Opera Releases Web 3 Browser Ahead of Cross-Chain Wallet Launch

Opera has launched the beta version of its “Crypto Browser Project,” an internet browser with built-in Web 3 integrations.

The product is targeted at both “the crypto-native and the crypto-curious,” with Opera’s own crypto wallet at the core of its user experience, according to a press release Tuesday.

The main feature of the browser is that users can switch between applications without having to sign into their wallets for every new tab, which will work for any app that has an Opera wallet integration.

While the current Opera wallet is exclusively compatible with Ethereum, the company plans to roll out Polygon and Solana compatibility in the near future, with a “biglLayer 2 announcement” coming in February, a representative told CoinDesk.

Read more: Opera’s Browser Wallet to Support Solana in Early 2022

“We actually believe that browsers will be more important in Web 3 than they were in Web 2,” Jorgen Arnesen, vice president of Web 3 at the Oslo-based Opera, told CoinDesk in an interview. “We’ve been around the block for 25 years, and around Web 3 since 2018. A multi-chain token strategy will be essential to a good user experience.”

The crypto-centric browser also features a built-in news hub called “Crypto Corner,” along with Twitter and Telegram integrations.

Browser wars

The legacy browser isn’t the only of its kind looking to take advantage of growing Web 3 interest. There's also Brave, another crypto-centric browser that boasts its own payments wallet.

Read more: Brave Browser Launches Built-In Crypto Wallet

After successfully adding cross-chain compatibility, Opera says it will open source its wallet, maintaining a focus on privacy and security.

“We want to develop basically an agnostic web experience just like we have done for Web 1 and Web 2,” Arnesen said.