MetaMask Expands Support to Include Solana and Bitcoin in Ethereum Wallet

This year, MetaMask is expanding its support to include Solana and Bitcoin, enabling the Ethereum-focused crypto wallet to reach a broader audience.

Starting in May, users of MetaMask will be able to purchase, sell, and swap tokens, as well as engage with decentralized applications within the Solana network, the company announced on Thursday. Additionally, support for Bitcoin is set to roll out sometime between July and September, allowing users to store the first cryptocurrency in their MetaMask wallets.

MetaMask was developed by Consensys, a key player in the Ethereum software landscape (disclosure: one of the 22 investors in an editorially independent Decrypt). The company had previously shared its Bitcoin ambitions with Decrypt in January.

“We’ve taken our time getting to this point of multi-chain maturity, but I believe this will open up a significantly broader multi-chain universe,” said MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay in an interview with Decrypt during ETH Denver.

Since its inception in 2016, MetaMask has gained popularity as a reliable software wallet for trading and storing cryptocurrencies, especially given its support for Ethereum and various EVM-compatible networks like Avalanche and Binance Smart Chain. With the growing interest in meme tokens on Solana and collectibles like Ordinals and Runes on Bitcoin, the crypto landscape is evolving rapidly.

Last month, Solana reported nearly twice the number of daily active users compared to the Ethereum ecosystem, according to data from blockchain research firm Chain Catcher. As activity increases on Solana and Bitcoin, wallet platforms catering to these user bases are experiencing significant growth.

The multi-chain wallet Phantom reported having 15 million monthly active users last month—an astounding 1,400% growth from two years ago. Likewise, Coinbase Wallet approximately doubled its user base from 2023 to 2024, as reported by app analytics firm Business of Apps.

However, according to Finlay, MetaMask’s integration of Solana and Bitcoin isn’t merely about competing with other trending wallets. These additions align with the wallet provider’s mission to build a “permissionlessly extensible” application, enabling MetaMask users to develop support for new features and blockchains through its Snaps functionality.

“We believe that the landscape of new protocols will continue to expand,” he remarked.

Edited by James Rubin