How to Add the Polygon Network to MetaMask

By SpoilerAlert | Crypto For Monkes | 14 Oct 2021


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Welcome to Crypto for Monkes!

In this post, we’re going to walk you though how to add networks to your MetaMask wallet. Specifically, we’ll be adding the Polygon Network to our wallets as it’s steadily growing in popularity, and currently one of the cheapest DeFi networks to use.

This article assumes that you have already downloaded and installed MetaMask for your device. If you haven’t yet, head over there and do it now, I’ll wait….

So before we begin, a little background. MetaMask is essentially an Ethereum wallet, which means it can be used to purchase pretty much any coin on the Etherum DeFi network. This is great, but as Ethereum has grown in popularity, so too have the gas fees gone through the roof. At the time of writing, transferring even a few dollars worth of tokens on the Ethereum Main Net, will set you back over $100!

Enter tier-2 networks. These networks sit on top of the Ethereum Main Network, and allow you to move money around for a lot less. As these networks in turn grow in popularity, they also get higher gas fees. Sigh. But this is why we’re using Polygon. Polygon strikes a nice balance between low gas fees and useful tokens available for purchase. If you’ve ever wanted to stake Wrapped Banano for example, you can do this on the Polygon Network.

Now that you have MetaMask, one of the first things you will notice is at the top of the screen it says “Ethereum Main Network”. If you click on this, you will see several pre-configured networks that you will probably never use. Let’s set one up that you will use instead!

Click on the hamburger (3 lines) menu on the op left, and select Settings>Networks, then click Add Network. Here you will be greeted by several text boxes that will probably mean nothing to you just yet. Fill them in like this:

Network Name: Polygon Mainnet

RPC Url: https://rpc-mainnet.maticvigil.com/

Chain ID: 137

Symbol: MATIC

Block Explorer URL: https://polygonscan.com/

 

You can copy/paste this then click Save, and you’re ready to go. For those of you who are wondering what these all mean, here’s some descriptions:

 

Network Name: You can pretty much use what you want here as it’s not tied to anything. It’s just how it will appear in the Networks menu on your device.

RPC Url: This is where the API for the network lives

Chain ID: A unique identifier for the network

Symbol: The currency used to pay gas fees on the network

Block Explorer URL: The address of the site used to keep track of all the transactions.

 

And that’s about it. Once you’ve added the network, it will appear in your list at the top of your wallet. You’ll need to select the appropriate network for the tokens you’re trading, but you’ll get to learn this pretty quickly.

Before you start transacting on the Polygon network, make sure to grab yourself some MATIC, which is the currency used to pay gas fees. You can get some for free from several faucets, such as macncheese and Matic.supply.

To use these faucets, change to the Polygon network in MetaMask, then use the built-in Browser (in the hamburger menu) to navigate to the faucet, connect, and receive your funds. Note that using your regular browser won’t work – you have to do it via MetaMask!

I hope that you found this article useful as it’s a base from which you can start your profitable career as a DeFi trader. Once added, you will be able to do lots of fun stuff on the Polygon network, such as swapping, staking, and farming. Watch this space!

 

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Crypto For Monkes
Crypto For Monkes

This blog series is intended for those of us who started their crypto journey via DAG coins, such as Banano and Nano. These coins are a fantastic onramp to crypto, but they inevitably lead into more complex crypto topics, such as wrapping coins (wBan), using wallets such as Metamask and Trust Wallet, and navigating the Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon networks. If you're new to all this or have no idea what any of the above means, then you've come to the right place!

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