As reported by software preservationist Albacore, Microsoft is quietly testing a built-in crypto wallet for the Edge browser. March 13th Tweet.
edge wallet still in testing
Microsoft has not officially announced the wallet project, and the wallet introduction page does not indicate any supported cryptocurrencies.
However, those pages refer to “cryptocurrencies and forays into NFTs,” and leaked screenshots suggest that Ethereum, DAI, USDC, and USDT are minimally supported. Some of these tokens appear to have been added by users via the custom tokens option.
Other screenshots suggest the wallet will include trading integrations with Coinbase and Moonpay, support for other extended wallets through a settings panel, and an “explore” tab featuring crypto news articles on the web.
Microsoft says wallet users are “testers”. It adds that users must use their own cryptocurrency balances and warns that lost funds will not be covered.
Wallets are non-custodial. This means that users have full control over their funds and Microsoft cannot help users recover their wallets.
Due to the confidentiality of the project, no further information is available.
Other browser wallets
Microsoft Edge isn’t the first web browser to include cryptographic integration by default.
Opera has supported cryptocurrencies since 2018 and first added features to mobile before expanding to desktop in 2019.
Elsewhere, Brave features its own crypto wallet and native Basic Attention Token (BAT). It is also integrated with other projects such as Solana in 2021 and Binance in 2020.
Users of other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome can install third-party cryptocurrency wallets such as Metamask and MEW.
Some browser projects take a stand against cryptocurrencies. Opera rival Vivaldi has said it will never create a cryptocurrency. Mozilla, creator of Firefox, will stop accepting crypto donations to his own organization in 2022 after backlash.
