Coinbase’s self-custody wallet, one of the most popular tools for personally safeguarding one’s own cryptocurrencies, will soon function as an encrypted simultaneous messaging service, the company revealed Wednesday.
in a video statementthe company said its product will be “the only wallet with integrated messaging powered by XMTP,” a web3-based decentralized communications network and messaging service.
Using the network, Coinbase’s messaging service can support and lookup human-readable Ethereum addresses (for example, Ethereum Name Service ‘.eth’ addresses or Lens protocol .lens addresses).
Wallet owners also have access to previously available Coinbase decentralized identification (cb.id) addresses which, unlike ENS, are free to set.
in a Follow up On a Twitter thread, Coinbase explained that messaging is interoperable, meaning chats can be moved between the Coinbase wallet and any other application that takes advantage of XMTP, such as Lenster either Orb.
“Like all of your digital assets, your chats are completely yours,” the company wrote. “Coinbase doesn’t have access to them, only you.”
“Your messages are end-to-end encrypted and stored on XMTP’s secure, decentralized communication network,” he added.
Within the messaging app, users can also seamlessly send thousands of different cryptocurrencies to anyone using any Coinbase wallet-supported crypto asset, per business. Press release.
When transacting in the Circle-issued USDC stablecoin, transactions are done without gas by leveraging Polygon, Ethereum’s Layer 2 blockchain for more scalable and cheaper transactions.
Like traditional messaging apps, users can block incoming messages in their inbox and view other users’ wallet profiles before connecting with them.
Combining crypto with messaging
One of the purported benefits of the service, from a payments perspective, is allowing users to safely know who they are sending money to before they hit send. The firm stated:
“Gone are the days of having to send a small balance to confirm a wallet address. No more guessing if someone’s social profile matches their wallet. Eliminate unnecessary risks and potential losses with the help of messaging.”
As the Coinbase wallet enters the messaging sphere, legacy messaging services are also integrating crypto. Telegram: a p2p messaging service popular in crypto circles – recently announced its “Wallet” chat API bot, which allows merchants to facilitate Tether (USDT) and Bitcoin (BTC) payments directly within the Telegram interface.
In its lawsuit against Coinbase in June, the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that the Coinbase Wallet has allowed Coinbase to operate as an “unregistered broker” by allowing users to “route orders through online trading platforms.” third-party crypto assets”.
