MetaMask, which facilitates access to the Ethereum network via Chrome, FireFox, Opera and Brave browser, announced that the latest version (4.9.0) of browser extension will provide integrated support for the Trezor hardware wallet, which can be used to store Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Dash, Zcash (ZEC), NEM (XEM), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and 500 more cryptos.
Hardware wallets such as Trezor offer highest degree of security. However, according to MetaMask, “it’s a bit impractical to move your funds in & out every time you need to use a DApp, exchange, or participate in an ICO.” It is because a user has to “wait for those extra transactions to be confirmed and also pay the extra network fees.”
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, the latest version (4.9.0) of the MetaMask extension provides support for Trezor. Other interesting features offered by MetaMask are ENS+IPFS support and automatic token detection.
In the new version slowly rolling out today, you’ll find a lot of new features, including Trezor integration!https://t.co/C03AI60yp5
— MetaMask (@metamask_io) August 7, 2018
A Trezor device can be linked to MetaMask to perform the following functions:
- Check account balance of ETH, ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens
- Sign transactions. For example send ETH or other supported tokens, deploy smart contracts, etc.
- Sign messages, meaning a user can login (or create id) to various DApps.
MetaMask’s official blog post highlights that that “adding hardware wallet support inside MetaMask” facilitates “every single DApp that works with MetaMask to be used securely with a Hardware Wallet.”
When an Ethereum account is linked to a Trezor device, MetaMask simply considers it like any other account, “with the only difference being that every time you need to sign a transaction, you’ll need to connect your TREZOR device and MetaMask will send a request to it to sign that specific transaction.”
It should be remembered that signing in takes place within the Trezor device. Therefore, “private keys ALWAYS stay in your TREZOR Hardware wallet.”
Notably, as of now, only the Chrome version of MetaMask offers Trezor support. Support for other browsers will be provided in the future. A user should download and use the new UI (user interface) to use the new features.
MetaMask’s New UI Has Begun to Roll Out! Watch for a “Try Beta!” item in the top right menu of your MetaMask, and give any feedback!https://t.co/04cBB9m0H6
— MetaMask (@metamask_io) February 28, 2018
The team has already started studying ways to add support for Ledger hardware wallet in the future.
