Original title: (In the Web3 wallet war, is Metamask also confirming the issuance of a token?)
Original author: Asher
Original source: Odaily Planet Daily
After Base suddenly reversed its stance to explore issuing a token, MetaMask may also issue a token soon.
In May this year, MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay stated that the team was "considering" issuing a token, but their attitude was ambiguous. However, just today, the tone suddenly changed — Joseph Rubin, founder of MetaMask's parent company Consensys, stated in an interview with The Block's podcast The Crypto Beat that "the MetaMask token is coming soon, and it might even be faster than you think."
Perhaps the reason MetaMask is determined to issue a token at this time is that the competition in the Web 3 wallet space is becoming increasingly fierce. Once a dominant player, it is now gradually being outpaced by competitors and even marginalized among some users.
In the battle of Web 3 wallets, MetaMask has long since fallen from grace.
According to Dune data, MetaMask's share in the Swap market of Web 3 wallets is experiencing a cliff-like decline, dropping from nearly 80% dominance at the end of 2022 to less than 1% marginalization today. Although MetaMask is not sitting idly by, it has actively tried to expand its ecosystem in recent years through tools like Snap, supporting multi-chain wallet access including Solana, in an effort to maintain its developer-friendly and open ecosystem advantages, the actual results have not countered the trend.
Market share of weekly trading volume for Web 3 wallets
The reason is that the rise of trading platform-based Web 3 wallets is far beyond expectations.
First, the OKX Wallet has quickly risen in the Web 3 wallet space. It attracts users for daily use due to its excellent functionality and ease of use, inheriting the liquidity advantages of the trading platform, allowing some users to experience a smoother trading process than MetaMask. At this stage, the competitiveness of wallets mainly comes from functional experience rather than incentive mechanisms.
Currently, Binance Wallet's growth is the most prominent. With the help of the Binance Alpha event, Binance Wallet has initiated a user growth model centered around token airdrops. Users are attracted by the dual drive of "trading + airdrop expectations," quickly increasing their activity and penetration rates. At this point, "completing tasks with a trading platform wallet = having airdrop expectations" has become a market consensus, making Binance Wallet the fastest-growing wallet of the new generation. Similarly, OKX Wallet has also recently expanded its usage scenarios relying on the OKX Boost event, gradually making it the preferred entry point for users' daily transactions and interactions.
Binance Alpha may have already paved the way for the development of Web 3 wallets: in the current market environment, relying solely on product functionality or user education is difficult to quickly form scale effects, and only through token airdrops to stimulate user behavior can the market share of Web 3 wallets be maximized. Perhaps for this reason, the MetaMask team decided to issue a token to re-attract old users and lock in new users through token incentives, achieving ecosystem expansion.
Linea token holders may benefit from the MetaMask airdrop.
As an Ethereum Layer 2 project under ConsenSys, Linea's opening price performance has not been ideal, with a current circulating market value of only 430 million dollars, ranking 213th in market capitalization. In this situation, MetaMask's token issuance will likely consider binding with Linea token holders of the same origin, directly reaching LINEA network users through airdrops or incentive mechanisms, thereby increasing demand for LINEA tokens and driving up the token price.
In other words, through the MetaMask airdrop plan, MetaMask enhances wallet activity and trading volume, while Linea increases network usage and token demand through wallet traffic. Through this "wallet + Ethereum Layer 2" combination effect, both projects have the opportunity to develop together and form a stronger network effect.
It's time to start using the little fox wallet again
Most longtime Web 3 users have probably used the MetaMask wallet. Although the details of MetaMask's token airdrop have not yet been announced, veteran wallet users might as well reactivate their MetaMask to remain active and increase their chances of potential airdrops.
Moreover, reusing an old MetaMask wallet does not mean intentionally boosting trading volume. Users only need to keep their wallets active through daily on-chain operations. After all, there are currently no tasks like Odyssey launched, so there is no need to increase wallet wear and tear for an airdrop.
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