Web3 is the future! Crypto on Web3 is amazing! So simple!

Yeah, OK.

I haven't used a Web3 wallet for months, maybe even years.

Why?

Because they suck, that's why.

And MetaMask is all the reasons Web3 wallets suck.

Positives

I'll happily admit that MetaMask is/was a great idea. I mean, you go off to PancakeSwap and want to trade, all you have to do is load up the extension, connect the wallet and bingo! Bob's your uncle.

That's great. The simplicity, the way it all just smoothly works without any downloads, the ability to trade, swap, send, receive, and all the other stuff, all in one place without any need to synch massive long chains and so on? Wonderful.

But the price you pay?

No, thanks.

Negatives

I'm quite old school with computers and tech. I don't mean I listen to music on a cassette Walkman or anything, but I do like some of the older ideas, like actually owning the things you buy instead of renting them temporarily through subscription services and losing them when some company decides to delist them. That sort of thing.

I also have a particular dislike of software that tries to do everything.

Perfect example? Google. They started out tiny, just a pure search, no ads, no rubbish, no wasted time or space. Then they grew and produced some incredible things - Google Earth, Maps, Shopping, Image search... all amazing.

Then they tried to do everything. And it's all gone to shit.

They used to say "If you're not on the first page of Google, you don't exist". Now it's more like "If you're not on the first page of Google, you're not paying them to put you there". The first screen (and most of the page) is 90% ads, AI-generated, useless crap. In trying to be everything and do everything, Google has descended into the typical marketing bullshit that infests the world.

And MetaMask is doing the same.

They started out with just a couple of chains - BEP20, ERC20. The extension was quick to install, easy to use, fast, efficient, reasonably secure.

Then they added everything. Multiple chains, add your own, check balances on all chains, see prices, trade and swap, make coffee, send your mother a bunch of flowers.

So now it takes for ever to load, ages to figure anything out, too long to find the feature you need. Even something as simple as sending crypto takes for ever, it's so damned slow and heavy.

It also leaves "dust" everywhere: the one feature that would've been excellent, it doesn't have. All self-custodial wallet suffer from this, of course, but most give you a way to combine small amounts, to send accurately so you can clear a small balance, something. MetaMask is clumsy and clunky with this.

It's also incredibly vulnerable. It's the ONLY wallet I've ever lost funds from by being attacked, in about a decade of using crypto (thankfully it was only a few dollars, could've been horrifically worse). Leave it unlocked by accident and any web page could grab your money. Unlike desktop wallets that can be attacked by a virus - and therefore protected by AV software - it's right there in the browser, open to abuse.

And with all the added complexity, it's stupidly hard to find simple things. Like logging out. It's easier to uninstall the extension and reinstall it than it is to log out.

Put all those things together, and that's why I don't use MetaMask or any Web3 wallet.

Sure, I'm losing out on using certain websites. And I'm pushed into using CEXes for trading, but I'd rather that, to be honest. I don't trust Web3 wallets as much as I trust CEXes, and that's saying something.

What about you? Do you use a Web3 wallet for anything? Good, bad experiences? Would love to hear!