Coinbase Wallet adds messaging, USDC payment features

The new feature also allows users to send USDC stablecoins to any receiver on the app through the Polygon network without paying any transaction fees

Coinbase Wallet, the self-custodial wallet from the top U.S. crypto exchange, has introduced an encrypted messaging feature that allows users send messages directly to and from wallet addresses on the platform.

The new feature also allows users to send USDC stablecoins to any receiver on the app through the Polygon network without paying any transaction fees.

Matt Galligan, co-founder of XMTP, said that in a space filled with phishing scams, the messaging protocol on Coinbase Wallet adds a layer of security to communications by letting anyone to confirm the validity of senders.

For instance, hi.xmtp.eth can be sent a message and interacted with. At any time, someone communicating with that name can see it is a subdomain of xmtp.eth, and that ENS domain can be independently confirmed, he told The Defiant.

Coinbase stock has been rallying recently, soaring 80 per cent during the last month after leading TradFi firms named the exchange as their market surveillance partner in their Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications.

Coinbase Wallet messaging is enabled by web3 communications company XMPT, in cooperation with decentralized social graph Lens Protocol. The feature allows for direct encrypted messages between wallet users and is compatible with Ethereum addresses related to short form handles via Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Lens Protocol, and Coinbase’s cb.id.

Coinbase Wallet’s messaging system is different from conventional messaging applications, where communications and contacts stay locked in walled gardens, Galligan said.

With XMTP, users are free to take their inbox to any other app that supports XMTP—or use several apps at once as they might have different user experiences, he added.

The feature lets users import chats across compatible decentralized social apps, such as Orb, Lenster and Buttrfly.