22 Oct 2019 Pavel Petrov
Opera Launches Direct Bitcoin Payments
Opera, one of the leading web-browser app companies to date, announced the launch of an in-browser payment option for Bitcoin. First introduced in July 2019 for beta testing, the new functionality allows users to send and receive Bitcoin and TRON directly on their Android smartphones via Opera’s Crypto Wallet.
Three hundred fifty million users operate with Opera, giving the company the chance to roll out crypto wallet and Bitcoin support for all of them.
Before going into beta testing for Bitcoin payments, the Crypto Wallet browser extension worked with Ethereum and several other ERC-20 tokens. The introduction of Bitcoin as a supported currency could boost Opera’s presence into the crypto community.
Apart from direct Bitcoin transfers between users, the new update would allow users to pay for goods and services. Users with credit/debit cards, tied with Bitcoin, could also use the funds to pay utility bills.
The backend of the browser is made so the information in the Android app could be easily synced with the Desktop Opera Reborn 3 client. Reborn 3 premiered this April.
Charles Hamel, head of crypto at Opera, stated that their browser is ideal for being a gateway for many user activities. “Imagine tasks like shopping, transactions, content, socials – being revamped by Opera.”, Hamel added.
The Bitcoin support rollout is a part of Opera’s Web 3 development project. Web 3 often stands for the “third-generation” of Internet – high-quality content, utilizing DLT, and cryptocurrencies.
Opera’s Crypto Wallet functionality is yet only for Android devices, but rumors are there will be an iOS version ready for deployment pretty soon. For now, iOS users can rely on Opera Touch, which supports Ethereum and ETH-based Web3 apps.
Another crypto-oriented browser, BRAVE, reported high user retention, with 2,8 million active users daily.
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