Browser company Opera Ltd. is trying to sex itself up prior to its initial public offering later this year, tapping into the cryptocurrency market by bundling an Ethereum wallet with its latest browser.

The built-in Ethereum wallet is being offered via the latest version of the Opera browser for Android. The company claims it combines easy-to-use crypto wallet features with support for the Ethereum Web3 application programming interface.

Ethereum is best known for the cryptocurrency of the same name, but the Ethereum blockchain-based distributed ledger is an open-source platform used by many types of cryptocurrencies, meaning that any token using a compatible Ethereum standard should be supported by the wallet. In addition, the wallet supports decentralized apps, or dapps, for Web 3, giving it support for services and games such as Cryptokitties.

“Having a Crypto Wallet in the browser brings the cash experience to the world of online payments,” Charles Hamel, product lead on Opera Crypto, said in a statement. “Paying with the Crypto Wallet is like sending digital cash straight from your phone, and we’ve just made it easier.”

The company is pitching the wallet as an easier way to transact in Ethereum, Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies and dapps because it’s built into the browser and doesn’t require a user either to access a webpage or to download a browser extension.

“We believe the web of today will be the interface to the decentralized web of tomorrow,” Hamel added. “By becoming the first major browser to open up to Web 3.0, we would like to contribute to making the internet of the future more accessible.”

The sudden embrace of cryptocurrencies follows Opera filing its S1 paperwork June 29 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a $115 million public offering on the Nasdaq Exchange. Despite its minnow status among browsers, with an overall market share of 1.5 percent as of June, the company enters the float profitable with 321.7 million average monthly active users, almost no debt and 20 percent revenue growth.

The market for cryptocurrencies peaked at the end of last year, but there’s still growing market demand particularly in off-cryptocurrency uses such as dapps. Although Opear won’t attract insane premiums for simply offering a cryptocurrency product, it certainly makes the company more interesting and appealing to investors.

Image: Opera