Opera has been a solid browser choice for the past few years. The browser has been existing as a research project since 1994 and was bought later by Opera Software in 1995. Since 2013 the project has been using the Blink layout engine similarly to Google Chrome.

Seemingly the Chinese owned web browser, that has a market share of 3.52% according to gs.statcounter.com, seeks to gain new users with supporting cryptocurrencies and building their ecosystem. According to an official announcement made on Opera’s blog a Crypto Wallet feature has been implemented into the new update.

The new version of the browser will implement an ‘easy-to-use’ wallet functionality that will also support Ethereum’s decentralized apps, all ERC-20 tokens and Ethereum based collectibles as well (e.g. CryptoKitties). The update is only available for the Android private beta update, but will hit end-users in the near future.

This is huge news for Ethereum, especially since according to internetworldstats.com the number of Internet users back in 2017 was 4.15 billion people so in theory this means direct exposure for 145 million people all over the globe as soon as the feature gets released on all platforms at the current usage rates.

Opera has provided an introduction video on the blog, which can be seen here

﻿

The wallet will feature enhanced control over the users’ funds and private keys including permission request for browsing certain sites that could expose wallet information. Additionally a prompt asking for wallet access approval will pop-up once needed.

While also letting users store Ethereum based collectibles and funds, the new browser will also act as a dApp browser. This will enable users to use Opera as their go-to software to interact with the Ethereum network instead of using several third party applications simultaneously.

The original blog argues that Ethereum has a huge community and that the browser will now benefit them with the functions.

More cryptocurrency integration will follow in the future, but this currently means that Ethereum just gained another chunk of adoption compared towards its rising competitors, namely EOS and ADA.

Another important feature will be the online payment support, users who will attempt payments through sites that have Coinbase Commerce enabled will recieve a payment request dialog, which will ask for their signature.