What is Metamask? Metamask is the most popular non-custudial wallet platform in the crypto market on both PC and Mobile versions. So what is so special about Metamask and how to use it? Let’s find out in the article below.
What is Metamask?
Metamask wallet overview
Metamask was born and first introduced to the crypto community in 2016 and was developed by Consensys company – founded by Joseph Lubin in 2014, focusing on building infrastructure on the Ethereum network. Metamask wallet supports users with the following features:
- Store cryptocurrency.
- Supports interaction with decentralized applications on the Ethereum network and the Blockchains it supports are mainly EVM Blockchain such as BNB Chain, Fantom, Arbitrum, Metis, Optimism,… Near Protocol will be the first non-EVM Blockchain that Metamask supports.
- Bridge: Feature that allows users to transfer money between Blockchains that Metamask supports. Metamask uses the cBridge service.
- Swap: Metamask supports the swap feature (buying and selling) of tokens. The DEX that Metamask uses is a DEX Aggregator.
- Metamask Portfolio: This is a separate feature outside of Metamask wallet that allows users to manage assets on their Blockchain.
Pros and cons on Metamask wallet
Some of the advantages that Metamask possesses include:
- Metamask supports both PC and Mobile, so it is extremely convenient and easy to use.
- Simple, optimized, user-friendly interface. Even new users can use the wallet fluently after about 5 – 10 minutes of interacting with the wallet.
- Metamask supports saving Keyphare and Seedphase so users can search again if accidentally lost.
- Metamask supports many of the most popular Blockchains on the market.
- Connecting with all projects on the Blockchains that the project supports is extremely fast and smooth.
However, Metamask still has some limitations such as:
- Users have to manually set many parameters such as popular tokens, network, have to adjust the network manually,…
- Using multiple wallet addresses at the same time is not allowed.
Is Metamask Wallet safe to trust and use?
In fact, during its development Metamask has not encountered problems such as the Private Key disclosure that Solana projects have encountered, nor has there been any problem in its code. Most people who use Metamask lose their assets because they accidentally interacted with bad information and websites, so the problem does not lie with Metamask.
Metamask was also built by Consensys, which can be said to be the leading company in the field of building infrastructure technology for the entire Ethereum network. This also helps us trust and use Metamask every day.
Instructions for Using Metamask Wallet
Instructions for installing and using Metamask on Chrome or other web browsers
Step 1: Go to the website: https://metamask.io/ then click Download for Chrome.
Step 2: After clicking Download for Chrome, you will jump to a new website, the Chrome Online Store. Click Add to Chrome.
Then you will wait for Metamask to download automatically.
Step 3: Continue jumping to a new website here you have 2 options:
- At a new wallet address.
- Restore an old wallet address that you must own either a Private Key or a Keyphare.
If you are setting up a new Metamask wallet address, check “I agree to Metamask Terms of use” and click Create a new wallet.
Step 4: Click I agree
At this step Metamask commits to a number of things such as:
- Never collect user information and sell it such as addresses, transaction hashes, balances, etc.
- Never collect user IPs.
- Never sell user data.
Step 5: Set up password
Here you will set a password for Metamask on your Chrome. Note that when you restore Metamask, you do not need to re-enter this password. This password is only used for you to open the Metamask wallet to use. If it is deleted on Chrome, this password will also be deleted. When resetting the old wallet address, you will set a new password.
Note: You should set a long password with capital letters and special characters to avoid the worst cases.
After setting the password, click “I understand that…” and click Create new wallet.
Step 6: See the basic definition that Metamask introduces and click on Secure My Wallet.
Step 7: Click on “Reveal Seed Phrase” to see the Seed Phrase of Metamask wallet
Your job is to store this Seed Phrase into many friends and put it in secret places like:
- Write it down on paper and put it in the closet.
- Save it on the USB and store the USB in a dry place.
- Save it to your phone in the Notes section and then create a password for that Notes section.
Step 8: Fill in the blanks
Metamask will re-display the 12 characters above that you just copied, but will be the missing version you will re-enter in full (a way for Metamask to know for sure that you have stored your Seed Phrase.
After the call is successful, you have successfully installed Metamask and created a wallet for yourself.
Step 9: Search & Use Metamask
Your Metamask wallet will be on your top left-hand toolbar under “Extensions” puzzle piece image. Click on it and a list of Extensions that you will install on Chrome will appear.
Then, if Metamask is a platform you use often, click on the pin named Pin and Metamask will always be outside so you can click directly.
Some Features on Metamask
Some of the important features on Metamask include:
- Send: Allows you to send crypto on the same network.
- Swap: Allows you to buy and sell crypto assets on the same network.
- Bridge: Allows you to transfer crypto assets from one Blockchain to another.
- Buy: Allows you to buy crypto assets via cards such as Visa, Mastercard.
- Assets: Is where you store (or rather see) your crypto assets on the Blockchain.
- NFTs: Is where you store (or rather see) your NFT assets on the Blockchain.
- Activity: Is where your activity history is saved.
Some Instructions When Using Metamask
Add network to Metamask
Step 1: Go to the website https://chainlist.org/ (tool developed by DefiLlama).
Step 2: You search for chains at Search Networks that you want to add to Metamask. If you want to search for Testnet networks, click add Include Testnets is below the search area.
Step 3: Click Connect Wallet under the network you want to add to your wallet.
Step 4: Sign on your wallet.
After Aprrove was completed, the Arbitrum network was added to everyone’s Metamask wallet. In the same way people can add more networks to their wallet.
Note: Only add the networks you use to avoid creating too many networks which will cause inconvenience during use.
Add Tokens to Metamask wallet
To add tokens to Metamask’s wallet, we need the project’s smart contract. There are several ways to get Smart Contact of the project:
- The most reputable way is to go to the project’s Discord and Telegram to get information directly from the Core Team. Be careful to only get information from the development team, not from community members or scammers who actively text and send Smart Contracts to you.
- Search for the token name on Etherescan (be careful because there are many similar tokens).
- Searching on Coingecko is faster and safer, but you must carefully check the project name, project logo, project website,… to see if it matches the project you need.
For example: I want to add Vesta Finance with VSTA token to my Metamask wallet.
Step 1: Go to Coingecko and search for Vesta Finance.
Step 2: Check information such as project name, project logo, project website, project twitter,… If correct, move to the next step.
Step 3: Copy the smart contract.
You will see the word Contract or Contract on the right hand side of the screen. Click on the copy button with the logo as two squares overlapping each other.
Step 4: Go back to Metamask and select Import Token
Step 5: Paste (Control V) into the area Token contract address.
Note: You just need to Paste the project Contract here, the rest will automatically appear and you do not need to fill it out completely.
After the information appears, click on it Add custom tokens.
Step 6: Import Tokens
Here, Metamask will display the token balance you just added. You just need to press Import Tokens and the VSTA token has been added to your wallet.
Summary
The functions on Metamask are extremely diverse. People can research and learn more on their own or search for instructional articles on HakResearch.com’s website. Hopefully through this article, everyone will understand more about what Metamask is?
