Users of the newly Web 3-enabled Opera browser for Android, are now able to buy cryptocurrency directly and easily from their mobile phones to top up its native crypto wallet.
According to a recent announcement by the team behind the crypto-friendly web software, a new partnership with brokerage Safello will allow Nordic users – those in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, at least – to make use of the native Android security features and payment systems to purchase ether. All the sign up procedure for the transactions are handled automatically based on the Sweden-based BankID ‘Citizen Informations’ solution, and data held by the phone for other digital purchase methods.
The method, which claims to take users from ‘Zero To Crypto in less than 60 seconds’ is outlined in this video.
This new feature, which presumably is earmarked for a wider rollout beyond the immediate vicinity of the Opera team’s native Norway is a further step in its strategy to simplify the use of cryptocurrency. It will need to rely on different authentication protocols and conform to different laws as it makes its way around the globe, however, making the lead time for roll out unclear.
Opera Hopes To Make dApps Easy
Opera began its crypto experimentation with the introduction of a native cryptocurrency wallet to its Android browser back in July of last year, allowing users to use the new generation of decentralized applications being created on the Ethereum blockchain. The most high profile of these dApps so far has probably been CryptoKitties.
That enjoyed such a massive jolt of interest upon its launch, that it caused problems for the wider Ethereum blockchain and highlighted potential issues with scaling going forward. Interest in that game has tailed away badly across the ensuing year, however, leaving it as the 30th most popular Ethereum dApp at present.
In general, dApps have struggled in its wake. Low transaction volumes and user numbers have been persistent issues for the new technology, which rely on knowledge of crypto wallets, or software such as Metamask to run on HTTP-based browsers – making them problematic for less knowledgable users. This issues means that even the most popular dApp – currently My Crypto Heroes – has seen less than 2,000 users in the last 24hrs according to State of The dApps. CryptoKitties was used by less than 350 people in the 24hrs before publication.
“We think that the next important phase for crypto will come from usage and that for it to reach wider adoption,” says Charles Hamel, Product Lead for Crypto at Opera, who believes that moves like that being made by Opera could increase usage of dApps.
However, Hamel believes that this “has to be easy to buy and easy to use.”
Recent leaks related to Samsung’s S10 mobile phone have indicated that it too will feature integrated cryptocurrency facilities, while several other phones – notably the crypto-centric Finney by Sirin Labs, and the HTC Exodus 1 – will also be looking to move into the space in the near future.
