The article below will cover the basic security features of your MetaMask wallet.
Content Summary
- Type of Token Approvals
- Revoking Token Approvals
- Locking your Wallet
- Disconnecting from dApps
Type of Token Approvals
Limited/Custom Approvals
Limited Token approval gives permission for the smart contract to transact on your behalf with limited/specified amounts of the respective tokens. This method would mean that the user would need to approve the spending each time they return to the protocol. This can be done by pressing the edit button when approving any expenditure.
Infinite Approvals
Infinite Approvals provide users the option to approve the spending limit of the token just once. This is one option if you trade often, as you pay a one time fee to authorize this approval and will result in less gas cost. You won’t have to approve expenditure each time you want to trade/stake a token. This option comes with some risks- should there be any smart contract risks, bugs, or exploits, there is a risk of your funds in your wallet being spent. This risk increases if you have reason to not trust a specific project. If you have any suspicion, consider revoking this approval after you are done with your trades before ending your session.
Revoking Token Approvals
The following section will demonstrate how one would revoke any spending limits you’ve approved beforehand.
Step 1:
- Head to https://snowtrace.io/ and click the ‘Token Approvals’ button at the more tab:
Step 2:
- Enter your wallet address to see a full list of token approvals for the dApps you used.
Step 3:
- Press ‘Connect to Web3’ and then the red revoke button on any one approval you see.
Step 4:
- Press the ‘Revoke’ button.
Step 5:
- A MetaMask transaction window will pop-up to revoke approval, click “Confirm.”*
Step 7:
- Check the completion of the transaction by pressing the view your transaction button.
Step 8:
- You will now be able to view the respective token spending is revoked.
Lock your MetaMask wallet
- This option ensures, that while you are away from the computer, unauthorized users won’t be able to access your MetaMask. By clicking the lock button you will need to reenter your password to access MetaMask again.
Disconnect from dApps
- This is an optional security step that helps make sure you are aware of each site you are visiting since one would need to reconnect on every visit.
Step 1:
- Click on the 3 dots on the top right of MetaMask and the ‘Connected sites’ button. That will lead you to the list of connected sites.
Step 2:
- There will now be a list of each site that you remain connected to. Press the trash button to disconnect from any site.
Step 3:
- A window will pop-up. Click “Disconnect.”
*Important note: Throughout the guides, the gas price was 25 GWEI. During network congestion time you may see increased transaction fees.
You have now completed some of the basics steps to increase the security of your MetaMask wallet. Good luck in your DeFi journey!
