MEW Refresher Course: Dive Back in with Confidence
At this stage of cryptocurrency adoption, trading is still affected by volatility and extended bear markets, while acceptance of cryptocurrencies remains patchy. Because of this, users can go for months — or even years — without returning to their crypto wallets.
Some crypto storage solutions are perfect for this kind of long-term HODLing, others are not so great, and coming back to the crypto space after a long absence can present some surprises. Here’s a short refresher course from MEW!
We changed our look
If you are visiting MEW for the first time in a while, you may notice that the site looks very different. No worries — it’s our fresh redesigned MEW5 interface! Read here to find out how we built it and what’s new.
Our knowledge base has also been redesigned and updated to reflect changes to the interface, and our MEWtopia blog explores the many ways of using Ethereum today. If you still feel like a beginner and need a complete reboot after a long break from crypto, check out our Absolute Beginner Intro to Ethereum.
Reevaluate access security
Now that you’re back in action, this might be a good time to review your wallet access method and make sure you are using the safest option possible.
You’ll see that in the new interface, software access options including Keystore file, Private key and Mnemonic phrase are clearly marked as “not recommended.” This is because those access methods have the potential to expose your private key online and make you vulnerable to loss of funds through phishing.
If you are still accessing via software methods, consider buying a hardware wallet, or installing the MEW wallet app — our solution for using your smartphone as a secure private key storage device.
Troubleshoot access issues
If you are having trouble with access, take a moment to remember what method you were using before and what information you saved when you created the wallet.
If you are seeing a different set of addresses than you expect, maybe you were using a required password with your mnemonic phrase, or perhaps you were using a different derivation path with your hardware wallet. Find more information about troubleshooting seeing wrong addresses on our MEWtopia blog.
Make sure you haven’t left off a character from your private key. Check that you are using the correct password for your keystore file. Maybe you actually created your wallet with MetaMask and should retrace your access path through that extension. Update your hardware devices, operating systems and apps.
To review the different types of Ethereum wallets out there and some options of restoring access if you are having problems, see this article. If you lost a piece of your information, you may still be able to regain access to your wallet. However, once you do, you should create a new wallet, move your funds and this time keep your private key or mnemonic phrase very, very, very, very safe in multiple locations.
Something missing?
Once you have accessed your wallet, are you seeing all funds and balances as you expect? If not, there is a number of things to consider.
- Check your address balance on Etherscan or EthVM. If you don’t see the balances there, you may have accessed a different wallet than you intended. Look through your records to see if you had created other wallets in the past.
- Look through the transaction history to check for any transfers since you last logged in. If your wallet was compromised by a phishing attack, create a new wallet and move your remaining funds as soon as possible.
- If you see your balances on Etherscan but not in MEW, you may need to add some assets back as custom tokens. Also, try changing the network to other Ethereum options — nodes can get congested and prevent seeing balances.
- Sometimes tokens can change contract addresses. If you are seeing your tokens in the list, but balances are not reflected, double check contract details on Etherscan and re-add if necessary.
- Make sure you are not still holding tokens that have moved to mainnet. If you missed the swap date, sometimes you can still swap your tokens on exchanges after the cutoff. Double-check whether something is an ERC20 token before sending assets from an exchange to your MEW wallet — if you send non-Ethereum blockchain coins to an Ethereum address, you may lose them forever.
What’s new in the space
While the crypto market was down, Ethereum project development continued, bringing more decentralized apps into the ecosystem. Now, there are more ways than ever to use your tokens and interact with the blockchain using MEW: swaps, DeFi with Aave and Maker, decentralized domains, staking, Bitcoin on Ethereum, a new Ethereum blockchain explorer, and more. If you use MEW wallet app, you can also connect to many web DApps directly throught the MEWconnect protocol.
It’s an exciting time to be in crypto and we are happy to welcome you back!
Team MEW
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