The money-making opportunities in cryptocurrency are not limited to investing. There are several decentralized applications built on various blockchain networks that allow users to perform similar operations seen in traditional banks. Such operations include but are not limited to lending, borrowing, farming, and trading cryptocurrencies without any intermediaries.
Eliminating these intermediaries, it does not only makes transactions faster and more efficient but also results in more profits for you as an end-user. Some lending dApps give an APY or APR of 10% of your initial investment which you can’t obtain on your bank’s savings yearly.
To access this new world of finance, a bridge or gateway from the regular internet to the decentralized internet where these applications exist is required — one of the best being Metamask.
What is Metamask? And, how do you initiate this process on Metamask? Well, I’ll define Metamask and get you acquainted with this process.
A Crypto Wallet & Gateway to Blockchain Apps?
Metamask is a non or self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet that gives you absolute control of your private keys, hence, your asset! If you intend to access decentralized applications, websites, or any other protocols built on the blockchain network, I recommend using the Metamask mobile wallet or Metamask extension for chrome.
However, is Metamask safe for use? A little bit of history; Metamask was founded in 2015 by a reputable developer named Aaron Davis. He’s one of the developers at ConsenSys (founded by Joseph Lubin), an American blockchain development company that builds infrastructure for Ethereum.
The Metamask browser extension is compatible with chrome, edge, brave, and firefox browser and currently have over 2 million downloads. On the other hand, the App on Google Playstore has over 10M downloads, over 65K reviews, and 4.0 ratings.
How to Set Up Your Metamask Wallet
Installation
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To get started with Metamask, the first thing you need to go to their official website and select an application type that is compatible with your device (available for Browser, iOs, and Android).
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After selecting the appropriate option for your device, click on the install button and the process will be automatically initiated.
Assuming you successfully downloaded the browser extension…
- At the top right corner of your browser, go to the extension icon; find and select Metamask. Then, click on the “Get Started” button and you’ll be presented with two options on the following page.
- Now, it’s either you import an existing wallet or you create a new one. To import a wallet, copy and paste the seed phrase of your existing Metamask wallet in the empty box provided.
To create a new wallet, follow the steps below…
- Click on “create a wallet”, checkmark the agreement box, and create a password you can easily remember for your new wallet.
- A new page pops up and presents you with a seed or secret recovery phrase. The seed phrase constitutes 12 random words and you must keep it safe and inaccessible to anyone buy you ONLY*.
- On the next page, you’ll be prompted to enter your seed phrase sequentially after which you can now access the newly created wallet.
NB: However, you should receive a congratulatory message*! If anything goes wrong during your wallet setup, you should contact Support.*
Tips for keeping your Metamask Seed phrase Safe
- Write several copies of your seed phrase on a paper and keep it ONLY to yourself;
- Avoid keeping a digital form of your seed phrase; saving it on your mail/ sending it to your other mail or making a screenshot of it.
How to Add ETH to Your Metamask Wallet
If you should click “All done” on the congratulatory page, you’ll be automatically redirected to a swap service that allows you to interact with many decentralized exchanges. To use this Metamask swap service or any other decentralized Apps on Metamask, however, you’ll need some Ethereum to cover transaction fees on the Ethereum network which is the default for Metamask.
To do this, you can either…
- Copy your Ethereum wallet address and transfer Ethereum into it from another wallet
- Buy using the buy option on Metamask
- OR buy elsewhere and send it to your Metamask address
How to Use Ethereum dApps with Metamask
Now that you have some amounts of Ethereum (ETH) in your Metamask balance, it should also show up in the Metamask swap and you can now proceed with interacting with the dApps.
Assuming you want to swap some of your Ethereum coins to DAI or any other tokens…
- Go to the Metamask chrome extension you previously installed
- Click on the swap button in your wallet interface
- Ensure you’re connected to the “Ethereum Mainnet” and you can see this at the top-right corner
- You should see your ETH balance and you can select DAI from the other box that says “swap to”
- Review, then confirm the transaction
- Before confirmation, you should pay attention to the “advanced option” for the “estimated gas fee” so it doesn’t eat up your money
Although this operation tends to be expensive on Metamask, you can do it directly on the Uniswap website but your wallet must be connected. Follow the instructions below…
- [ ]undefinedNavigate to the site you want to manually connect to
- [ ]undefinedClick on MetaMask extension in the browser toolbar in the top-right
- [ ]undefinedClick on the 3 dots menu in the upper right corner
- [ ]undefinedClick on Connected sites
- [ ]undefinedClick the Manually connect to current site button
- [ ]undefinedN.b.: this button will not appear if one of your other accounts is connected to the dapp. If you encounter this issue, check your other wallets for existing connections.
- [ ]undefinedSelect the account you want to connect to the website and click next
- [ ]undefinedReview the information in the confirmation screen and click Confirm
- [ ]undefinedPlease note: sometimes a dapp-enabled site will automatically provide a pop-up to connect your wallet, where you can choose MetaMask.
On Mobile…
- [ ]undefinedNavigate to the hamburger menu in the left-top corner.
- [ ]undefinedTapping on this will bring up a sidebar menu.
- [ ]undefinedTap on ‘Browser’, and you have an intuitive interface to find the dapp you’re looking for, including a search bar.
How to Set Up Metamask For Binance Smart Chain
By default, the Metamask wallet is set for the Ethereum network. If you want to interact with other networks using Metamask, you need to set it up manually.
Assuming you want to configure your wallet for Binance smart chain, follow the steps below:
- On your Metamask wallet interface, navigate to the avatar at the top-right corner and select “Settings” from the drop-down
- Then, locate “Networks” on the settings page and click on “Add Network” at the top-right corner to manually add BSC
- Select “Mainnet” and compute the data below;
Network Name: Smart Chain
New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
ChainID: 56
Symbol: BNB
Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com
See how to carry out transactions Binance Smart Chain (BEP-20) here.
Closing Thoughts: Using Metamask for Defi Trading
The Metamask app is one of the best wallets for Defi trading. It is, however, not user-friendly, especially for beginners and non-tech guys. Traders at both intermediate and expert levels can still find their way around it and explore its endless possibilities in decentralized finance (Defi).
You should note that it is quite important to verify the authenticity of whatever dApps you are connecting to your Metamask wallet so as to avoid being a victim of scams.
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