Opera Announces Support for Solana, Polygon, StarkEx, and Others

In a major push to web3 browsing experience, Opera will now support eight leading blockchain and layer-2 networks, as well as some decentralized apps (dapps). These include Solana, Polygon, StarkEx, Ronin, Celo, Nervos, and IXO. 

Opera’s Web3 Push

Opera users can access these networks and their various features, including Defi, through Opera’s latest web3 browsing and wallet solutions. 

“From now on, users get access to the vast ecosystem of Polygon or Solana dApps or the benefits of Layer 2 DeFi via StarkWare-powered DiversiFi. They can also tend to their Axies by accessing Ronin,” the company said in a blog post on its site. 

By bringing Polygon and StarkEx on its browsing platform, Opera helps its users “benefit from lower gas fees and faster transactions.” 

Integration of various blockchain and layer-2 networks allows Opera to “remain chain agnostic” and help it “onboard millions of users” seamlessly to web3.   

“Ever since we started in the Web3 space in 2018, we’ve been sealing partnerships with the most popular and cutting edge blockchains and web3 domain name providers,” the blog quoted Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, as saying. 

Opera’s Crypto Browser Project for mobile and desktop was shipped in mid-January 2022. Called Crypto Browser Project, its features include built-in dapp support and a non-custodial crypto wallet. 

Promising a dedicated web3 browsing experience, the beta version of Crypto Browser Project is a precursor to the “next generation of Web.” 

“The Crypto Browser Project provides the ultimate, all-in-one, fully-dedicated Web3 browsing experience,” Julia Szyndzielorz, Global Communications Lead, Opera, said in her blog.

Web3 Trend Gets Stronger

Opera has been priding itself as the world’s first “native web3 browser with built-in crypto wallet” since 2018, when it introduced these features as part of its browsing experience.  

In a move to remove low-speed and high gas fee bottlenecks in DeFi functions, Opera integrated Starkware-powered DiversiFi last month. The browser’s support for Polygon and DiversiFi formally announced today has been a work-in-progress for the past few months.  

Meanwhile, the race to win a major share of the emerging Web3 has witnessed an incessant inflow of funds into this space. Former a16z partner Katie Haun was in the news last week for raising $1.5 billion, the largest by a solo female founding partner so far, to invest in crypto and web3 projects.  

Similarly, Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), raised $450 million last week to invest in the metaverse and web3 projects.