• Metamask reaches 5 million active monthly users.
• The “Global South” contributed largely to this milestone.

Metamask, a very popular Ethereum wallet and browser extension, has hit a massive milestone with 5 million active monthly users. According to reports, the high growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) in recent months contributed to this feat.

Metamask recorded its first 1 million active monthly users six months ago and since then, there has been an exponential growth for the wallet. Within the same period, $2 billion in accumulated transaction volume has been recorded.

Metamask has found popularity in the “Global South” (Africa, Asia, and South America). These regions spearheaded the use case due to the growing use of mobile phones, especially in Nigeria and Vietnam. Both countries rank in the top ten of the popular Metamask mobile adoption countries while India and Indonesia are in the top 5. Nigeria has been identified as the focal point of cryptocurrency adoption amid high rates of inflation. 

According to the report published by ConsenSys, people in the region use the wallet due to the difficulty in accessing the local banking system. South America alone has 54 percent of the population with no access to bank accounts. This calls for alternative technology to save their money. In addition, the Global South regions use the wallet for their investment purposes coupled with the service it provides as a wallet for passive incomes. 

In addition to the DeFi boom, the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) craze has also contributed to the Metamask milestone. NFTs are only behind swaps as the most popular use case for Metamask. 

Metamask’s evolution and growth

Metamask launched in 2016. However, the product has undergone a series of upgrades that have played a big part in its rise in popularity. On July 2, 2020, the team unveiled “unparalleled privacy control” and a new “account login system”. This was to ensure that users’ personal information is protected while surfing the internet. 

Metamask also introduced version 8 of the wallet which gives the option for users to select an account or even create a new one while trying to visit a particular website. 

“Most wallets today either manage a single account or expose the currently selected user current account to all connected sites — broadly revealing users’ private information, ” Metamask wrote.