One of the industry's oldest crypto wallets is getting a major facelift.

On Thursday, Dan Finlay, the cofounder of MetaMask, took the stage at an industry event in Denver to reveal that users will soon be able to hold Bitcoin

One of the industry’s oldest crypto wallets is getting a major facelift.

On Thursday, Dan Finlay, the cofounder of MetaMask, took the stage at an industry event in Denver to reveal that users will soon be able to hold Bitcoin and Solana in their Ethereum wallets.

He also introduced a redesigned mobile app for the crypto wallet and announced the rollout of its metal MetaMask-linked Mastercard.

Another new feature will let users trade crypto without needing to hold Ethereum for transaction fees.

Self-Custody 2.0

In sum, it’s a massive overhaul.

“We see this as a ‘Self-Custody 2.0,’” Finlay told DL News, referring to how some crypto users manage their own holdings rather than relying on exchanges or other services.

“What you’re seeing now is the culmination of many efforts coming together.”

Although the eight-year-old MetaMask dominates the market in terms of the number of users, the competition is gaining ground.

Other wallet providers have won over users by offering features MetaMask lacks, such as unique network integrations and capabilities.

Phantom, which launched in 2021 as a Solana-specific crypto wallet before adding Ethereum and Polygon two years later, has 15 million users and has become the wallet of choice for that network.

Phantom also attracted leading investor groups. In January, the venture raised $150 million in a round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm.

Top priority

Meanwhile, crypto wallets such as Rabby, Rainbow, and Family have built their business around making user experience a top priority.

Among the slew of new upgrades, MetaMask is tackling a similar sticking point for its current users.

The crypto wallet is launching so-called batched transactions so that approving a transaction and then executing a swap, for example, can be done in a single click.

The MetaMask team is also introducing “gas-included” transactions, which will let users swap cryptocurrencies without needing to hold Ethereum to pay for gas fees.

Instead, the gas fee is paid using the token they’re swapping.

By March, MetaMask users will be able to pay their transaction fees in any tokens they want.

The biggest upgrade, though, will let MetaMask users easily interact with the Bitcoin and Solana networks.

Accessing Solana

MetaMask users have been able to access the Solana and Bitcoin networks via developer tools called Snaps, but this will be the first time that the networks will be so closely integrated with the wallet, Finlay said.

MetaMask users will be able to access Solana from May and hold Bitcoin from the third quarter of this year.

When asked if there were concerns about launching on Solana given the series of recent memecoin scandals, Finlay told DL News that MetaMask is simply providing access to the things users want to do.

“While scams exist across all blockchains, our approach is to equip users with better security tools, insights, and controls so they can make informed decisions,” he said.