Bankless: Top 10 Browser Wallet Ranking WalletConnect Highest Score

Many of us remember the days when crypto wallets didn’t have many options. Now, we have a lot of options!

Below is an analysis and review of 10 browser-based crypto wallets by William M. Peaster, Bankless professional writer and creator of Metaversal, to explore whether Metamask has lost its dominance of browser wallets?

Top 10 Browser Wallets

First things first: Browser wallets are encrypted wallets used through a web browser.

For most people, the first thing that comes to mind when they see the word “browser wallet” is a browser extension project like MetaMask, which can be downloaded directly into browsers like Chrome, Brave, etc.

But there are plenty of browser extension projects out there. 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 evaluated 10 different browser wallet projects from four different wallet types. they are, respectively:

browser extension

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

Browser with built-in wallet

• Brave
• Opera

Wallet service that ” supports all browsers”

• WalletConnect
• Portis

Browser compatible desktop wallet

• Frame

We’ll break down the pros and cons of each of these wallets and answer your burning question: “Which is the best browser wallet today?”  

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
• Nicely guided wallet recovery key + storage backup process
• Easily import existing accounts or create new ones
• Compatible with Ledger, Trezor and GridPlus hardware wallets
• Wallet built-in encryption swap system

shortcoming

• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets
• MetaMask is so popular that 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

In November 2021, cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase launched its Coinbase Wallet browser extension. Since then, Coinbase Wallet has quickly become a worthy rival to MetaMask. While it is growing fast, the wallet is currently still in the shadow of MetaMask.

advantage

• self-hosted
• Easy to download and get started
• Easily load wallets via Coinbase Pay
• Offers a range of default networks such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and the ability to add custom networks
• In-wallet token swap is supported on several networks (Ethereum, Polygon, Avalanche C-Chain, BNB Chain).
• Supports integration with hardware wallets such as Ledger
• Provides automatic lock timer
• Provide “Account Logout” function
• Support for non-EVM cryptocurrencies (BTC, BCH, DOGE, LTC, SOL, SPL tokens, XLM and XRP).

shortcoming

• Can’t stress enough recovery keys + stored backup process
• Not as many supported functions as MetaMask
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets

Overall Score: 8.5/10

GameStop Wallet

Website: wallet.gamestop.com

️Supported browsers : Chrome

️Supported chains : Ethereum , Loopring L2

GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer. The company’s web3 team has been building the GameStop wallet in recent months in anticipation of a future foray into the crypto economy. The distinguishing feature of this wallet is the direct support for Loopring zk-rollup L2.

advantage

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Identify the risks of self-hosting
• Nice bootstrap wallet recovery key
• L2 support via Loopring
• Provides a built-in cryptocurrency exchange system in the wallet
• Provides direct support for hardware wallets

shortcoming

• Lack of broad direct support for dapps
• 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 soon

️Supported Chains : More than thirty chains, including EVM mainstream such as Ethereum , Polygon and Optimism, and some non-EVM chains.

Rabby is a browser extension wallet created by the DeBank team, emphasizing multi-chain support, clear transaction signature experience, pre-transaction risk scanning, etc.

advantage

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Open source, anyone can instrument and build
• Supports a large number of hardware wallets + institutional wallets + mobile wallets
• Nice bootstrap wallet recovery key
• Provides a wallet built-in widget system
• Prominent security approval system in UI (User Interface)

shortcoming

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

Overall Rating: 7/10

Math Wallet

Website: mathwallet.org

️Supported browsers : Chrome, Brave, and Edge

️Supported chains : Few EVM chains , Bitcoin, Kusama, Solana, TRON, etc.

Math Wallet is a browser extension crypto wallet that supports over 100 different blockchains. However, compared to other popular crypto wallets currently, this wallet is relatively confusing to use.

advantage

• self-hosted
• Easy to download
• Supports a large number of chains

shortcoming

• The wallet creation process and wallet UI feel unintuitive
• Lack of broad direct support for dapps
• Lost accounts cannot be retrieved like smart contract wallets
• Not highlighting the risks and importance of the recovery key process

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Brave Wallet

Website: brave.com/wallet

️Supported browsers : Brave

️Supported Chains : EVM chains are supported , so ETH, ERC20s, etc., as well as Solana and SPL tokens are supported

In November 2021, crypto-friendly browser Brave launched a built-in crypto wallet called Brave Wallet. The app lets you interact with Web3 directly in your browser experience, giving you a glimpse into what the future of the internet will look like. It currently supports all EVM based chains and Solana.

advantage

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

shortcoming

• Lack of broad direct support for dapps
• 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 (and 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, giving it a strong crypto-native feel.

advantage.

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

shortcoming.

• Lack of broad direct support for dapps
• 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 chain

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 but does not yet support browser extensions.

WalletConnect enables mobile Rainbow users (and others) to easily access all dapps from any browser.

advantage

• A meta wallet that supports all wallets
• easy to use
• Available on various browsers
• open source

shortcoming

No significant issues with WalletConnect have been found 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 way to log in with email/password inside the browser” for dapps, which is intuitive and familiar to mainstream users.

advantage

• Available on various browsers
• Wallet built-in backup function

shortcoming

• The user interface of the wallet is a bit confusing
• Lack of broad direct support for dapps
• Does not support many blockchains

Overall Rating: 6.5/10

Frame

Website: frame.sh

️Supported systems : Linux, MacOS and Windows with Chrome and Firefox extensions

️ Supported Chains : All Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains

Frame is a desktop wallet that provides the Frame Companion browser extension. This connector connects Frame, the native Ethereum wallet on the desktop, with browser-based apps that previously couldn’t connect directly to Frame.

advantage

• Works with all dapps
• Focus on privacy
• Many people like this project very much

shortcoming

Unable to dig deeper into the project due to constant errors

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Conclusion

After evaluating the 10 browser wallets listed above, WalletConnect (9.2/10) is currently considered the best product. It’s a great “meta wallet” because it lets you connect anytime, anywhere.

Second is MetaMask (9/10), which sets the general standard for direct connection of wallets in the cryptoeconomy, and may set new standards in the future. 

Below is the ranking by category .

browser extension

• MetaMask – 9/10
• Coinbase Wallet – 8.5/10
• GameStopWallet – 7/10
• Rabby – 7/10
• Math Wallet – 5.5/10

Browser with built-in wallet

• Brave – 8/10
• Opera – 7/10

Wallet service that ” supports all browsers”

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

Browser compatible desktop wallet

• Frame – 5.5/10

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

Ledger, Rainbow, and Argent are now focusing on their respective native browser wallets, and these efforts may just be the tip of the iceberg in the future.