Ethereum wallet and interface MyEtherWallet, or MEW, has brought decentralized applications to its 1.3 million monthly users through a new “DApps Browser” feature in the MEW mobile app.
The collaboration with DApp analytics site DappRadar opens the door for MEW users to access more than 2,000 Ethereum based decentralized applications including DeFi and NFT based protocols directly from their smartphone.
Through the DApps Browser, users can browse, search for and interact with DeDApps like UniSwap, SushiSwap and Balancer to access financial services such as loans, asset swaps, and staking. They can also track their DeFi portfolios of loans and deposits.
The wallet software enables secure access, with the private key never leaving the device’s secure encrypted storage, and never shared with the DApp.
Users can also access other decentralized wallet apps including Status and Trust Wallet. While the three apps have been downloaded more than six million times combined, DappRadar reports January only saw 72,000 daily active users, leaving plenty of room for growth from MEW’s large user base.
Users can browse and search for specific DApps, and later this year it is expected that iOS users will be able to view rankings and metrics for 2000 DApps that are normally only visible through web browsers within the MEW app. These metrics are likely to include daily, weekly, and monthly active users, total value locked, and trading volumes. MEW’s Founder and CEO Kosala Hemachandra said:
“Our dedication to bringing DApps to all of our users, no matter how they choose to access them, reflects our belief that wallets can, and should, become the hub where the entire Ethereum DApp ecosystem comes together.”
The new features also enable users to access the growing non-fungible token, or NFT, sector. Although still very young, the sector grew by 10x in January to more than $33 million in value with this figure expected to rise significantly in 2021. Some NFT artworks are now selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
DeFi protocols accounted for 95% of the $270 billion DApp transaction volume in 2020.
Earlier this week, DAppradar identified that although Ethereum is still the top dog when it comes to active users, rising transaction fees and scalability issues are increasing the attractiveness of alternate blockchains. Fees associated with some of the more complex DeFi protocols have topped $1,000 at peak times
However, with venture capital firm Outlier Ventures reported this week that developer activity appears to be waning on older “Ethereum killer” networks in favour of Ethereum-based DeFi protocols such as Aave and Balancer.
