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Coinbase Adds Solana Tokens to Self-Custody Wallet in Non-EVM First

But don’t try out Solana-based DeFi just yet. Coinbase Wallet can’t yet plug into Solana dapps.

Updated May 11, 2023, 5:59 p.m. Published Mar 17, 2022, 5:00 p.m.

(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Coinbase’s (COIN) self-custody crypto wallet added Solana ecosystem tokens Thursday in an expansion of the MetaMask competitor’s coverage scope.

Solana program library (SPL) tokens – Solana’s version of Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens – are now the first non-Ethereum-compatible crypto asset on Coinbase Wallet. The browser extension and app was previously limited to Ethereum Virtual Machine networks such as Polygon, BNB Chain and Avalanche.

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Solana’s addition has the primary effect of greenlighting this blockchain’s ecosystem of token-linked lending, trading, governance and stablecoin projects for deposit. It follows Coinbase’s opening of trading last month for two such projects: Bonfida and Orca.

In a blog post shared with CoinDesk, the crypto exchange pledged more Solana integrations are coming soon, including support for Solana-based non-fungible tokens (NFT). Also upcoming is the ability to plug Coinbase Wallet into Solana decentralized applications (dapp).

“You can store, send and receive Solana tokens now. Dapp connections, trading and NFTs are coming soon,” a banner within the app said Thursday.

That SPL support launched prior to dapp compatibility means Coinbase Wallet is of limited functional use within the Solana ecosystem – be it for decentralized finance (DeFi) trading or buying NFTs. Competing Solana wallets such as Phantom and Solflare both have this feature; they even provide an interface for users to stake coins within the app.

A Coinbase representative did not respond to questions.

Coinbase Solana Wallets

Danny Nelson

Danny is CoinDesk's managing editor for Data & Tokens. He formerly ran investigations for the Tufts Daily. At CoinDesk, his beats include (but are not limited to): federal policy, regulation, securities law, exchanges, the Solana ecosystem, smart money doing dumb things, dumb money doing smart things and tungsten cubes. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL tokens, as well as the LinksDAO NFT.