Opera Releases Apple iOS Mobile Web Browser With Blockchain Features With Built-In Crypto Wallet

Blockchain applications in the mobile phone industry have been a somewhat slow but steady process in the last few years with the official Samsung keyboard featuring a bitcoin emoji, HTC releasing the Exodus phone last year as well as the first blockchain-based smartphone being released last year as well. Now Opera, an internet browser company, announced on June 26, 2019, that they have released the iOS version of their mobile web browser Opera Touch which is blockchain ready.

According to the official press release, the Opera Touch supports the ethereum protocol and ethereum web3 application programming interface which means that the browser accommodates ethereum-based dapps as well as erc-20 tokens stablecoins and so on. Most interestingly, it features a cryptocurrency wallet for storing ether called the Opera crypto wallet. This helps to make the use of blockchain and blockchain-related accessories more accessible to users as usually specialized software is required for such purposes.

The idea behind this is that more accessibility is given to crypto users as well as more opportunities for businesses who make use of such a model as crypto wallets should be as easily reachable as possible and not hidden through various hoops.

Coming To iOS

Opera had previously released the Android version of their mobile browser in late 2018 and had similar features which included ethereum support capabilities. Since it had catered to the Android marketplace, they soon turned their attention to the iOS market as the Opera Touche is the first mobile browser the iOS with web3 support and an inbuilt crypto wallet. This comes even as the crypto world is expecting either Samsung or Apple to add their own default crypto wallet to one version or the other of their phones in the future.

This shows just how much of a necessity cryptocurrency wallets are becoming as more and more people make use of crypto and there is the need for ease of storing and accessing their tokens at any given time and there is an increased demand for such services which was acknowledged by Opera themselves.

“We believe that all modern browsers should integrate a crypto wallet. This will enable new business models to emerge on the web. Opera is the first browser to make using crypto on the Web seamless and easy. Following a strong demand from the crypto- community, we are now making this experience available on iOS,” The Head of Crypto at Opera browsers, Charles Hamel.

Ahead of new release, Opera partnered with Marble.cards, a collectible dapp which collects website URLs then turns them into collectible cards and stores them on the ethereum blockchain as NFTs. Should Expectations be met and major phone companies begin issuing their own official cryptocurrency wallets, the industry could find itself seeing much more adoption as well as increased visibility considering the millions of users that make use of both Samsung and Apple phones. Perhaps these sorts of applications will also extend to other protocols besides ethereum, which in turn will provide more services for users. Till then, it is apparent that Opera is committed to providing as many blockchain and crypto related services for their users and hopefully will expand on these efforts as time goes on.