Just In: MetaMask and Blockaid Team Up to Boost Wallet Security

MetaMask, the popular crypto wallet, has joined hands with security firm Blockaid. This alliance seeks to enhance security for its desktop users, initially, with mobile users soon to follow.

MetaMask Introduces Offline Transaction Validation Feature

Blockaid, a security startup created by former members of Israel’s esteemed Unit 8200 cyber intelligence unit, recently made headlines with a robust $33 million funding round. Significantly, MetaMask was disclosed as one of its primary inaugural customers. With this partnership, they introduce an innovative feature: the Privacy Preserving Offline Module (PPOM).

Bárbara Schorchit, a senior product owner at MetaMask, offered insights into how the PPOM functions. She emphasized its offline nature, which allows it to simulate and validate transactions and signatures before getting a nod of approval. Additionally, it operates using only node RPC communication requests to a predetermined node provider. Hence, no data makes its way to an external server, ensuring enhanced privacy for users. Moreover, Blockaid’s dApp scanning solution can assess a dApp’s intentions, discerning if it or its interactions are malicious.

Users opting for this feature during its initial phase will receive alerts for potentially harmful transactions. By November’s end, mobile users of MetaMask can also experience these heightened security measures. However, the ultimate goal, as Schorchit noted, is to have the feature effortlessly integrated into the wallet by early 2024, making it standard for all MetaMask users. This gradual implementation aims to eliminate the chances of “false positives,” ensuring users can trust this addition.

Blockaid and MetaMask Enhance Crypto Safety

According to data from Blockaid, about one in ten dApps are malicious. This alarming statistic underscores the necessity for enhanced security measures, especially as nearly half of global respondents in a recent Consensys survey cited frequent scams as a significant deterrent to entering the crypto world. Ido Ben-Natan, Blockaid’s Co-founder and CEO, expressed his enthusiasm about collaborating with MetaMask, emphasizing the shared objective of ensuring safety in the crypto space.

Besides this, a recent report by Coingape revealed a noteworthy development. Solana wallet provider now offers a feature allowing MetaMask users to manage their Solana portfolios without hassle, bridging the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems. This integration promises to diminish entry barriers to the Solana ecosystem, thereby enhancing the overall user experience.

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