• Microsoft has been secretly testing a built-in non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet for its Edge browser.
• The wallet supports buying and browsing of NFTs across major marketplaces with the wallet, as well as manual adding of custom tokens.
• Microsoft has recently discontinued its Industrial Metaverse Core team, which was aimed to encourage the use of the metaverse in industrial environments.
Microsoft Secretly Tests Crypto Wallet on Edge Browser
Software researcher Albacore has discovered that Microsoft is experimenting with a built-in non-custodial crypto wallet for its Edge browser. The screenshots depict a user interface for a cryptocurrency wallet, decentralized application explorer, news feed, and the ability to buy cryptocurrency through Coinbase and MoonPay. Microsoft states during onboarding that it is a non-custodial wallet meaning users have complete control over their funds.
What Cryptocurrencies are Supported?
The introductory screens do not explicitly list what cryptocurrencies are supported but there is an option to manually add custom tokens.
NFT Support
Users will also be able to buy and browse Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) across major marketplaces with the wallet. The page related to NFTs reads “Browse different marketplaces to find your first NFT, as you build your collection of NFTs, we’ll organize them here.”
Other Browsers Offer Crypto Wallets Too
Microsoft Edge is not the only web browser offering support for crypto wallets; browsers such as Opera and Brave have had their own crypto wallets for some time now. For example, Opera added support for multiple new blockchain networks such as Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Ronin (RON).
Microsoft’s Push into Crypto Space
These experiments with a crypto wallet come as Microsoft has been involved with the crypto space in numerous ways including showing great interest in the metaverse. However, recently they have discontinued their Industrial Metaverse Core team which was aimed to promote usage of the metaverse in industrial environments resulting in layoffs of around 100 employees working on it.