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Coinbase Unveils Wallet-as-a-Service Product as Foray Into DeFi Continues

Tim Fries

Published: March 8, 2023 10:22 pm

Coinbase announced the launch of a Web3 wallet solution that will let companies fully customize blockchain wallets for their own customers, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday. The move represents another bet by Coinbase on the future of decentralized finance (DeFi) after launching a testnet of its Ethereum layer-2 network ‘Base’ earlier this month.

Coinbase Introduces ‘WaaS’ to Improve Wallet Onboarding Experience

Coinbase has now rolled out a Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) – a new product aimed at helping developers enter Web3. The WaaS allows companies to build fully customizable web3 wallets using their own apps, notably simplifying the user onboarding process.

Will Robinson, VP of engineering at Coinbase, said developers needed a way to visit a website or interact with a brand without leaving their platforms. As such, Coinbase’s latest product helps them “onboard into web3, right there, so they’re truly in control of their assets in a contained experience.”

The product consists of a scalable group of wallet infrastructure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allows consumers to build and deploy customizable on-chain wallets to their customers. In other words, it enables companies to directly integrate wallets into their apps, removing the need to redirect users to other apps to connect their wallets.

“The current onboarding flow is sort of backwards for most regular people. At first, for some reason you need a crypto asset, then you should get a wallet ’cause someone told you to, then you have to find something to do with that wallet.”

Will Robinson, VP of engineering at Coinbase

Armstrong’s Master Plan to Embrace DeFi Makes Further Progress

The launch of WaaS comes as Coinbase continues its push to arm blockchain developers with new products and services. Meanwhile, the world’s second-biggest crypto exchange by trading volume has also been committed to attracting new crypto investors, particularly institutions, who use the platform’s trading and custody products.

What’s even more interesting is that the rollout of a Web3 wallet solution marks a new foray into DeFi (DeFi) by Coinbase, which operates as a centralized entity. Last month, Brian Armstrong’s company unveiled a testnet of its Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, which could bring millions of new users to DeFi.

These recent moves by Coinbase suggest that the crypto exchange continues to lay the groundwork for its transition to DeFi, which was revealed in Armstrong’s four-phase Secret Master Plan back in 2016. With the launch of Base, the company has entered phase 3.5 and continues to progress toward its ultimate goal of bringing one billion users into the crypto economy.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist