Dan Finlay, co-founder of MetaMask, officially left Consensys on April 23, 2026, ending a decade-long journey building the iconic wallet. In a social media post, he attributed his departure to burnout and the need to prioritize family, ruling out company disputes or financial issues. Roughly two weeks before his exit, ERC-7715 (MetaMask Advanced Permissions) went live — a feature Finlay called a long-needed upgrade he wanted to see through.
A Decade of Building the Fox
In 2016, Finlay co-founded MetaMask with Aaron Davis, when the Ethereum ecosystem was still taking shape and browser wallets were virtually nonexistent. Starting as a Chrome extension, MetaMask grew into one of the most widely used Web3 gateways, peaking at over 30 million monthly active users, synonymous with "Ethereum wallet." In his farewell, Finlay spoke calmly, saying ten years of burning out required a stop.
ERC-7715: From Per-Tx Approval to Session-Based Authorization
Most Web3 wallets today pop up a confirmation window each time a dApp touches your assets — secure but friction-heavy. For DeFi operations, auto-compounding, or dollar-cost averaging (DCA), users can face dozens of manual confirms. ERC-7715 flips this: users grant a dApp a one-time scope-based authorization defining asset limits, time windows, and execution conditions. Example: authorize "spend 10 USDC daily to buy ETH for one month" — then the dApp runs automatically. Use cases include subscription payments, DCA, auto-compounding, and automated strategies. Currently it requires MetaMask Flask 13.5.0+ (developer preview); the official release is pending. Finlay said he looks forward to experiencing it as a "regular user."
Post-Finlay: Challenges Remain
MetaMask's to-do list hasn't shrunk with Finlay's departure. The token launch question lingers — he recently answered "maybe" with no timeline. Consensys' own L2 network Linea has repeatedly postponed its TGE, drawing market criticism. Competition from Coinbase Wallet, Rabby, and Phantom eats away at MetaMask's share, especially on UX and multi-chain support. Finlay once said MetaMask's vision is to reach a broader user base; now, who drives that vision and at what pace is the key question for outsiders. His timing — leaving two weeks after ERC-7715 went live — suggests he waited until that piece was in place to hand over the reins. Ten years is long, and heavy enough. Next chapter: family time.