Another traditional major manufacturer enters the game, "Southeast Asia Didi" Grab launches Web3 wallet

Original author: Joy, PANews

After Starbucks and Reddit, Grab, another traditional major company, is trying out Web3 business based on the Polygon blockchain.

Grab, known as the Southeast Asian version of Didi + Meituan, is headquartered in Singapore. As of the third quarter of 2023, Grab has more than 34.9 million transaction users per month. The company operates in more than 500 cities in Southeast Asia, providing ride-hailing, food delivery, package delivery, online payment services, and more.

According to the official website, Grab has recently added a Web3 wallet function to the "Finance" page of its application, allowing users to store and manage digital assets, including SG Pitstop Pack coupons and digital collectibles (NFT). Using the Grab Web3 wallet, users can perform blockchain transactions, access educational articles about blockchain, view transaction history and interact with their digital assets. However, the Web3 wallet has not yet mentioned whether it supports payment in scenarios such as taxi rides.

The wallet currently only supports the Polygon blockchain. For a limited time, Grab is sponsoring the network gas fees associated with users sending and receiving transactions. Users do not need to pay any additional network fees for sending and receiving assets.

Grab said it is working hard to introduce more features to the Grab Web3 wallet in the future, and is also researching to expand the types of digital assets that can be stored in the Web3 wallet. The official also reminded that please do not send any other digital assets to the Web3 wallet, as these assets will not be accessible. However, users can send eligible digital assets in the Grab Web3 wallet to other wallets.

PANews inquired and learned that the Grab Web3 wallet is currently only available to users who are in Singapore and have completed identity verification. In the latest version of the APP, users are eligible to open the Web3 wallet after completing GrabPay wallet verification. Click the Web3 tile to continue with the Web3 wallet setup. And once users leave Singapore, they cannot access their Web3 wallet. Additionally, currently each Grab account can only have one Web3 wallet. Every Grab account is associated with a Web3 wallet.

It is worth mentioning that unlike traditional Web3 wallet users who need to save their own private keys, Grab's Web3 wallet uses a PIN code. Users will be guided to create a unique Web3 PIN, which acts as a secure access code to the user's digital assets. This Web3 PIN is different from the user's Grab PIN and is not interchangeable. Grab said that for security reasons, Grab does not store users' Web3 PINs, so users need to save the PIN in memory. The user will be asked to set up a PIN recovery method. This contains 2 security questions to aid recovery if the user forgets their Web3 PIN.

As the main digital asset currently supported by Grab Web3 Wallet, SG Pitstop Pack coupons are also a new type of coupons using blockchain technology, and users' ownership of these coupons will be recorded on the blockchain. The NFT coupon, a Temasek-sponsored digital coupon that Grab is co-testing with payment infrastructure platform StraitsX during the Singapore Fintech Festival 2022, is an example of its dedicated currency, allowing issuers to transfer money in digital currency. Specify conditions such as validity period and merchant type.

SG Pitstop’s digital collectibles (NFTs) can be collected at four different stores across Singapore. For example, users can go to Jumbo Seafood in Clarke Quay to taste the famous chilli crab. When a transaction is successfully completed using an SG Pitstop coupon on the blockchain, the corresponding unique NFT is added to the user’s Grab Web3 wallet. Even if you use coupons to check in, you can get the corresponding NFT.

Grab has been experimenting with Web3 applications since last year. In addition to the above-mentioned SG Pitstop Pack coupons, last year GrabPay also cooperated with StraitsX and the encrypted payment gateway TripleA to display the Singapore dollar stable currency XSGD based on the Polygon chain in the GrabPay accounts of cooperative merchants. and consume it as SGD.

In June, Grab signed a pilot study with the Monetary Authority of Singapore around the use of three digital assets: central bank digital currencies, tokenized bank deposits and stablecoins. Grab is also testing the custody of a new digital asset-based payment system called Purpose Bound Money, along with Amazon and Southeast Asian financial services firm Fazz.

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