Users of the Opera browser can now buy Bitcoin and Ether using the integrated wallet. Until now, the purchase of the two most important crypto currencies was reserved for users from Scandinavia.
Market observers are largely in agreement: In order for Bitcoin to make the jump into public perception, the infrastructure must be expanded. Above all, trading crypto currencies on conventional Bitcoin exchanges still represents a major hurdle for many users.
But something is happening. On March 17, the Web browser Opera integrated a feature that allows users to buy the two most important crypto currencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). As reported by the crypto news platform The Block with reference to company details, US users can now buy the two coins directly from all versions of the browser.
Opera is working with the payment service provider Wyre for this purpose. Wyre claims to be a crypto-payment service that is dedicated to bridging the gap between the Fiat and crypto worlds. In addition to Opera, the US company already works with well-known players such as Coinbase or Shapeshift. The fact that the choice of cooperation partner Wyre was made is probably primarily due to the support of Apple Pay. Thus Opera users can purchase not only debit and credit cards but also Bitcoin and Ether using their Apple devices.
Wyre offers a very elegant web-based solution that is easy to integrate and very easy to use. Their support of Apple Pay is a big plus for our iOS users,
says Charles Hamel, head of the crypto department at Opera, to The Block.
Opera itself describes the purchase fees as extremely competitive. However, at USD 0.30 plus 2.9 percent, they are likely to be in line with normal market fees. If one considers that Opera wants to address users of dApps with its wallet, who usually transfer small amounts, a fixed amount of 0.30 US dollars does not sound too cheap.
Only 30 seconds
Meanwhile, the Norwegian browser company wants to set itself apart from the competition with the speed of crypto-buying. According to their own statements, the process takes only 30 seconds; compared to the usual one to two working days that Exchanges estimate for the processing, this sounds like a competitive value proposition.
The US is not the first country that has connected Opera to its own crypto exchange. For example, Bitcoin and Ether purchases via Opera Wallet have been available to customers from the Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway since February 2019.
