In the rapidly evolving world of decentralized finance (DeFi), institutional users require wallet and custody tools that are both flexible and secure. Flexibility is the freedom to access the ever-evolving landscape of networks and tokens. It also means the freedom to customize an organization-wide interface in a way that promotes usability and intra-organizational collaboration.

At the same time, digital assets must be protected from malicious front-end attacks and through established private key management. Snaps are designed to empower institutions with customizable features that offer the best of both worlds—all from the most battle-tested wallet.

What are Snaps?

Snaps are applications that allow users to safely extend the functionality of MetaMask and MetaMask Institutional, creating new web3 end-user experiences. For example, a Snap can add support for different blockchain networks, add custom account types, or provide additional functionality using its own APIs. These applications open up innovation to the wider community of Web3 builders where users are no longer constrained or dependent on a single organization to develop features or build out connectivity. Snaps are built by the wider Web3 community, under security standards set by Consensys, and audited by Consensys Diligence and other trusted audit companies.

What kind of Snaps can institutional users leverage to improve their DeFi experience?

Snaps can do a lot, including providing insights about transactions, displaying notifications, enabling new identity and privacy solutions, and even connecting to blockchains beyond Ethereum. The following are a few categories and examples of useful Snaps in the context of Institutional Web3 users.

1. Security - For institutions, security is at the top of their minds in the context of risk management. While custody tech providers offer great tools for managing private keys, site front-ends, smart contracts, and wallet-level permissions remain attack vectors. Moreover, security takes a village - with different providers specializing in different aspects of security. With snaps, you can add multiple security frameworks and choose your own preferred solution. Highlights include Walletguard, Web3 Antivirus, and Hashdit security Snaps which can provide real-time risk warnings of interacting with certain malicious front-ends and smart contracts through transaction simulations and human-readable transaction summaries.

2. Notifications - As more of our digital lives move on-chain, institutional users spend more time plugged into wallet-level interfaces like MetaMask Institutional. Managing digital assets on behalf of clients means managing a variety of protocols related to RWA’s, stablecoins, NFTs, and social channels. Snaps like Push, Web3 MQ, and L3MBDA Alerts allow users to choose parameters, such as a token transfer in a DeFi Dapp or a message on a Web3 social app. When the parameter is fulfilled, a notification arrives in the wallet. This means institutional users can stay aware of changes in the Web3 ecosystem without leaving the wallet or having to change to different protocol UI’s.

3. Interoperability - As Web3 grows, so too does the number of different chains (and subsequently the number of different wallet solutions that serve these chains). EVM chains are easy to connect to both MetaMask and MetaMask Institutional via custom RPC’s. Non-EVM presents a challenge to wallet providers, with lengthy manual integrations for new chains. The Snaps platform pioneered a decentralized approach, where chain and wallet builders can contribute a Snap that extends MetaMask functionality to new chains. Popular Snaps include Solflare (Solana chain), Leap (Cosmos chain), and Shapeshift (multiple chains). For institutional users, these Snaps are best used with the MetaMask Institutional SRP accounts (accounts derived from the secret recovery phrase in MMI) as we work with custody tech partners to enable this functionality with integrated custody tech accounts.

The future of DeFi is permissionless innovation

As the DeFi landscape continues to expand, institutional user needs will grow more complicated and distinctive based on specialized roles. This will require additional flexibility from DeFi infrastructure, without sacrificing security. By offering customizability through permissionless innovation, Snaps can help meet the rigorous demands of professional traders, builders, and investors - making it easier than ever to navigate the complexities of the crypto world.