Phantom Wallet Launches Mobile Version to Bring Solana to Smartphones

key takeaways

Phantom recently hit a million users on its desktop wallet
Phantom Wallet is joining SolFlare in expanding into the mobile wallet space

Breakpoint 2021, Lisbon, Portugal — Phantom, which recently hit a million users on its desktop wallet, announced a mobile version of its Solana wallet at the Breakpoint conference in Lisbon.

Of course, it’s been possible to trade tokens on mobile for quite some time. Nearly every exchange has a mobile app, but trading doesn’t mean custody and the burgeoning market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) requires custodial wallets like MetaMask.

Phantom has worked hard to expand its custodial wallet on desktop, as more users want the custodial browser experience which MetaMask has pioneered.

Indeed, for the most part, DeFi is a PC-only affair. The wallets and Web3 protocols used for DeFi activities might in theory work on mobile but it’s a messy affair. Swapping SOL and SPL tokens can be tough on a website designed for desktop but being rendered on mobile.

However, with the round-the-clock nature of crypto, seems a natural choice, especially considering MetaMask’s biggest jump in users came as it launched its mobile app.

“We’re expanding as quickly as we can to meet the new inflow of demand for applications built on Solana. With this launch, we’re giving existing and new users the opportunity to use a solid crypto wallet on-the-go,” said Brandon Millman co-founder and CEO of Phantom in a statement.

“This means they can mint NFTs, stake tokens, and more while not being tied to their computers, which carries considerable weight considering how fast the Solana ecosystem currently moves.”

Phantom joins SolFlare, one of the first Solana-native wallets, in a push for bringing Solana to mobile wallets. SolFare is no stranger to the ecosystem, currently staking 22% of the entire supply of SOL.

For its part Phantom said it’s blockchain agnostic and it believes in the “multi-chain future”, creating wallet apps aligned with market demand.

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