Phantom, a Solana blockchain crypto wallet, will arrive on browsers, iOS, and Android at 9 a.m. EST on Monday, May 1. Support for the two new blockchains was delayed from the first quarter of 2023. However, phantom CEO and co-founder Brandon Millman told TechCrunch that its 3 million customers would have multichain interoperability.
Phantom’s $1.2 billion valuation on a $109 million investment round in January 2022 prompted the expanded capabilities. Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jump Capital, Solana, and others led that round.
Phantom wallet users may move assets across blockchains and dApps like Uniswap and Aave and NFT markets like Blur and OpenSea with Ethereum and Polygon support. In addition, MetaMask, Solana, and EVM wallets may now import assets. “The Phantom multichain is now available everywhere MetaMask is,” the startup added.
Since wallet owners may trade, keep, and engage across all three blockchains, Phantom will attract more crypto users than just the millions from the Solana ecosystem.
“You can plug in your seed phrase to have everything under one roof with a MetaMask,” Millman added. “MetaMask only handles one seed phrase, but you can manage multiple here.”
Pillar supports Ethereum, Polygon, Gnosis Chain, BNB Chain, and other multichain crypto wallets. Most crypto wallets serve single-layer blockchains, with Ethereum wallets being the most widespread. MetaMask lets users store and transfer Ethereum and other ERC-20 tokens from the Ethereum network. MetaMask believes in a multichain future.
Phantom, one of the largest Solana-based wallets, opening up to other blockchains shows the possibilities for a multichain future and suggests that other prominent firms like MetaMask may follow suit.
Phantom’s new feature might let dApps and other projects engage with users cross-chain.
“It’s multichain; you can see Solana NFTs next to ETH NFTs,” Millman remarked. “They gather.” He said that the wallet displays complex NFT information, including floor pricing, selling prices, and other aspects within the application. “We can sell NFTs directly into Magic Eden, OpenSea, and others.”
Millman said that Phantom’s new safety features mask spam sent to crypto wallets to avoid phishing. “Spam emails sometimes slip through, but users can just mark it as spam, and over time it gets better at catching it.”
Phantom’s main concern, Millman said, is safety. We notify you when you leave Phantom and block dangerous websites. Millman recommends against ignoring the warnings.
Millman said that the wallet mimics transactions before they’re approved so users can see what they’re sending and receiving and if there’s a problem.
“There are cases where you fall through all these protective layers and do get phished, but we have a customer support team that’s basically 24/7 and can try to get you help with exchanges, directory of local authorities or things like that to explore routes,” Millman said. “That’s huge because afterward, you don’t know what you can do.”
