crypto wallet 💸
Not really sure how to feel about this kind of thing being baked into the default browser, what are your thoughts?
More screenshots of the UI in the next tweet ➡️ pic.twitter.com/GAUPiZGLIY— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) March 17, 2023
Albacore notes in the article:
“As one of a series of upcoming Microsoft Edge features, I really feel uncertain about including crypto wallets in the default browser.”
The first screenshot is an introduction to the Edge wallet, in which Microsoft encourages users to test their first Web3 wallet and provide candid feedback for the platform.
If the above information is correct, then it appears that the new wallet is a non-custodial wallet, meaning that Microsoft also does not have access to the password and recovery key. But the wallet will be integrated right into Edge, instead of an extension installed into the browser.
The screenshot also reveals the ability to swap, transfer and buy crypto, supported by Coinbase and MoonPay exchanges.
Regarding NFT, the interface only supports searching for NFTs on marketplaces and organizing them into each user’s own collection.
Microsoft’s move is seen as an effort to strengthen its presence, which “below” ahead of Google’s Chrome and Apple’s Safari.
But Microsoft Edge is not the first web browser to integrate crypto. Opera has been in action since 2018, Get started with mobile devices before expand to desktop. Since last year, Opera has integrated a series of new blockchains and claims to take Web3 as the focus of development. The closest is Announced launchpad launch for instant mint NFT in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Brave also launched its own wallet, creating a launch pad for the Basic Attention Token (BAT). This browser has support Solana in 2021 and Binance Smart Chain in 2020.
On the other hand, some browsers with an “anti-crypto” stance such as Vivaldi have declared “isolation” from this area, or Firefox Mozilla has turned its back to block Bitcoin donations after a wave of fierce criticism.
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