Beginner’s Guide To Using MetaMask
Anyone who has been actively involved in the crypto space must’ve heard of different ways to store their crypto safely. While there are many different crypto wallets available, one of the most popular options is MetaMask.
With the ongoing bull run, numerous people have started investing in crypto, and to do that, they all need a wallet. As a result, the adoption of crypto and wallets like MetaMask has been so rapid that from October 2019 to October 2020, the user base increased by 4x to one million. Moreover, in the six months that followed, MetaMask’s active users increased by 5x to five million.
For anyone looking to store their crypto, especially ETH and ERC-20 tokens, knowing more about MetaMask is a must. While initially MetaMask only supported the Ethereum network, it has added multiple blockchains such as the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and the Polygon Network.
Adding crypto to your MetaMask wallet has become a necessity in the current crypto space. This is because to invest, trade, play games, and even own NFTs, you must have a MetaMask wallet loaded with some ETH.
This article talks about what MetaMask is and how you can use it to interact with the crypto metaverse.
Let’s dive in!
What Is MetaMask?
MetaMask is a crypto wallet and gateway to blockchain apps trusted by 1 million crypto users worldwide. By simply installing MetaMask and adding it as an extension to your browser, you can start exploring blockchain applications within seconds.
MetaMask is very simple to use. This is because it’s a simple web browser plugin that can just be added to your already set up Google Chrome or Opera or Firefox browser.
Initially, it was built as an Ethereum wallet created to make the ecosystem developed on the Ethereum blockchain more accessible. The introduction of a wallet like MetaMaks instantly made DeFi applications or DApps more user-friendly.
Over the years, MetaMask has evolved and has continuously added features that make it easy for users to interact with the crypto ecosystem. These days, MetaMask has also started supporting direct crypto purchases with two major crypto companies, Coinbase and ShapeShift. Furthermore, it is even available as a mobile app.
With MetaMask, you can enjoy the following benefits and features:
- Buy, store, send, and swap tokens — MetaMask equips users with everything they need to manage their crypto. Users are provided with a key vault, secure login, token wallet, and token exchange.
- Explore blockchain applications — MetaMask allows its users to connect to blockchain-based applications. It is considered to be the go-to wallet for interacting with the DeFi ecosystem.
- Own your data — By generating passwords and keys on the users’ devices, MetaMask ensures that only the user has access to both of them. Moreover, users have the choice of what data they want to share and what they want to keep private.
- Minimalistic design — MetaMask offers its users an interface that is plain and simple to use. Thus, it’s also the most preferred wallet for beginners as they can easily set up their wallets and start using them.
- MetaMask is open-source — Keeping in line with the transparency and open-source nature that the crypto space is known for, MetMask is also open-source. This means that anyone can read the app’s code to review or even update it.
Why is MetaMask so popular?
MetaMask is extremely popular among crypto users and investors because of its high speed, flexibility, and easy-to-use design.
Its popularity is highlighted by the fact that users are greeted with a pop-up window asking them to connect their MetaMask wallet with the app on most crypto apps and platforms. Users can simply accept the request, connect their wallet and start exploring the app they’re visiting.
Moreover, it can also be said that MetaMask is the first crypto wallet that gained mainstream adoption as a browser extension. Furthermore, as DeFi started booming with DeFi summer, MetaMask’s adoption also skyrocketed.
Today, the fox on the top of your screen has become symbolic of being a crypto investor.
Is MetaMask safe to use?
MetaMask is considered to be one of the safest wallets for storing crypto. This is mainly because, till now, it has not seen any successful hacking attempts. Moreover, since all the local keys used on MetaMask are encrypted by a proprietary security system called the Den, the harmful DApps and exploits cannot access the keys.
However, it is important to note that with MetaMask, safety ultimately comes down to the user’s personal oversight. This is because it is a browser wallet, and if a user accidentally downloads malware, the browser may get infected, and the virus can then scrap all the data, including the private keys.
Moreover, since MetaMask is always connected to the internet, it’s always at a risk of being attacked. Thus, it’s advised to install MetaMask on a secondary browser that is not used often.
MetaMask Setup — How To Add The MetaMask Plugin
Installing MetaMask is very easy and convenient. Just follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Open your web browser.
- Download the MetaMask wallet for your particular browser from the official website.
- On the top right corner of your browser, click on the MetaMask extension that pops up.
- Input a strong password. It’s recommended that you secure your password physically on a piece of paper.
- At this point, MetaMask will share a list of 12 seed phrases that can be used at a later stage to recover your account and access your wallet from a different browser.
- By ‘reading the seed phrases back’ to your MetaMask wallet and arranging them in the same order, you need to confirm that you have memorized them.
Your MetaMask wallet has now been set up!
Getting Started With MetaMask
Like any other crypto wallet, the first step to using MetaMask is adding crypto to it. You can do so either by directly adding ETH to your wallet through Wyre or by buying ETH or an ERC-20 token on an exchange and then transferring it to your MetaMask wallet for a fee.
It’s important to have ETH in your MetaMask wallet at all times if you plan on using it. This is because ETH is needed as gas fees to interact with most of the applications in the crypto world. Moreover, it’s also needed as fas fees to buy, sell, and swap crypto on MetaMask.
To send a translation with MetaMask, you need to add the wallet address of the receiver. Suppose you plan on transferring to this address regularly using MetaMask. In that case, you can also add them to your contact list so that you don’t have to add the address every time, and this will also ensure that you don’t accidentally transfer the funds to the wrong address.
When you send a transaction using MetaMask, you’re given three different transaction speed options that you can choose from. Naturally, the faster the transaction speed, the higher the gas fees. So, as per your requirements, choose the most suitable speed and continue sending the translation. Once you’ve successfully sent the transaction, you can double-check if it has been sent or not by looking it up under the Activity tab on the main MetaMask page. This is where the transaction will show up even when it’s being processed.
Using MetaMask With Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
You can even use MetaMask to interact with the Binance Smart Chain now. To add support for BSC, you just need to click on the top of the MetaMask wallet where it says ‘Ethereum mainnet’ and add BSC using the add a custom network option.
It’s surprising that now all of the DApps built on BSC currently support the Binance Chain wallet, but all of them support MetaMask. This goes to show how widely MetaMask is used in the crypto space.
In Conclusion…
- By offering an easy-to-use, flexible, and secure wallet, MetaMask has established itself as one of the best crypto wallets out there. It has become the go-to crypto wallet for users to store their crypto and interact with the DeFi and crypto ecosystem. As crypto and DeFi continue to go mainstream, MetaMask will be at the forefront of it all, enabling users to access the ecosystem securely and conveniently.
So, have you ever used MetaMask to interact with a DApp yet? How has your experience been?
Comment below and let us know more!
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