Bankless: A quick look at the pros and cons of the top 10 browser wallets

WalletConnect is the best product overall, followed by MetaMask.

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 that people can download directly into browsers like Chrome, Brave, etc.

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

So, which one provides the most value? To answer this question, I reviewed 10 different browser wallet projects involving four different wallet flavors. They are:

browser extension

• MetaMask
• Coinbase Wallet
• GameStop Wallet
• Rabby
• Math Wallet

Browser with built-in wallet

• Brave
• Opera

“Any Browser” Wallet Service

• WalletConnect
• Portis

Browser compatible desktop wallet

• Frame

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

let us wait and see……

MetaMask

Website: metamask.io

Supported browsers: Chrome, Brave, Firefox, Edge

Supported Chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

The MetaMask extension is the most widely supported browser wallet in the cryptoeconomy and has become the standard for all decentralized applications (dapps)

advantage:

• Easy to download and use
• Well explained wallet recovery phrase + process of storing backups
• Easy to import existing accounts or create new ones
• Compatible with Ledger, Trezor and GridPlus hardware wallets
• In-wallet encryption swap system

shortcoming:

• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets
• Due to the popularity of MetaMask, its users are often targeted by phishers on social media

Overall Score: 9/10

Coinbase Wallet

Website: coinbase.com/wallet

Supported browsers: Chrome

Supported Chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase launched its Coinbase Wallet browser extension in November 2021. Since then, Coinbase has moved quickly, making Coinbase Wallet a viable challenger to MetaMask. It’s growing 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 via Coinbase Pay
• Provides a range of default networks such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, plus custom networks can be added
• Provides automatic locking timer
• Provides a “logout” function
• 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 wallet built-in token swap
• There is currently no direct hardware wallet support

Overall Rating: 8/10

GameStop Wallet

Website: wallet.gamestop.com

Supported browsers: Chrome

Supported chains: Ethereum, Loopring L2

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 explorations of the crypto economy. The wallet is notable for providing direct support for Loopring zk-rollup L2.

advantage:

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• The risks of self-hosting are clearly stated
• The process of recovering phrases is carefully explained
• L2 support via Loopring
• Provide wallet built-in swap system
• Provides direct support for hardware wallets

shortcoming:

• Lack of broad direct dapp support
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets
• Currently only two chains are supported

Overall Rating: 7/10

Rabby

Website: rabbit.io

Supported browsers: Chrome, Brave – Firefox & Edge coming soon

Supported Chains: Over 30 chains are supported, including mainstream EVMs such as Ethereum, Polygon and Optimism, plus some non-EVM chains.

Created by the DeBank team, Rabby is a browser extension wallet that emphasizes multi-chain support, has a clear transaction signing experience, pre-transaction risk scanning, and more.

advantage:

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Open source, anyone can inspect or build on it
• Extensive hardware wallet + institutional wallet + mobile wallet support
• The process of seed phrases is well explained
• Provides an in-wallet widget system
• Security approval system emphasized in the user interface

shortcoming:

• UI is a bit confusing
• Lack of broad direct DApp support
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Overall Rating: 7/10

Math Wallet

Website: mathwallet.org

Supported browsers: Chrome, Brave, and Edge

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

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:

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Supports a wide range of blockchains

shortcoming:

• The wallet creation process and wallet UI feel unintuitive
• Lack of broad DApp support
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets
• Failure to emphasize the risks and importance of the recovery phrase process

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Brave Wallet

Website: brave.com/wallet

Supported browsers: Brave

Supported Chains: EVM chain is supported, so tokens like ETH, ERC20s are supported, in addition to Solana and SPL tokens

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, providing a glimpse into the future of the internet. It currently supports all EVM based chains and Solana.

advantage:

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Provide wallet built-in swap system
• Compatible with Ramp and Wyre

shortcoming:

• Lack of broad direct dapp support
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Overall Rating: 8/10

Opera Wallet

Website: opera.com/crypto/next

Supported browsers: Opera

Supported Chains: Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and Bitcoin (plus some testnets)

In January 2022, Opera launched a dedicated crypto browser with a built-in wallet system. The browser also integrates directly with Discord and Telegram and has a strong crypto-native feel.

advantage:

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Provide wallet built-in swap system

shortcoming:

• Lack of broad direct DApp support
• Lack of support for many blockchains
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Overall Rating: 7/10

WalletConnect

Website: walletconnect.com

Supported Browsers: Any Browser

Supported Chains: Any Blockchain

According 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 that does not yet have a browser extension.

WalletConnect enables mobile Rainbow users (and other users) to easily access any dapp from any browser.

advantage:

• This is a meta wallet that supports all wallets
• easy to use
• Available on different browsers
• open source

shortcoming:

• I haven’t found any major problems with WalletConnect so far

Overall Rating: 9.2/10

Portis

Website: wallet.portis.io/login

Supported Browsers: Any Browser

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

Portis provides a “simple in-browser email/password login method” for dapps that is intuitive and familiar to mainstream users.

advantage:

• Available on various browsers
• In-wallet backup function

shortcoming:

• The user interface of the wallet is a bit confusing (personal opinion)
• Lack of broad direct dapp support
• Lack of support for many blockchains

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

Frame

Website: frame.sh

Supported Systems: Linux, MacOS, and Windows, with Chrome and Firefox extensions supported

Supported Chains: All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

Frame is a desktop wallet that provides the Frame Companion browser extension. The connector can “implant connectivity to Frame (a desktop native Ethereum wallet) into browser-based applications that cannot directly connect to Frame.”

advantage:

• Works with all dapps
• Privacy-focused
• Some of my colleagues really liked this project

shortcoming:

• I’m having trouble using the Frame desktop + extension combo on a new computer due to the constant error prompts, so I’m having a hard time exploring the project directly

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, as it is an excellent “meta wallet” that allows you to anywhere, connect in any way you want.

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

Here are the rankings by category:

browser extension

• MetaMask – 9/10
• Coinbase Wallet—8/10
• GameStop Wallet—7/10
• Rabby – 7/10
• Math Wallet – 5.5/10

Browser with built-in wallet

• Brave—8/10
• Opera—7/10

“Any Browser” Wallet Service

• WalletConnect – 9.2/10
• Portis—6.5/10

Browser compatible desktop wallet

• Frame—5.5/10

The browser wallet space is expected to grow significantly over the next few years as more projects come in.

We already know that Ledger, Rainbow, and Argent are moving to their respective native browser wallets, and these efforts may be just the tip of the iceberg going forward.