The recent EthCC 2023 conference held in Paris saw a significant focus on Account Abstraction (AA), which, in simple terms, transforms individual wallets into smart contracts to enable more versatile functionalities. #Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also delivered a presentation on the potential of #AccountAbstraction, providing insights into possible development directions for projects.

Account Abstraction gained particular attention at the conference, with both leading blockchains Ethereum and Arbitrum announcing their support for AA. Many new crypto wallet applications are leveraging Account Abstraction as a competitive advantage to attract users, but MetaMask has yet to make any significant moves in this direction.

In an exclusive interview with Decrypt, Lex Jupiter, the product manager of MetaMask’s Lex Jupiter, stated that MetaMask is continuously monitoring new developments in the cryptocurrency market and exploring ways to enhance user experience. Jupiter emphasized that MetaMask remains committed to its fundamental non-custodial and user-friendly approach to welcome new Web3 users, a spirit the development team wishes to maintain.

However, due to the primary focus of Ethereum’s core development team on improving Proof-of-Stake and scalability for the blockchain, the integration of Account Abstraction has been relatively slow. As a result, token standards such as ERC-4337, which incorporate Account Abstraction, are gaining more attention for their ease of use without requiring protocol upgrades.

Regarding whether Account Abstraction will be the future of all crypto wallets, Jupiter admitted that it’s difficult to be certain and more time is needed to answer that question. Nonetheless, MetaMask continues to develop its own products to keep up with industry trends, with MetaMask Snap being a prominent example.

Current Status of MetaMask’s Operations

According to Lex Jupiter, MetaMask currently boasts around 30 million active users each month. This number represents a significant decrease from the 100 million monthly users recorded in 2022, largely attributed to the downtrend in the market.

Despite the decline, the user base has tripled since July 2021 when MetaMask reached 10 million monthly users. Notably, during that time, the crypto wallet acknowledged Vietnam as the third-highest country in terms of MetaMask users, trailing only the Philippines and the United States.

MetaMask’s vision is to become a multi-blockchain wallet, supporting both layer-1 and layer-2 solutions, compatible with both EVM-based and non-EVM-based ecosystems. The wallet’s focus lies in improving service quality and maintaining security, rather than aggressively seeking new user acquisitions. The development team is cautious about all product releases, as they recognize the importance of MetaMask in the current landscape and want to avoid any vulnerabilities that may arise from hasty programming to chase trends.

Regarding the question of whether MetaMask plans to issue its own token, Jupiter mentioned that currently, it’s unnecessary for the wallet to have its native token. Therefore, at this time, there are no plans for MetaMask to launch an official project token.

However, MetaMask’s parent company, ConsenSys, announced the deployment of layer-2 solution Linea on the mainnet at the EthCC conference, leading to speculation about an upcoming native token. Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin had hinted at the possibility of a MetaMask token named MASK back in 2021.

According to #DefiLlama data, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Linea increased by 170% to $11.72 million in the last week. However, reports of issues with layer-2 withdrawals back to Ethereum have made some users hesitant to transfer funds to Linea for airdrop and retroactive rewards.

The future of #MetaMask appears promising as it maintains its commitment to user-centric development and explores new avenues for growth in the dynamic crypto landscape. While Account Abstraction remains a point of interest, MetaMask’s dedication to security and usability sets the stage for further advancements in the crypto industry.

Source: https://azcoinnews.com/metamasks-ambitious-multi-blockchain-support-and-no-current-token-issuance-plans.html