Coinbase Cloud’s ‘Wallet as a Service’ Hits Ethereum Mainnet

blockworks.co 23 May 2023 19:59, UTC

Exchange

A new iteration of Coinbase’s cloud product, which employs multi-party computation (MPC), went live on Tuesday, the exchange said on Twitter.

Coinbase on Twitter dubbed the Web3 wallet solution as a direct to user product, “Coinbase Wallet as a Service,” adding that the product has launched on the Ethereum mainnet.

The exchange first introduced this product in March, when the exchange described it as a way for companies “fully customizable onchain wallets for their customers.”

“End users can explore [Web3] without managing a complicated 24 word recovery phrase because WaaS is powered by Multi-Party Computation (MPC) cryptographic technology,” Coinbase representatives said in March.

Coinbase customers using the MPC wallet solution will be able to “create, access, and restore their wallets using just a username and password,” according to a tweet on Tuesday.

The product enables various Web3 interactions through APIs and SDKs. Coinbase’s Pay SDK facilitates the purchase of a range of digital assets. A secondary Coinbase API facilitates the ability of businesses to integrate crypto-based payments, including DeFi solutions, the exchange has said.

MPC solutions typically split the private key behind a wallet into several shards — which can be split between multiple owners for the safekeeping of their underlying digital assets.

Coinbase Wallet as a Service users are intended to be able to remove their private keys off of the exchange at any time.

4/ With mainnet launch, we have also enabled the ability for users to export their keys off platform at any time, giving users full control over their assets.
— Coinbase Cloud 🛡️ (@CoinbaseCloud) May 23, 2023

$ENS Domains, an Ethereum-based naming service, has started to build with Coinbase’s wallet as a service product. Blockworks reported in April that $ENS partnered with Moonpay to allow users to buy .eth domain names with fiat.

Asked about additional developments surrounding $ENS Domains’ usage of Coinbase’s product, a representative for the exchange told Blockworks on Tuesday there is “more to come” without providing additional details.

Coinbase filed a mandamus petition in response to what the exchange has said is the refusal of the SEC to provide more specificity on digital asset regulation.