First launched in 2016, has only been accessible through browser extensions on Chrome, Brave, and Firefox and was restricted to mobile users. This meant that it worked like a bridge between normal browsers and the Ethereum blockchain. The browser extension is mainly popular amongst Ethereum and ERC-20 users due to its simple user interface and its ease to handle decentralized applications (dApps) requests.
For many years, MetaMask users have been asking for a mobile client of the wallet, as the vast majority of Ethereum users have started to rely on MetaMask as the main ETH and token wallet.
During this major conference, hosted by , the founder and CEO of ConsenSys, Joseph Lublin, finally announced the launch of the mobile user interface. He also wrote at his :
“The @metamask_io mobile app was just announced at #Devcon4! Everyone’s favorite #Ethereum browser extension is coming to your phone. The team is focusing on not being ‘just a wallet’, but a portal to the world of all things #blockchain.”
Metamask Mobile, lays on the industry belief that mobile phones are more secure than desktop computers due to their architectural designs. Most cryptocurrency users already have a preference for mobile wallets and this will enable users to have full control of their funds. Although, users will have to take responsibility for their private keys (or passwords). Storing that on a cloud seems now pretty insecure. MetaMask communicates with the Ethereum ledger through a system called Infura. This means that it trusts other computers to keep it up to date with the Ethereum network. Full node systems are generally preferred to systems that involve trusting middlemen like Infura.
The added feature that is bundled with Metamask mobile is the dApp support. With it, users can interact with different decentralized applications that they couldn’t do. The mobile client will be able to function as a dApp browser or a “Google Play Store for dApps.”
Also on MetaMask mobile, users can run various dApps such as CryptoKitties by connecting the wallet to the dApp to seamlessly process information on the Ethereum mainnet. Some dApps you can also explore are Digital art, where auctions are held and users can buy and sell unique collectibles. Also, there is, built by gamers, Blockchain arcades where gamers can use Ether and tokens to enter video game tournaments.
Metamask Joining The Big dApp Company
Until now, there were only several dApp browsers available on the market, including some backed by large organizations. In July, leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance, bought the Trust Wallet, a secure and intuitive mobile wallet that supports Ethereum’s ether (ETH), GoChain (GO), Wanchain (WAN), Ethereum Classic (ETC), POA Network, (POA) VeChain (VET), and TRON (TRX).
Coinbase also has its own cryptocurrency wallet and dApp browser, the Coinbase Wallet that is set to also support other popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and litecoin.
Earlier this year, Opera introduced a mobile browser for Android devices with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. A version of the wallet has been added to its desktop browser.
In July, Metamask announced its from the Chrome Web Store, the reasons for which were not explained. Several hours later, it was listed again. While MetaMask was delisted, an Ethereum-based prediction market protocol Augur, which recently got under fire for speculating on death benefits, warned users to not download the MetaMask extension that was actually present in Google Chrome’s store, as it was a fake application. Even though it got listed only few hours after, there never came an explanation for this event.
This year’s Ethereum developer conference, Devcon4 ended somehow different than ETH enthusiast used to. It ended with Ethereum developers and conference speakers singing about five years of failed ideas during the Ethereum research.
During Devcon4 conference that was held in Prague, co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin mentioned the issues about the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade and the basic idea behind the new platform. The project named ‘Serenity’ encompasses multiple projects Ethereum developers have been working on since 2014.
He explained it as:
“…combination of a bunch of different features that we have been talking about for the past several years. We have been actively researching, building, and now, finally getting them all together.”
Among Serenity’s constituent parts Vitalik mentioned Casper, the Proof Of Stake (POS) protocol that the platform will be using for the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade via a process known as sharding, as well as various other protocol enhancements. This, as he called it “100 percent genuine pure organic Casper” presents a great deal for the Ethereum platform, alongside scalability improvements.
Buterin said:
“Serenity is ‘the world computer’ as its really meant to be, not a smartphone from 1999 that can play snake.”
The truth is, that the Serenity has a rocky path behind. After Ethereum took the technology behind bitcoin, it substantially expanded its capabilities. Now, it has its own network, with its own Internet browser, coding language and payment system. Most importantly, it enables users to create decentralized applications on Ethereum’s Blockchain.
For this second largest cryptocurrency, it’s normal that a lot of proposes and concepts have failed, including ‘super-quadratic sharding,’ aborted attempts at solving Casper and the failed ‘consensus-by-bet.’ Just few weeks ago, Nouriel Roubini popularly known as , claimed that Vitalik Buterin and his partner, Joe Lubin became billionaires by skimming Ether coins prior to their public release. This accusation led to a series of tweets by Buterin and others in the crypto space.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has claimed that he is not a billionaire and didn’t get his wealth via unfair pre-mining of Ether. The developer holds no more than 365,003 ETH, currently worth just under $72 million. In 2017, this amount would have been worth more than $500 million, but according to the Ethereum founder, he had less than 0.9% of all ETH at the time. According to Buterin, the Ethereum Foundation currently holds around $660,000, and owns around $3 million.
