MetaMask, the Ethereum wallet service and browser extension, has recorded 5 million monthly active users for the beginning time — marker a major milestone in the growth of decentralized applications.

The sharp increase in adoption came just vi months afterward MetaMask registered its first cumulative 1 one thousand thousand active users. Since October 2020, the service platform has grown five times, highlighting the continued force of the cryptocurrency bull market.

The post-obit nautical chart, courtesy of MetaMask developer ConsenSys, highlights the exponential growth of the wallet service over the past half-dozen months:

MetaMask's remarkable growth trajectory over the past six months. Chart: ConsenSys

Interestingly, MetaMask adoption has surged in the so-called "global south" — a phrase that describes emerging economies in Asia, Africa and South America. MetaMask mobile adoption has been especially pronounced in Vietnam and Nigeria. As Cointelegraph recently reported, Nigeria has emerged as a major center for cryptocurrency adoption equally more of its citizens employ Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets to escape inflation and navigate capital controls.

ConsenSys further explained its growing popularity in emerging economies:

"Increasingly, these people use MetaMask to earn a supplemental income or to make long-term investments. Many are unable to access their local banking organisation and thus need alternative applied science to act equally a savings account."

MetaMask was initially released in 2016 before undergoing several major upgrades. The wallet service surged in popularity during the tiptop of the DeFi boom in 2020, every bit more investors used it to fund their token purchases.

MetaMask helped to facilitate the growth of not only decentralized finance but decentralized exchanges also. These were the venues for finding low-cap altcoin gems non yet available on major exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken or fifty-fifty Binance.

DeFi remains one of the hottest trends in the cryptocurrency market, with a total value locked of around $114 billion. TVL peaked above $123 billion earlier this month, according to industry data.