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Bitcoin and TRON Join Ethereum, ERC Tokens in Opera’s Crypto Browser – CCN Markets


Fans of Opera’s mobile browser will be chuffed to hear that it is adding support for both Bitcoin and Tron to its latest Android version. The Norwegian software company last year announced support purely for Ethereum and it’s myriad of ERC-20 token offerings. The company has now come full circle to offer other major cryptocurrencies to its growing list.

This initial rollout will benefit Android users only. In June CCN reported that Opera also launched support for iOS so expect Apple users to receive similar benefits in the coming months. Opera heavily cites this move as an evolution towards the so-called next generation of the internet – Web 3.0.

Opera Cryptocurrency Integration Ahead of the Pack

Opera continues to lead the way in cryptocurrency integration when compared to other more established browsers. While Apple quietly launched CryptoKit at this years developer conference it hasn’t actually provided any serious wallet contender to date for Safari. The same can be said of both Chrome and Bing.

The only real contenders to speak of are the Brave browser and Samsung’s latest range of blockchain-supported phones. Brave, for example, focuses heavily on promoting its own BAT cryptocurrency. The fundamental difference here is that BAT is purely an ERC-20 token. Brave also currently only supports desktop-based payment integration.

Opera built-in wallet. Opera adds Bitcoin and Tron
(View your Bitcoin transaction history with the latest Opera release. Source: Opera Blog

Opera’s latest release, though still in beta, will allow users to send and receive BTC (Bitcoin) and TRX (Tron) as well as view their transaction history.

“Most importantly, we are including an experimental integration of Web 3, which makes it possible for websites to request and receive addresses and for users to make transactions with Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin and Tron Blockchain User Numbers Still Solid

At first observation, Tron may seem like an odd early choice for inclusion in Opera’s built-in wallet. According to one metric, however, the number of both Bitcoin and Tron transactions remains strong. The blockchain activity matrix registers Bitcoin and Tron in 5th and 6th place respectively for busiest blockchain networks.

Blockchain activity matrix. Opera adds Bitcoin and Tron
(Activity on both the Bitcoin and Tron blockchains are still solid. Source: Blocktivity 

Mobile users are far more familiar with cryptocurrency payments than they were several years ago. Despite this, the majority of user interfaces are clunky and unwieldy to use. Add to that the ongoing security concerns of downloadable crypto wallets and you can see the potential market share that Opera is gunning for.

“Before Opera entered the cryptocurrency scene almost a year ago, using cryptocurrencies online and accessing Web 3 required special apps or extensions, which made it difficult for people to even try it out. Our browsers remove that friction.”

Beta version 53 for Android is available to download from the Google Play Store.



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