Most Ethereum enthusiasts have come across the MyEtherWallet service at some point in their lives. It is a convenient web wallet solution for both Ethereum and ERC20 tokens. Moreover, it supports authentication with hardware wallets for additional security. It seems a new era is upon us as far as MEW is concerned. A code “fork” is in order, and it appears the competing service will have a bigger team. Whether or not this is a positive change remains to be seen.
The Road Ahead for MyEtherWallet
Few people are aware that the MyEtherWallet service has been around since 2015. At that time, there was a huge demand for online and secure Ethereum and ERC20 wallet options. Within just a few months, this service rose to the top and became a household name in the cryptocurrency world. The platform has a solid reputation overall and offers a convenient service for its users.
Even though MyEtherWallet has seen a few issues along the way, the service has remained solid for the most part. The site’s code has seen some big updates throughout the years, even though it was a pet project for quite some time. The team even helped resolve some of the issues associated with The DAO’s hack, even though the DAO project itself could not be saved. It did not impact the MEW service in the slightest, though, and the service has remained incredibly popular.
The year 2017 especially proved to be rather interesting for the MyEtherWallet team. With a massive influx of new users and server costs mounting, it quickly became evident the two-man team would not be able to keep up with the work. There were also a few phishing sites trying to trick MEW users into exposing their login credentials, even though most of them have since been shut down. With more ICOs crawling out of the woodwork as well, MyEtherWallet has never been more popular than it is today.
It seems the year 2018 will be a new beginning for the MyEtherWallet service. There will be a stronger focus on safety, privacy, and ease-of-use. Additionally, there will be a company and financial structure in place to legally protect all team members and keep their heads above water. As such, MyEtherWallet will eventually disappear, even though the service will remain online until further notice.
The “new” service will move forward under the MyCrypto banner. A full-fledged team will work to improve the platform, focus on additional security measures, and educate the masses on why services like these matter so much to cryptocurrency users. The MEW domain will remain active, as will the GitHub repository and social media accounts. Users will have the option to choose between MyEtherWallet and MyCrypto, even though it seems the latter service will be more “advanced” in a few months from now.
MyEtherWallet may go offline in the future, though it is highly likely this service will remain operational until the MyCrypto platform is fully operational and thoroughly vetted. Whether or not MyCrypto will be able to “outperform” MEW remains to be determined, but it’s good to have two services based on similar codebases.
