Opera Launches In-Browser Ethereum Buys for Scandinavian Customers 🚨 This article is 5 years old...
Opera Launches In-Browser Ethereum Buys for Scandinavian Customers
2 min read
Updated: Apr. 9, 2020 at 6:42 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Opera has partnered with regulated crypto brokerage Safello to offer Ethereum buys directly from its browser-based wallet for those in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Opera is currently only offering Ethereum (ETH) for purchase, but it allows payments with credit and debit cards, along with some payment networks. This includes Swedish mobile payment system Swish.
Safello will be doing most of the verification and regulation of customers using the different Scandinavian identity solutions such as Sweden’s BankID and Denmark’s NemID. This is the next step for Opera and its expansion into making cryptocurrency approachable following the roll-out of their built-in wallet.
Charles Hamel, Opera’s crypto product lead, said:
“We think that the next important phase for crypto will come from usage and that for it to reach wider adoption, it has to be easy to buy and easy to use.”
There are also added benefits for users as, for a limited time, those in Sweden will be able to purchase crypto at a discounted rate of 2.5 percent from Safello. Meanwhile, users in Norway and Denmark will be charged a fee of 5.0 percent.
For reference, Coinbase charges its European customers a 1.49 percent fee for bank transfer purchases and 3.99 percent for credit card purchases, in addition to a 0.50 percent spread.
Background on Opera
Opera is a popular browser that was conceived from a research project out of Telenor, the largest Norweigan telecommunications company, in 1994. The browser is still popular among privacy-centered individuals and power users.
Opera currently controls 3 percent of the total browser use according to StatCounter, relative to Google Chrome’s 62 percent and Safari’s 15 percent.
Opera’s Wallet and Outlook
The “Web 3-ready” Android web browser wallet launched in December from Opera supports Ethereum, as well as other tokens using Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard. The wallet also supports crypto collectibles (ERC-721) and dApps based on the Ethereum blockchain.
A lot of the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain solutions is predicated on making digital assets easy to purchase and use. Opera’s decision to integrate the storing—and now the buying—of cryptocurrencies is another step in that direction.
There is still a lot of building that needs to be done. Opera’s relatively small user base, limited number of supported cryptocurrencies, and geographical restrictions mean only a niche pool of users have access to the new feature. However, the implementation could be a smaller test before a larger rollout. And with that, more potential buyers.
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