MetaMask expands institutional offering by integrating new crypto custodians

Decentralized finance (DeFi) wallet and browser extension MetaMask formed a new strategic partnership with three major crypto custodians; Gnosis Safe, Hex Trust, GK8, and Parfin.

MetaMask Institutional (MMI), the institutional version of the popular Ethereum wallet MetaMask, announced on Wednesday that the new integration will provide decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) with key management tools to participate in DeFi activities.

DAOs are organizations controlled by computer code and have no top-down authority, and they’ve been gaining popularity as a fundraising mechanism and administration tool for cryptocurrency projects.

According to the announcement, MMI provides institutions with access to DeFi and Web3 while meeting their compliance needs. Custodians, or custodial wallets, are services that store private keys and facilitate transaction approval and signing. They are crucial to organizations in securely obtaining and securing crypto assets.

Cointelegraph reached out to Harriet Browning, Europe, the Middle East and Africa business lead at Consensys. She told Cointelegraph:

“It’s enabling crypto needed funds, exchanges, traditional institutions, enterprise, DAOs, a whole host of different user profiles, enabling them to engage on a secure, well-managed risk-managed framework.”

The distinction between MetaMask Institutional and the company’s primary browser and wallet plugin is how assets are managed. Browning explained that assets held in MetaMask’s primary product are non-custodial, while assets managed through MMI are custodial. She noted:

“For retail user security, we’ve taken the hardware wallet and replaced it with a custodial institution. It’s essential that assets are secured by the institution.”

John Ennis, the safe ecosystem lead for Gnosis, said, “DAOs and crypto institutions want the gold standard of Defi integration, whilst still maintaining the industry’s security standard when it comes to safeguarding digital assets from operational and security risks.”

Related: MetaMask rolls out Apple Pay integration and other iOS updates

MetaMask has been actively expanding its offerings this year. In late March, the firm rolled out an integration with Apple Pay and a series of payment updates, including the ability to buy crypto through the application with debit or credit cards.