To truly enter the Web3 world, you first need to have a blockchain wallet. Without a wallet, you won't be able to participate in various blockchain activities, as all kinds of financial products or GameFi games on the chains require the use of a wallet for transactions or interactions. Although some projects are now creating accounts and wallets for users to attract more newcomers, most projects still require you to have a "hot" wallet (a simple online wallet connected to the network) before you can start your on-chain journey!
What are cold and hot wallets? Recommended reading:
[Beginner's Series 3] What is a blockchain wallet? What are cold and hot wallets?
The most widely used hot wallet now is the one affectionately called "Metamask", a Metamask wallet. If you don't have Metamask yet, please go to: Metamask Wallet - Installation and Usage Tutorial. After getting your Metamask wallet, let's see how to use it for deposits and withdrawals, and what to watch out for!
How to Deposit and Withdraw with Metamask?
Metamask can be used on both the computer version and the mobile app, but here we will demonstrate using the Chrome browser extension. Before actually depositing or withdrawing, there are some preparatory steps to take, but just follow them one by one and you'll be fine!
Step 1: Preparation
1. After installing the extension, you can click the puzzle-like icon in the top right corner of the window to pin the Metamask wallet.
2. (If you have an exchange account, skip to step 3) Log in to your Metamask wallet and see this interface. If you don't have an exchange account yet, click "Buy & Sell" to go to the purchase window and enter your country and region. Currently, Metamask does not support Taiwanese users to purchase with fiat currency, so you can only use a credit card, which will incur higher fees. Therefore, it is recommended to deposit and withdraw through an exchange to reduce transaction costs.
Don't know what an exchange is or how to choose one? Recommended reading:
How to Choose a Cryptocurrency Exchange (Part 2): 3 Key Indicators, Exchange Rankings and Reviews
Deposit (in Taiwan, you still can't use the "Buy & Sell" method to withdraw):
3. If you have an exchange account, you don't need to click "Buy & Sell". Before depositing or withdrawing, you need to select the chain. Here, you must be very careful not to choose the wrong chain, or you may waste the deposit transaction fee (Gas fee, which fluctuates with the activity on the chain).
For example, if you want to participate in the fundraising of a new meme coin that supports both Ethereum and Polygon blockchains, and the Ethereum Gas fee is too high, you should use Polygon to make the transaction. In this case, you need to remember to switch your wallet's chain to Polygon first, otherwise the deposit will go to Ethereum, and you can only pay the higher Gas fee.
The Ethereum Gas fee is relatively high compared to other blockchains, so before depositing, you can check if the project supports other blockchains like Polygon, Optimism, or Arbitrum. Or you can check the current Ethereum Gas fee to decide whether to proceed with the transaction.
What is Gas fee and where to check it? Recommended reading:
If you don't see the blockchain you want to join, you can click "Add Network" below to select it. If the option you need still doesn't appear, you can go to the ChainList website, which has various Ethereum-compatible blockchains (EVM). Click "Connect wallet" and approve it in your Metamask wallet to add it successfully! (If you haven't installed the wallet extension, clicking it won't do anything.)
Also, since Metamask is an Ethereum wallet, blockchains like Solana and Ton cannot be added to it.
What is EVM compatibility? Recommended reading:
Now let's officially get into the steps for depositing and withdrawing!
Step 2: Deposit
(Remember to select the chain in the top left corner first!) Click "Receive Token" in your Metamask wallet, and a QR code and your wallet address will pop up. Copy this address to the account you want to withdraw from. (You can also directly scan the QR code in the exchange app.)
After completing the deposit, you may not see the deposited cryptocurrency. In this case, click "Import Token" below to search for the token, and after adding it, you can see the token.
Step 3: Withdrawal
(Remember to select the chain at the top left!) Click "Send" in the wallet, select the account you want to withdraw from, and paste the wallet address you want to deposit to, then select the token you want to transfer, and finally approve the transaction to complete the withdrawal.
What to pay attention to when using a blockchain wallet?
Congratulations on learning how to deposit and withdraw using the Metamask wallet! (Applause and encouragement) Although the process may seem complicated, after going through it once, as long as you remember to switch chains, you'll find it's actually quite simple, not as difficult as you might have imagined.
After learning how to deposit and withdraw, you can start exploring blockchain projects more deeply and discover more fun places in Web3. However, if you want to interact with new projects, it is still recommended to open a new wallet to reduce the risk, avoid using the same account, and being subjected to malicious attacks (such as clicking on a phishing website, resulting in asset transfer).
Also, don't blindly trust any links or groups that others send you!
This article How to Deposit and Withdraw Crypto Using Metamask? A Beginner's Guide to Blockchain Wallets was first published on NONE LAND.