With Serenity, however, Buterin believes Ethereum will soar. Its implementation will see a major switch to a proof-of-stake model that promises to make the network far more scalable and energy efficient. Abandoning proof-of-work, users will instead “stake” their own ether to run the network and earn block rewards.
In September, senior blockchain developer at Rocket Pool – Danner Langley – unveiled the In addition to addressing issues regarding scalability, the Ethereum 2.0 also considers other important aspects including efficiency, sustainability, and flexibility. The Ethereum 2.0 combines important projects like Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Sharding, and eWSAM.
During this conference, Buterin explained that there will be four phases of Serenity introduction:
First phase will represent an initial version with proof-of-stake beacon chain. This will be the new POS based blockchain that should co-exist alongside ethereum itself and will allow Casper validators to participate.
“This is halfway between testnet and mainnet.”
Second phase represents simplified version of Serenity with limited features. That means there will be no smart contracts or money transfers from one shard to another.
Third phase includes amplified version of Serenity with cross-shard communication where users can send funds and messages across different shards.
Fourth and final phase will exist as a version with various tweaks and optimized features
1000X Higher Scalability is Coming
This update should lead to “hopefully ”. This would truly increase Ethereum transactions at about 14,000 per second, a huge growth than the current 14.
Buterin also added that before the “big launch,” developers will make some final tweaks. These will include stabilizing protocol specifications and cross-client testnets – a testnet integrating at least two implementations of Ethereum 2.0.
He said that ethereum development definitely won’t end with Serenity and that the issues of transaction fees and governance will remain. He confirmed that he works with other core developers on mapping out future tweaks to the proof-of-stake model, along with other technical improvements.
Vitalik also expressed interest in updating the blockchain to starks, a cryptographic mechanism that allows for the trustless aggregation of transactions into verifiable batches, while also offering a privacy-enforcing component. The method is being pioneered by a for-profit company named Starkware that recently received a $4 million grant from the Ethereum Foundation.
Like many late arrivals to cryptocurrency, Morgan Stanley doesn’t quite know what to make of bitcoin. The investment bank understands money, unless that money is peer-to-peer digital cash, in which case it struggles. Its latest report into the cryptocurrency ecosystem reveals its shifting stance on bitcoin.
Also read:
Morgan Stanley’s ‘Morphing Thesis’
Is Code for ‘We Were Wrong’
Investment banks, while less risk-averse than their central banking peers, still take a conservative stance on cryptocurrencies. It’s only now, a decade on from bitcoin’s inception, that they’re starting to give this digital asset class serious attention. In its on bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, dated Oct. 31, Morgan Stanley begins by speaking of a “rapidly morphing thesis” on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Given that its previous report arrived earlier this year, during which time bitcoin has scarcely changed, this could be interpreted as an admission of them having gotten things wrong.
“bitcoin Decrypted: A Brief Teach-In and Implications” lists no less than seven phases of bitcoin, during which time the cryptocurrency was understood by Morgan Stanley to hold different utilities. The first of these, which supposedly runs from 2009-2016, is bitcoin as digital cash, which runs concurrently with bitcoin as an “antidote to incumbent financial system and central bank” and as “replacement for existing payment system.” While bitcoin has many applications, a sizable number of cryptocurrency proponents would dispute the assertion that its use as digital cash effectively ended in 2016.
From ‘No Tangible Intrinsic Value’ to
‘New Institutional Investment Class’
According to its Oct. 31 report, Morgan Stanley’s current interpretation of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is as a “new institutional investment class,” which it dates from 2017 to the present. bitcoin’s suitability as an investment vehicle is something that many of its staunchest supporters have known for years, and their conviction in this has earned them thousand-percent returns. Any institutional investors arriving at this decision a year ago, in comparison, would have realized a loss of around 10 percent.
Morgan Stanley’s current understanding of bitcoin as being suitable for institutional investment differs considerably from its report in January of this year. Then, the investment bank as a “controversial asset,” and pondered whether it might be “a new currency, a new type of gold, or a speculative fad?” Deploying its own version of the “blockchain not bitcoin” meme, the January report opined that “while the future of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remains to be seen, the concept and technology behind them may influence innovation going forward.”
This view contrasts with its latest report, which, on the application of blockchain technology in the financial sector, notes that the benefits are “mainly unclear.” In January, Morgan Stanley wrote that “cryptocurrencies remain an experimental concept that is not regulated or backed by any central bank worldwide and has no tangible intrinsic value.” In just 10 months, its “morphing thesis” of bitcoin has changed considerably. bitcoin, on the other hand, has not shifted one bit.
What are your thoughts on Morgan Stanley’s morphing thesis on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
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