Non-depository opular wallet MetaMask has announced that it will roll out a version 8 update for the wallet in the coming weeks, promising increased privacy, a better user interface and other user-centric features.

The wallet is popular on all DeFi exchanges and applications and may see an increase in installations as the broader DeFi sector grows.

If you used UniSwap, Balancer or Compound; the role of MetaMask should have been considered manifestly significant.

Confidentiality, assets and accessibility 

Via a blog article on June 2, Dan Finlay, engineer at ConsenSys, wrote about the new features of MetaMask, praising that it was "what no portfolio has done before".

The first is increased confidentiality. Finlay said that most crypto wallets manage a single account or display current account information to all websites / apps associated with that account, revealing sensitive private information.

But MetaMask V8 introduces a personalized privacy control for each linked account, i.e. creating a new wallet for each website or selecting the wallet that interacts with which website. Users can dictate their data sharing according to their conditions.

To smooth the above, the account change will be activated to allow a quick change between two portfolios on their respective linked platforms.

As part of the MetaMask EIP-2255 authorization system, new and improved authorizations will allow powerful functionalities such as decryption, access to wallet information (such as marking a user's preferred tokens or contacts), and possibly the introduction of the   MetaMask “Snaps” extension   - the latter is a plugin system currently in beta mode.

A newer user interface promises greater accessibility for users, mainly in the "active" and "activity" sections. The new iconography helps make transactions more recognizable, says Finlay.

Easier for Ethereum developers

Developers of Ethereum have also something new. MetaMask now offers Web 3.0 encryption, which allows websites to transfer data using advanced encryption measures.

Finlay Notes:

“For the moment, these decryption requests each require confirmation from the user, so it is especially ideal for decrypting important and infrequent messages, such as e-mails.”

He adds that developers have the opportunity "later" to build a decryption strategy available with a system of authorizations. More information on the decryption API is available   here  .

Finlay said the team had, via the update, resolved issues faced by developers who had trouble integrating users on MetaMask, through a slightly intimidating installation process.

To facilitate the above, a new   integration library   allows applications to implement their own connection button. This allows users to land on a site, install MetaMask and be automatically redirected to the application.

Finally, the supplier API ERC-1193 is intended for developers. This EIP "formalizes an Ethereum Provider JavaScript API for consistency between clients and applications", creating a more user-friendly extensible API.