Opera Takes a Giant Leap Into Web3, Integrates Solana, Polygon, StarkEx, and Others

• Opera users are getting seamless access to blockchains and decentralized apps (dapps) and services within eight different blockchain ecosystems including Solana, Polygon, StarkEx/Deversifi Layer 2 and Bitcoin as well as IXO, Ronin, Nervos and Celo

OSLO, Norway, March 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Opera, the company behind the world's first native web3 browser with built-in crypto wallet, today announced adding support for several major blockchain ecosystems, including Solana, Polygon, StarkEx, Ronin, Celo, Nervos, IXO and Bitcoin.The tens of millions of active Opera users can benefit from blockchains and decentralized apps (dapps) and services within eight different blockchain ecosystems. 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.

Notably, today's launch also extends access to PoS blockchains and Ethereum Layer-2 ecosystems: Polygon and StarkEx. By gaining entry to these blockchains, users can benefit from lower gas fees and faster transactions while minimizing their carbon footprint and still leveraging Ethereum's robust decentralization and security.

The integration of multiple blockchains and notably Layer 2s is a key strategy in Opera's mission to remain chain agnostic and seamlessly onboard millions of users to Web3 and to do so in an environmentally-conscious way.

"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 in order to accelerate crypto's evolution from proof of concept towards mass adoption. Ultimately, Web3 is on its way to becoming a mainstream web technology and users won't need to know they're interacting with it. They need to get a superior user            experience and a true benefit," said Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera.

In mid January 2022, Opera shipped the first public beta version of its new Crypto Browser Project on mobile and desktop. The Crypto Browser Project provides the ultimate, all-in-one, fully-dedicated Web3 browsing experience. Although Opera originally launched the first web browser with an integrated cryptocurrency wallet and basic Web3 support back in 2018, the Crypto Browser Project which includes a built-in dapp support, a non-custodial crypto wallet, as well as Crypto Corner, marked the beginning of a new journey towards a dedicated Web3 browsing experience with the aim of accelerating the evolution of the next generation of the Web. This is now coming to life.

Integration with Polygon is a key strategy in Opera's mission to seamlessly onboard millions of users to Web3 and to do so in an environmentally-conscious way. Polygon's fast, scalable, and ultra-low fee environment has made it one of the most popular Ethereum scaling solutions among users and developers alike. With Ethereum gas fees surging to unsustainable levels, the browser developer has moved quickly to integrate the project and allow a direct and efficient way for users to interact with Polygon.

By contrast, once assets are sent to Polygon's Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain, the carbon impact becomes virtually negligible for asset minting and transferring. Polygon consumes just 0.00079 terawatts (TWh) of electricity per annum, making it more than 90% less energy-intensive than Ethereum layer-1. For example, minting a single NFT on Polygon produces roughly the same amount of CO2 as driving 0.26 kilometers.

From metaverse platforms, such as Sandbox, Decentraland, Minecraft-compatible NFT Worlds, Cryptovoxels and Somnium Space through to the most popular gaming dApps in the Polygon ecosystem, including projects from Polygon Studios, and games such as Aavegotchi, My Crypto Heroes, Atlantis World, Decentral Games, and many others. Opera's support for Polygon exposes users to a popular Ethereum ecosystem with over 7,000 dApps to choose from, including popular gaming apps Sandbox, Decentraland, and Aavegotchi. Opera's integration of Polygon builds on the browser's aim to onboard millions of users to the Web3 space in an environmentally-conscious manner.

Major web browsers began working towards including native blockchain features during the DeFi explosion of 2020. Since then, many have integrated varying levels of blockchain functionality. However, Opera's inclusion of Solana beats out major competitors in the sector.

Solana became a top 10 cryptocurrency project by market cap moving into 2022. Its low transaction fees, high scalability, and energy-efficient consensus model have made it a viable player in the blockchain sector.

Opera's users will now be able to access all the Solana ecosystem, including decentralized applications (dApps) currently hosted on the blockchain. These include apps ranging from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Solend and Raydium; NFT marketplaces, as well as music streaming apps. While Opera is working with the Solana ecosystem to integrate the Opera Wallet, users will have to connect through the Phantom wallet for now.

Along with Solana, Polygon and other blockchains, Opera is also enabling access to Ethereum's Layer-2 ecosystem via StarkWare-powered StarkEx and decentralized exchange, DeversiFi. The integration allows users to benefit from efficient, ultra-low-cost transactions that are over 100 times quicker and more cost-effective than the Ethereum mainnet.

Additionally, Opera has announced support for the Ronin blockchain, home to the popular GameFi project, Axie Infinity — and one of the runaway successes of the decentralized gaming space. Also included in the integration are Nervos, IXO, Celo and Bitcoin.

Jorgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera, said, "The average web user may still be hesitant to dabble with Web3, but with the integration of Solana, Polygon, and others in our mobile browser, they can now access these technologies from the safety and familiarity of the browser that provides them with a dedicated Web3 experience."

Polygon and Polygon dapps are available in the Crypto Browser Project on Android and PC, as well as Opera for Android. Solana, StarkWare/Deversifi Layer 2, IXO, Ronin, Nervos, Bitcoin and Celo are available in Opera for Android and will become available in the Crypto Browser Project in the coming months.

Opera is a global web innovator with an engaged and growing base of hundreds of millions of monthly active users who seek a better internet experience. Building on over 25 years of innovation that started with browser products, Opera is now leveraging its brand and highly engaged user base in order to expand its business into new segments. Today, Opera offers users around the world a range of products and services that include PC and mobile browsers, the newsreader Opera News, and apps dedicated to gaming, crypto, e-commerce and classifieds. In 2018, Opera introduced the first browser with a built-in crypto wallet and web3 support. Opera is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (OPRA). In January 2022, Opera released its "Crypto Browser project". The browser provides seamless access to Web3, support for cryptocurrency and NFT exchanges, decentralized apps (dApps), and features a built-in non-custodial crypto wallet.

Solana is a global state machine, and the most performant blockchain in the world. It gives developers the confidence to build for the long term by delivering predictable scaling without compromising security or composability. Solana's performance is driven by a single global state, which is capable of processing tens of thousands of smart contracts at once, and by Proof of History, a distributed clock that unlocks low-latency, sub-second finality across the global state. To learn more, please visit https://solana.com/.

Polygon is the leading platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its growing suite of products offers developers easy access to all major scaling and infrastructure solutions: L2 solutions (ZK Rollups and Optimistic Rollups), sidechains, hybrid solutions, stand-alone and enterprise chains, data availability solutions, and more. Polygon's scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with 7000+ applications hosted, 1B+ total transactions processed, ~100M+ unique user addresses, and $5B+ in assets secured.

If you're an Ethereum Developer, you're already a Polygon developer! Leverage Polygon's fast and secure txns for your dApp, get started here.

StarkWare invented, and continually develops, STARK-based Layer-2 Validity Proof scaling solutions over Ethereum.
StarkWare's solutions, which rely on Ethereum's security, have settled over $500B, and over 140M transactions, serving hundreds of thousands of users.
StarkEx, a custom standalone scaling service, has been powering applications since June 2020, including dYdX, Immutable X, Sorare, and DeversiFi.

Launched in August 2019, DeversiFi gives users access to the best of DeFi, from one convenient control centre.
Users can invest, trade, and send tokens without paying gas fees. With security, privacy and control, without sacrificing any of the cornerstones of profitable trading (speed, liquidity, choice), it brings the best of Layer 2 Ethereum. It's our mission to make DeFi accessible to everyone.

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SOURCE Opera Limited