Dan Finlay: MetaMask and the Future of Crypto Wallets - [Web3 Breakdowns, EP.60]

This is Eric Golden and my guest today is Dan Finlay, the co-founder of MetaMask and Chief Web3 Ethos Officer at ConsenSys. MetaMask is a crypto wallet and has become a critical piece of web3 infrastructure, with over 30 million users around the world. We've likely all used MetaMask at some point, so I was excited to understand Dan's philosophical approach and long-term vision for the product, as well as talk to him about the challenges of securing digital assets and how they combat those with MetaMask. Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Finlay.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here

 

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Show Notes

[00:02:17] - [First question] - His view of hyperlinks and self-security

[00:05:38] - What’s happening when you’re signing a smart contract with MetaMask

[00:10:33] - An elevator pitch of what MetaMask Learn is 

[00:12:45] - Thinking about adoption when building general purpose tools in a technical space

[00:15:21] - How people feel about computer security versus Web3 security 

[00:18:38] - Whether or not he wishes the stakes were lower for perfecting MetaMask

[00:20:03] - Stepping into crypto and the founding story of MetaMask

[00:23:12] - What their intentions were for building MetaMask in the first place

[00:27:13] - Some examples of what they tried to solve that didn’t pan out 

[00:29:11] - Dealing with asset co-location and the pros and cons of it 

[00:35:24] - Whether or not MetaMask will deploy the first ‘revoke all’ button  

[00:41:32] - Users generally being displeased with the program’s UX

[00:44:40] - Thoughts about what to prioritize as they improve MetaMask 

[00:46:34] - The account abstraction without a protocol change proposal 

[00:49:27] - An example of someone building on SNAPS and how it is beneficial to users  

[00:53:14] - What he’s most excited to build over the next six months and six years

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