New Metamask Features: Fiat Off-Ramp, PayPal And Cross-Chain Interoperability

Easier Fiat On- and Off- Ramp

Recently, MetaMask introduced a ‘Sell’ feature, which allows users to easily cash out their crypto for fiat currency. The feature is a part of MetaMask Portfolio, an all-in-one dApp to “manage and track Web3 everything”. A ‘Buy’ feature was initially added five months ago, and now, users have access to both on- and off-ramp services. The company promises accessible, fast, and secure transactions and competitive quotes.

The Sell feature is currently available in the U.S., U.K., and Europe, supporting ETH on Ethereum mainnet, with plans “to expand to native gas tokens on layer 2 networks.” Sell uses an aggregator of providers, which include MoonPay and Transak.

The button was added amid current bearish market sentiment, which the crypto community seemed to find equally amusing and upsetting:

In May, the company announced adding PayPal integration to its 'Buy Crypto' function. The option is only available for U.S. users and for buying ether (ETH).

Snaps

The blockchain industry is still rather lacking in terms of interoperability, and MetaMask Snaps is one of several highly awaited upcoming products which hopes to solve the problem. Snaps will allow users to interact with different non-EVM blockchain networks, thus eliminating barriers between different ecosystems.

The solution was first announced in February this year. According to the product manager at MetaMask, Alex Jupiter, the company has been developing Snaps since 2021, building upon the MetaMask Swaps solution.

"MetaMask has historically been an Ethereum wallet. We need to start moving beyond that. The multichain future is very clear." Alex Jupiter

Snaps is an open-source system that allows anyone to extend the functionality of MetaMask, creating new Web3 end-user experiences. A 'Snap' can add new API methods to MetaMask, and add support for different blockchain protocols, including Bitcoin, Solana, Avalanche and Starknet, or modify existing functionalities.  

Consensys Head of Strategy Simon Morris described Snaps as “an Apple App Store for the crypto wallet, allowing third-party developers to launch new decentralized applications — Snaps — that expand MetaMask’s functionality.” Eventually Consensys aims to make the process as permissionless as releasing apps on the web. Morris added that some of the soon-to-be-released Snaps will help make the process of signing transactions and assessing smart contracts less confusing. Snaps also will enable a communication layer between DApp developers and their users.

According to Morris the upgrade will be coming sometime later this year. Currently, Snaps is available only for developers via MetaMask Flask: an experimental playground, where new features can be rolled out and tested.