Brave now has a built-in cryptocurrency wallet, sidestepping the need for extension-based wallets like MetaMask
Mitchell Clark / The Verge : Source: Brave Browser .
Context & Ripple Effects
Brave has been folding crypto into the browser step by step: Bitcoin-based Payments rewarded sites back in 2016, direct creator tipping followed in 2017, and exchange widgets with Gemini and Binance put trading on the new tab page. A native wallet is the logical next layer — the browser itself becomes the key store, no extension required.
First-order effects
- MetaMask, which reported growing from 1 million to 5 million monthly active users over roughly a year, now competes against a wallet pre-installed by a browser vendor rather than installed by choice.
- Brave users get dapp access without vetting or updating a third-party extension, collapsing the install step that was MetaMask's main distribution funnel.
Second-order effects
- MetaMask's recent feature push — token swaps on Firefox and a fiat sell function for US, UK, and European users — becomes its retention playbook against bundled rivals, shifting competition from availability to functionality.
- The Infura misconfiguration that briefly locked Venezuelan users out of MetaMask highlights the infrastructure risk of relying on one provider; a browser-native wallet raises the stakes of who controls that backend.
Third-order effects
- If other browser makers follow Brave, the wallet shifts from an add-on market to a platform default — making the browser vendor the de facto permission layer for which wallets and dapps users reach first.
The trend: Crypto wallets are migrating from user-installed extensions to defaults baked into browsers, turning browser vendors into gatekeepers of web3 access.