"Cardano's Lace Wallet: Faster, Firefox, Bitcoin, and Dapp Explorer"

Cardano's founder, Charles Hoskinson, recently provided an update on the Lace wallet, highlighting several new features and improvements. In a livestream broadcast on January 29, Hoskinson discussed the wallet's evolving feature set, including faster release cycles, upcoming Firefox support, and imminent Bitcoin integration.

Hoskinson described January as a significant month for the Lace wallet, with the team undergoing operational changes to speed up product releases. Under the leadership of Brandon Wolf, the team has adopted a "ship fast, ship often" strategy, resulting in multiple new features now available to users.

One of the most notable announcements was the addition of compatibility with Firefox, expected in the coming weeks. Hoskinson also confirmed that Bitcoin support is on the near horizon, with both developments expected within the next two to four weeks.

The Lace wallet version 1.19 features a new dapp Explorer, designed to streamline the discovery and interaction with Cardano-based decentralized applications. This Explorer is the first phase of a more robust dapp store, with plans to build out additional capabilities over time.

By integrating with platforms such as MinSwap and Sunday Swap, the dapp explorer aims to facilitate more user-friendly crypto transactions. During the demonstration, Hoskinson used the explorer to buy various tokens, highlighting how recent improvements have shortened transaction confirmation times from hours to seconds.

In a push to improve user experience and security, Lace now offers PGP-encrypted paper wallets. Hoskinson described these as the best backup method yet, demonstrating his own encrypted paper wallet during the livestream.

Additionally, Lace incorporates "Nami mode," allowing users to preserve familiar Nami wallet features. The 1.19 release also introduces early-stage multisig capabilities and support for multi-stake pool delegation, further enhancing Cardano's growing ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) tools.

Lace development will not be limited to browser extensions. A dedicated mobile application is already in progress, with plans to ensure ease of syncing between the desktop and mobile versions. Hoskinson also outlined a future identity center meant to reduce the need for repetitive KYC processes.

Toward the end of his demonstration, Hoskinson touched on Cardano's evolving governance features. The upcoming Plomin hard fork, scheduled for January 29, will enable a system allowing the community to vote on