MetaMask has entered into a new strategic partnership with four major cryptocurrency custodians: Gnosis Safe, Hex Trust, GK8 and Parfin.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet and browser extension MetaMask have entered into a new strategic partnership with four major cryptocurrency custodians: Gnosis Safe, Hex Trust, GK8 and Parfin.
MetaMask Institutional (MMI), the institutional version of the popular Ethereum wallet MetaMask, announced on Wednesday that a new integration will provide decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) with key management tools to participate in DeFi activities.
DAOs are computer code-driven organizations with no top-down authority, and they are gaining popularity as a fundraising mechanism and a tool for managing cryptocurrency projects.
According to the announcement, MMI provides institutions with access to DeFi and Web3 in accordance with their requirements. Custodians or custodial wallets are services that store private keys and facilitate the approval and signing of transactions. They are necessary for organizations to securely receive and protect crypto assets.
Cointelegraph reached out to Harriet Browning, Head of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at Consensys. She told Cointelegraph:
“This enables crypto funds, exchanges, traditional institutions, enterprises, DAOs, a whole range of different user profiles, allowing them to operate in a secure, well-managed, risk-managed environment.”
The difference between MetaMask Institutional and the company’s mainstream browser and wallet plugin is how assets are managed. Browning explained that assets stored in the core MetaMask product are not subject to retention, while assets managed through the MMI are subject to retention. She noted:
“For institutional security, we have replaced the hardware wallet with a number of custodial partners to provide the necessary asset security.”
John Ennis, head of Gnosis Secure Ecosystem, said: “DAOs and crypto institutions want the gold standard of DeFi integration while maintaining the industry standard for security when it comes to protecting digital assets from operational and security risks.”
Related: MetaMask rolls out Apple Pay integration and other iOS updates
This year, MetaMask is actively expanding its offerings. At the end of March, the company introduced integration with Apple Pay and a number of payment system updates, including the ability to buy cryptocurrency through the application using debit or credit cards.
