The cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, produced by ConsenSys, is adding four different platforms for asset management to its institutional wallet product. The four platforms integrated—all focusing on crypto asset custody and security—are Gnosis Safe, Hex Trust, Parfin, and GK8.
MetaMask, which has over 30 million monthly active users, is perhaps most commonly known for its individual use as a “hot wallet” for Ethereum transactions and NFT purchases. The new institutional integrations will help organizations like banks, corporations, and DAOs manage crypto funds. MetaMask Institutional (MMI) was launched in December 2020.
Gnosis safe is already being used by DeFi platforms like Uniswap to enable multi-signature (muti-sig) features, which means multiple users have to collectively sign off on transactions to release Ethereum funds or NFTs.
Hex Trust offers crypto asset custody, DeFi and staking options, and trading for the Asian market. It currently has over $5 billion under its custody and over 200 institutional clients.
Similarly, Parfin offers digital asset custody and trading features, and GK8 also provides a number of different DeFi and custody services.
DAOs—decentralized autonomous organizations that use smart contracts and governance tokens to execute after community-based voting—have been around for a while. But many have struggled to achieve true “decentralization” through the blockchain.
New integrations through MMI could make it easier for existing DAOs to achieve their utopian vision of collectivist, decentralized decision-making. Or, at the very least, offer leaders of some of the largest DAOs a more streamlined approach to asset security.