KEY POINTS
- MetaMask said it saw a 55% surge in monthly active users from September 2023
- The company also announced that Blockaid will now be activated on default for multiple blockchains
- The crypto firm said more users means users should be "equipped" with appropriate security knowledge and tools
Cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask announced Tuesday that its monthly active userbase has grown significantly from 19 million in September 2023 to over 30 million in January.
"We witnessed a surge of people installing and using MetaMask in the last quarter. From September 2023 until January 2024, MetaMask's Monthly Active Users surged by +55%, signifying a crucial phase for web3," the San Francisco-based crypto firm said in statement Tuesday.
Monthly active users are defined as individuals who either loads a page within the MetaMask extension or opens the wallet's mobile app at least once in a 30-day period, Barbara Schorchit, senior product manager at private blockchain software technology company Consensys, told Blockworks. Consensys developed MetaMask.
The latest development nearly matches with the active user record highs it saw in January 2022, when the wallet had 31.7 million monthly active users, as per the report.
In its announcement, the crypto company also noted that the increase in monthly active users signals a "promising" development for web3 adoption, but it also means the cryptocurrency circle should ensure users are "equipped" since "the scammers don't sleep."
The company said web3 security tool Blockaid, which it integrated into its primary offering in October as part of a beta phase, will now be activated on default for multiple blockchains, including Linea, Polygon and Avalanche.
The move is part of MetaMask's efforts to protect users who may be vulnerable to potentially malicious transactions such as scams and hacks.
"During the Ledger Connect Kit incident, nearly 100 fronted dapps were compromised yet every MetaMask user who opted into the Blockaid security alerts was 100% protected, preventing -$1.15M worth of assets from being stolen," the crypto wallet said.
MetaMask said it has established a team dedicated toward monitoring recent attack vectors. The team publishes security reports every month to provide users with more information on such vectors.
The crypto firm also urged users to help MetaMask improve its notification feature by reporting false positives. For further security, users can also install Security Snaps, which provide important security information about a transaction due for submission. The information provided by Security Snaps includes transaction simulations and phishing database checks to alert users if the recipient address is associated with any known phishing databases.
