Web3 is coming, the new era of the Internet with an absolute focus on decentralization and cryptocurrencies. How will we move in this new era? That’s what Opera wants to answer, which has created the so-called Crypto Browser Project and offers a beta browser to start exploring that world with.
In reality, this project is another milestone on a path that Opera began years ago when it integrated a cryptocurrency wallet into the browser. That wallet is an integral part of this new browser, but so is access to decentralized applications (dApps), NFTs, and content (such as tutorials and guides) that help us get into a still fuzzy Web3.
Hello Web3, is that you?
Maybe in a few years, we will have fully assumed the role that cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications (dApps) can have in our lives -if they end up having it-, but today that role generates a lot of confusion.
From a Web 2.0 where everything is highly centralized, the idea is to move on to a much more decentralized Web3, where users once again become “owners” of a web that is now controlled by large corporations.
Cryptocurrencies and blockchains will play a key role in this, as they are a fundamental pillar of this crypto-economy where we will see (or rather, we are seeing) a new batch of decentralized applications (dApps).
Among them, some currently stand out, such as Uniswap, belonging to the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) segment, or others such as OpenSea, which have become benchmarks in the management and purchase and sale of those (also diffuse) digital assets called NFTs.
Opera paves the way with its Crypto Browser
Facing all this world of “crypto-terms” and new options is complex, but Opera wants to ease the way. To this end, it has created its Crypto Browser Project, a browser in a beta phase that is a version of its conventional browser, but which comes with several elements focused on getting us into the Web3.
The first of these elements is the so-called Crypto Corner, an aggregator of information from the crypto world where we find news, cryptocurrency prices, commission status (‘gas’, in the case of Ethereum, for example), or even podcasts that talk about all these topics.
We also have Opera Wallet, the wallet or ‘crypto-wallet’ without custodian and integrated -no extensions, although we can install third-party wallets such as the famous MetaMask- and that will allow us to carry out operations with cryptocurrencies.
We will be able to create our wallet easily, operate with Ethereum, and buy cryptocurrencies, but also operate with ERC-20 fungible and non-fungible standards, whose support in some cases will arrive during the first quarter of 2022.
There is also a section to operate with NFTs and connect to those digital art collections -whether we find the idea more or less valid-. From there, if we want, we can invest in that section through the strong relationship of that section with the aforementioned OpenSea.
Opera’s managers have also taken into account the debate on the energy consumption of this type of system and all its transaction operations. They have teamed up with Polygon, a network that consumes only 0.00079 TWh per year compared to other blockchain networks that are much more voracious and consume on average between 35 and 140 TWh per year.
This is therefore an interesting option for those who want to take advantage of all the functions offered by Opera when it comes to getting into this world and starting to get to know it. The Crypto Browser Project is available from today on Windows, Mac, and Android.
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