Coinbase launches smart wallet with hopes of addressing crypto's 'pain points'

Coinbase is officially launching its new "smart wallet" with the hope of improving the user experience for its clients.

"These next-generation wallets address the biggest pain points of the crypto experience today — complex onboarding, network fees, and recovery phrases — making the transition to onchain smoother than ever," the company said in a statement.

The U.S.-based exchange initially announced the new wallets back in February at EthDenver.

Coinbase has designed the new smart wallet with the idea of making the onboarding experience easier. The company said new users can now create a wallet with "Face ID, Google Chrome profile, fingerprint, or Yubikey without recovery phrases."

The company has also tried to address the worrisome issue of users being told they don't have enough available funds. "Use self-custodial wallet balance or Coinbase account balances, avoiding 'insufficient balance' errors," Coinbase said in its announcement.

Gasless transactions will also be possible, according to the statement. "Developers can sponsor transactions via paymaster integrations," Coinbase said.

Coinbase's wallet supports eight networks, including Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, BNB and Zora. The company said it plans to add more.