The Ethereum software giant ConsenSys has acquired the wallet maker MyCrypto to form a super-company with a “mission” to help users “fully realize their self-sovereignty”.
ConsenSys will now merge MyCrypto with its own “market-leading” Web3 wallet, Metamask, which will operate under the same banner. The combination of these two products will create one wallet to rule them all which will benefit from improved security and be accessible across desktop, mobile, and browser.
MyCrypto launched in 2015 and is a non-custodial Ethereum wallet, which means users have total control over their private key and will lose access permanently if they lose this information. Non-custodial wallets offer total freedom combined with responsibility and are one of the truest incarnations of the libertarian, decentralized crypto dream.
It will now be blended with MetaMask, a non-custodial crypto wallet for mobile and browser extensions with more than 21 million monthly active users.
ConsenSys said that combining the “shared values, talent, and goals” of MetaMask and MyCrypto will “provide users with a heightened experience that is even more extensive and secure”.
Dan Finlay, the co-founder of MetaMask, said: “MyCrypto has consistently been one of the most reliable and incompatible wallets in Ethereum, often shipping cutting-edge Ethereum features ahead of other wallets, while MetaMask has focused on general-purpose DApp interactions.
“With our talents combined, and our strong sense of shared ethics and goals for this ecosystem, I think we’ll be able to provide a wallet experience that is much more able to help its users make the best decisions through this rapidly evolving Web3 wallet landscape.”
The MyCrypto and MetaMask products will continue to exist independently in the short term, but will slowly begin to blend their features.
“With the rapid growth of the ecosystem and products racing to ship slick features, it is imperative that the leading wallet continues to build foundational and secure self-custody tools that empower the user,” added Taylor Monahan, founder and CEO of MyCrypto. “Combining our years of experience and shared values allows us to accelerate our mission of providing a way for users to fully realize their self-sovereignty.”
Monahan also published a long and stirring blog about her mission to allow users of her wallet to “harness your power as a self-sovereign participant of the new world” and build the future of Web3.
Metamask and MyCrypto will slowly blend to provide a “superior way to access the unique applications and tokens across multiple accounts, protocols, and networks”.
The resulting product will “become increasingly decentralized and trustless while instilling more confidence in people over time” and “empowers people to consent to the financial and social systems they choose to be a part of and access the unique opportunities only found in crypto-land”.
It’s a big merger with big ambitions.
