Key facts:
The autonomous organization will not have a vote in essential decisions, but it will in new projects.
In the past, hackers used a fake Metamask token to scam hundreds of users.
The Ethereum Metamask wallet will make a bid for more decentralization. One of the measures for this purpose will be to issue its own governance token, so that those who own it can participate in the decision-making of the project. This model is known as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
According to what was expressed by Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys, the developer firm of Metamask, the company is following the path of “progressive decentralization” of this service. The idea is not that the DAO makes essential decisions regarding the operation of Metamaskbut it does participate in the creation and financing of new products and functionalities, said the entrepreneur.
Beyond this confirmation in your interview With the Decrypt portal, Lubin did not provide more details about the date of the launch of the DAO. However, he did express that the wallet will have its own native token and that will soon also release a new user interface.
It is also not known how the new token will be distributed, if it will be sold or if it will arrive as an airdrop, that is, with a free and random distribution to users. If that is the case, it should be noted that the only way that Metamask would have to know the addresses of the recipients is if they previously used the wallet swap, that is, their cryptocurrency exchange platform.
This decision to decentralize Metamask —at least partially— occurs in a context in which this wallet was strongly criticized for having restricted access to users from certain countries, within the framework of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
In February, Venezuela was one of the countries affected by this censorship, although ConsenSys later reported that it was a configuration error by Infura, a company that facilitates the connection of Metamask to the Ethereum network.
Today, Metamask has more than 30 million users, according to the cited media. This figure increased by 42% in the last four months. Indeed, it is one of the most popular wallets for the storage of non-fungible tokens and for interaction with decentralized finance protocols.
In addition, ConsenSys ad on March 15, which closed a financing round in which it raised USD 450 million. These funds will be used to expand the development team with more than 600 new employees, in order to create new tools for interaction with web3, detailed from the company.
Now the Metamask token is official
Being such a well-known wallet, Metamask has been the target of scam attempts in the past. For example, as CriptoNoticias reported in December 2021, an alleged governance token — like the one now announced by Lubin — was promoted and sold, which turned out to be a scam. The company was not aware of the fact until the deception was publicly disclosed.
At that time, cybercriminals hacked the code of the DexTools data app so that the token is shown as true. However, those who bought it later were unable to sell it, leaving its creators with more than a million dollars in stolen funds.
In events like this, the importance of always resorting to official sources before agreeing to participate and invest in this type of proposal is clear. Now that the future token and the Metamask DAO have already been whitewashed by the company, All the more reason to watch out for other “tricks” to emerge. of this type to know how to identify them and avoid them.