MetaMask Launches Snaps in Open Beta: Why Is This Crucial for Non-EVM Chains?

With its new platform, MetaMask wallet can be used seamlessly for operations with assets issued on non-EVM blockchains. The team stresses that this release is one more step toward making MetaMask fully premissionless and decentralized.

Bitcoin (BTC) on MetaMask, third-party apps, more decentralization: MetaMask Snaps launched in beta

MetaMask Snaps, a platform for features and functionalities that allow third-party developers to customize MetaMask wallet, goes live in open beta version today, Sept. 12, 2023. Through the platform, any team can create and deploy its own add-on to MetaMask, even if it works with assets on blockchains that do not use Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

The first iteration of MetaMask Snaps kicks off in Extension v11.0+, which is already available for Google Chrome users. The release for Mozilla Firefox is on its way to users, the MetaMask team added.

The MetaMask team highlights that by releasing Snaps, the wallet reaffirms its commitment to building a  peer-to-peer ecosystem of decentralized applications with zero possibilities of censorship:

You may wonder: why would you want just any dev to build a feature for MetaMask? The answer is simple: we believe a decentralized internet that is accessible to all and owned by the people who use it, will give rise to human flourishing on an exponential scale. While our roots are in Ethereum, and our expertise is grounded in building the leading self-custodial wallet, we appreciate that innovation occurs in many domains across the web3 ecosystem.

As of press time, over 30 "Snaps," third-party apps for MetaMask, are available on the wallet's portal. The first generation of extensions can connect MetaMask to Bitcoin (BTC), Cosmos (ATOM), Solana (SOL), Starknet, Algorand (ALGO), Sui (SUI) and Aptos (APT), i.e., the most popular non-EVM blockchains in the world.

Besides new blockchains, Snaps platform offers MetaMask users secret chat functionality, integration with XMTP protocol and other eccentric features.

MetaMask airdrop one step closer?

The developers of MetaMask stressed that switching to more decentralized mechanisms is ahead for its team and community:

Today, MetaMask Snaps is not at the final destination of our vision of being a fully permissionless ecosystem just yet. This is a journey that requires time, iterations, and improvements to accomplish.

That said, the hotly anticipated airdrop of hypothetical MetaMask's token might be one step closer, as it is the only way to establish fully decentralized governance.

As covered by U.Today previously, in March 2023, the MetaMask team released a software development kit (SDK) that is necessary to streamline the integration of the wallet into Web3 games.