Coinbase Wallet can now be connected to any desktop browser to provide a new way to interact with decentralized applications, or dapps.
Coinbase Wallet is a mobile app for storing cryptocurrencies, mostly Ethereum-based tokens, but it also features a dapp browser for searching and interacting with dapps. When someone interacts with a dapp on Coinbase Wallet, they can use the app to sign transactions. Now, users can use the same process on desktop browsers too.
This is possible via WalletLink, a piece of software that connects mobile devices with dapps in desktop browsers. WalletLink creates a QR code, which you scan with your phone to link the two devices. Once they are linked, a secure connection is made allowing the phone to be used to sign any transaction.
This two-stage signing process isn’t too dissimilar to what MetaMask currently offers: A popup window appears for the user to sign the transaction. The difference here is the notification turns up on a smartphone. This is good for Coinbase Wallet users since they won’t need to download a browser extension to achieve interact with Web3.
WalletLink currently works with dapps including decentralized loan service Compound, decentralized exchanges such as IDEX, and other financial services such as Maker, a stablecoin-focused reserve bank. It is also coming to decentralized exchange Uniswap, too.
The decentralized internet may still be a work in progress, but work is progressing.