Coinbase Ups NFT Wallet Security

If you’ve been following NFT-related news then you’ll know that asset security is a big issue in the industry. As long as NFTs have existed, there have been people trying to steal them through all manner of ways from phishing schemes to wallet hacks and so on. 

As such, it comes as no surprise that Coinbase, one of the biggest companies in the blockchain space, has introduced some new changes to its asset wallet that are meant to improve security. From blocklists to transaction approval features, all these are geared towards making sure that users can properly secure their assets. 

Coinbase and Self Custody

In a new announcement published on January 30, 2023, Coinbase explained the importance of self-custody wallets and touched on the features it offers users. 

“As an industry, we need to do more to make web3 interactions simpler and safer – and a self-custody wallet that supports you with the right protections goes a long way in keeping you safe,” it says. Self-custody wallets are often touted as the most secure way to store digital assets because they are not controlled by a centralized body.

And Coinbase has put some new features in place to enhance the experience of those who use its wallets. One of the first of these is the transaction preview feature. This shows users what their crypto and NFT balances will be after they authorize a transaction. This will help to curb instances of people sending the wrong amounts of crypto or making mistakes with transactions. 

Another interesting feature is the token approval alerts which will inform users when a decentralised app they are using is trying to withdraw their crypto or NFTs. There have been several cases of people having their assets taken out by applications without their approval and this will help to stop such incidents, 

And this isn’t all that Coinbase is doing to protect users from malicious dapps as there is now a blocklist function that stops certain applications from interacting with users’ wallets entirely. 

“Our blocklist is robust, incorporating tens of thousands of domains and more than one million wallet and smart contract addresses. If you visit a flagged dapp, Coinbase Wallet will warn you before you proceed — helping keep you and your crypto safe,” the post said.

Finally, Coinbase has introduced spam token management which stops malicious actors from airdropping Nfts into users’ wallets. This has become a common theft tactic in which criminals send users ‘free’ NFTs to lure them into clicking on malicious links. But with this feature, Coinbase will maintain a database of such addresses and block them in a similar way that email providers block spam emails.

Besides these, some non-security related features were added such as more layers of permission management, support for multiple addresses, and expanded compatibility for hardware wallets. And while Coinbase is still primarily a cryptocurrency exchange, it is clear that it takes its NFT wallet seriously and is dedicated to giving its users the best.