Coinbase is taking on... Facebook?

Big launch from Coinbase yesterday: Coinbase Wallet, your portal into the world of decentralized applications (dapps).

Dapps are typically hard to set up: you first need to download a browser extension like MetaMask, then create a wallet, then buy Ethereum or Bitcoin somewhere, and thennnn transfer it into your MetaMask wallet.

Coinbase's new wallet makes this entire process easier, with a built-in browser for dapps like Peepeth and 0x Protocol. There's even a built-in messenger for chatting with your friends.

Coinbase also just acquired Distributed Systems, a small startup focused on building a worldwide identity standard for dapps called the Clear Protocol. Their goal: to let you log into dapps with one click, just like logging into a site with Google or Facebook's authorization keys. Coinbase President Asiff Hirji called it “a step towards reclaiming personal privacy.”

This further explains why David Marcus, an exec at Facebook, announced his departure from Coinbase’s board. Coinbase could become Facebook’s biggest competitor.

The truth is, barely anyone uses dapps. Tools like DappRadar report the number of active users on the most popular decentralized apps that run on the blockchain. Some of the most popular dapps have dozens (yes, dozens) of users. Of course, it’s early days and Coinbase Wallet is an attempt to make dapps more accessible. That said, there’s certainly interest in the space.

Open-sourced Twitter-alternative Mastodon claims 170,000+ users, who join community-owned and operated servers that run the same open-sourced software (no blockchain required). With no ads (or algorithmic feed!), the site promises to allow users to "put social media back in your hands."

Ready to decentralize? Here's are 10+ dapps to test. ⛓️🚀

Normally we run a single giveaway at once.

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Boring legal disclosure: the sweepstakes is only open to our community based in the US. We're working on opening these up to everyone!