Why those who can use MetaMask stop using crypto in their daily lives
Do you remember the day you were finally able to use MetaMask for the first time?
Sending crypto from an exchange.
Choosing a network.
Connecting your wallet.
Checking the gas fees and pressing the approve button.
It feels nerve-wracking at first.
Even so, as you use it a few times, you gradually get used to the operations.
I've become someone who can use Web3.
There is a small sense of accomplishment in that.
However, something strange happens.
The more people become able to use MetaMask, the less they use crypto for daily payments.
This is not because they have come to dislike crypto.
It is actually the opposite.
It is precisely because they understand the mechanics that they begin to feel it is not suited for everyday shopping.
The more you know how to use it, the more you understand the fear of losing it
If you are just buying and selling crypto on an exchange, the operations are not that complicated.
Log in, choose a coin, and decide whether to buy or sell.
It feels similar to a bank or brokerage app.
However, the moment you move assets to MetaMask, the story changes.
Is the destination address correct?
Is the network being used correct?
Is the site you are trying to connect to legitimate?
Is there any problem with the content of the signature or approval displayed?
Are the gas fees too high?
You have to judge each one for yourself.
MetaMask is a self-custody wallet.
In other words, while you have the freedom to manage your own assets, you are also fundamentally responsible for that management.
The official MetaMask team also requests that you record your Secret Recovery Phrase in a safe place and manage it so that it is not seen by others online. They also warn that legitimate MetaMask or standard decentralized applications will never ask you to enter your recovery phrase on a website.
When you first start using it,
you might have thought,
“I just need to protect these 12 secret words.”
However, once you actually deposit assets, the weight of those words changes.
You might be able to test it with 10,000 yen, but you cannot perform the same operation with 1 million yen.
As your assets increase, the fear of “what if I lose it” takes precedence over convenience.
People with money are not necessarily bolder.
The more money you want to protect, the more cautious you become.
There is too much to think about for a daily wallet
We don't usually check the security of a payment system every time we pay at a convenience store.
Take out a credit card.
Hold up your smartphone.
Check your e-money balance.
You can pay with almost no thought.
A convenient system in daily life is one that works without the user having to think about it in detail.
However, using MetaMask is a bit different.
“Is this the right network?”
“Is it okay to approve this?”
“Is it necessary to pay a fee to move this?”
“Is this the same site I used before?”
You can perform the operations once you get used to them.
However, just because you are used to it does not mean that judgment is no longer required.
This is the important part.
MetaMask is not just difficult to operate.
It often requires the user to make the correct judgment every single time.
What busy office workers are looking for is not a system that requires even more concentration after returning home from work.
What homemakers and those raising children are looking for is not a life where they have to check the network every time they send money.
What business owners are looking for is a system that can be operated safely even when a knowledgeable person in charge is absent.
What people want is not just freedom.
They want a system where it is difficult to make major mistakes even without thinking.
The reason why those who can use MetaMask hesitate to use it daily is not because they do not understand how to operate it.
It is because they have come to know the weight of the judgments behind those operations.
Familiarity does not guarantee safety
When you use MetaMask repeatedly, the initial tension fades away.
You get used to connecting your wallet.
You get used to seeing the signature screen.
You get used to pressing the approve button.
This may seem like a good thing.
However, in asset management, familiarity can sometimes become a new danger.
Skimming through confirmation screens.
Entering a site from the top of the search results.
Assuming it is safe because it is a service you have used before.
Moving assets suddenly without testing with a small amount.
Beginners are afraid and check things multiple times.
Experienced users think they know and speed up their operations.
For this reason, the official MetaMask team also provides guidance on basic safety measures, such as checking the decentralized applications you connect to, being wary of phishing, and protecting your recovery phrase.
Being able to use MetaMask is not the same as being able to manage assets safely.
It is similar to driving a car.
It is easier to skip checks when you have become a little accustomed to it than right after you have learned how to drive.
That is why experienced users need not only knowledge, but also procedures that allow them to verify things without having to think.
For example,
Separating storage wallets from connection wallets
Not sending large amounts at once
Accessing official sites from bookmarks
Testing with a small amount for a first-time transfer destination
Not operating when feeling rushed
These are examples of personal rules.
The important thing is not to trust your memory or attention too much.
People get tired.
People get impatient.
People make mistakes.
A safe system should not be one that only careful people can use, but one where even tired people are unlikely to cause a major accident.
Is MetaMask a failure?
Having read this far,
"Then, is it better not to use MetaMask?"
You might think that.
That is not what this is about.
MetaMask has evolved not just as a wallet for storing crypto assets, but as a gateway for connecting to decentralized applications.
Co-founder Dan Finlay describes MetaMask as a wallet that is not just for handling currency, but for connecting to decentralized applications and experimenting with new forms of trust on the internet.
In other words, MetaMask was not created solely to replace the wallet you use at a convenience store.
Moving outside of exchanges.
Holding your own assets.
Using decentralized finance.
Connecting to NFTs and Web3 services.
It is a tool that has made these new behaviors possible.
Its achievement in making operations that were previously limited to a few technical experts available on a browser is significant.
However, creating a gateway to freedom and ensuring that everyone can use it safely in their daily lives are separate challenges.
MetaMask is not a failure.
I believe it is still in the middle of its journey as a tool for handling the money of the future.
Experts are also thinking beyond "ease of use"
The problems current wallets face are not unique to MetaMask.
In the Ethereum world, a transition from traditional accounts, where heavy responsibility is concentrated on a single private key, to a system that allows for more flexible management is being considered.
The representative example of this is "Account Abstraction."
ERC-4337 presents a mechanism that allows each account to have its own unique authentication rules. This is expected to enable more flexible asset management in the future, such as multi-factor authentication, setting usage conditions, and devising recovery methods.
What this proposal, which Vitalik Buterin and others were involved in, aims for is not just reducing the number of buttons.
It is a structure where a single mistake by a user is less likely to lead to the loss of all assets.
Furthermore, ERC-6900, which proposes modular smart accounts, is exploring a design that allows for the addition and management of account functions.
To use a wallet analogy, this is like:
"Setting a limit on the amount that can be spent in a day"
The direction is to incorporate features such as
"allowing usage only for specific services"
or "using family members or other devices as recovery methods" more flexibly.
It is not a future where everyone becomes a blockchain expert.
We are trying to create a future where people can use it safely without being conscious of specialized knowledge.
What is needed for crypto assets to become everyday money
What is needed for crypto assets to spread into daily life is not just a rise in price.
It is not just the number of stores where they can be used either.
What is needed most is,
for ordinary people to be freed from the fear of losing their assets
don't you think?
Not having to check the network every time.
Not having to be afraid of signatures you don't understand.
Not losing everything just by losing one secret.
Stopping you before you send to the wrong recipient.
Being able to explain safe usage to family members.
Only when it becomes that easy will it approach being an "everyday wallet."
The more people can use MetaMask, the less they use crypto in their daily lives.
This phenomenon is not proof that crypto has no future.
It is proof that users have begun to notice the weaknesses of the current system.
It is not that we cannot use crypto assets.
We can use them, but it is exhausting to use them every day.
And when people choose something convenient, they do not necessarily choose the most free option.
They do not necessarily choose the cheapest one either.
People choose things that are hard to fail with, easy to use without thinking, and won't lead to regret later.
The day MetaMask truly becomes the wallet of the future might not be the day it gets even more features.
It will be the day users can use MetaMask without even thinking about it.
Only then, I believe, will crypto change from an investment target into a tool for daily life.