Setting up a Polygon wallet for beginners

A Polywhatnow?

Photo by Silvio Kundt on Unsplash

If you’re like me, you know enough about NFTs and cryptos to sound smart at a cocktail party but the second someone actually dives into it, you get a tiny teeny bit lost. I’ve decided to change all of that and I hope you’ll join me in this brave new world.

Now you might wonder why on earth I would start off with a tutorial on Polygon wallets and Metamask and who could blame you? The reason is simple. As part of the truehandle team, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to claim their handles!

Now let’s get back to business. truehandle is launching on the Polygon network which means that to purchase a handle, I’ll need:

1. A Polygon wallet (we’ll use MetaMask in this case)
2. Enough Matic (Polygon currency) in said wallet

Setting up your Polygon wallet in MetaMask

For those of you who might not know, MetaMask is a crypto wallet app that is famous for its simple UI making it easier to onboard beginners (yay!). It has a browser extension and an app so you can get started with it whether you’re on desktop or mobile.

We’ll walk through setting up MetaMask and then adding the Polygon network to it. Setting up MetaMask automatically gives you access to an Ethereum wallet. Similarly, adding a network on Metamask gives you access to a wallet on that network.

If you already have MetaMask, feel free to skip to the second part.

Setting up MetaMask

1. Download the MetaMask Chrome browser extension — from the official MetaMask website! If you’re on mobile, download the app for iOS or Android. Always make sure the app’s developer is MetaMask itself!
2. Once you open up the extension/app it has a pretty straightforward onboarding you can follow. First choose to either import an existing wallet or like me create a new one.
3. Choose a secure password — this will only be used to restrict access to the wallet on your device. If you lose this one (don’t) you’ll still be able to access your wallet thanks to the seedphrase you’ll get in the next step.
4. Now after setting up a password you’ll get a pretty nifty video on seed phrases. If you’re not familiar with them I highly recommend reading through this step or watching the video. MetaMask does a pretty good job of explaining why these are so important.
5. Seed phrase phase (repeat that 10 times in a row) — this phase is arguably the most important. Lose this one and you lose any crypto you might have in your wallet forever. No joke. Follow the instructions in the two steps and…
6. …you’re done! Congratulations, you now officially have an Ethereum crypto wallet. Now upwards and onwards to the next important setup.

Adding Polygon to your wallet

By default, MetaMask is connected to the Ethereum network. You’ll want to add the Polygon network so that you can have a Polygon wallet and use it, in my case, to purchase a handle.

1. Open the browser extension and click on the network dropdown menu (where it says ‘ Ethereum Mainnet) and click Add Network. If you’re on the app, go to the hamburger menu in the top left > Settings > Networks > Add Network.
2. You can find the details you need to fill into this form in the Polygon documentation under ‘Add the Polygon network manually’ . Click Save when you’re done.

3. Done! See, that was easy right? You can now switch back and forth between the Ethereum and Polygon networks/wallets by using the network dropdown.

Adding Matic to your MetaMask Polygon wallet

Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to start getting some currency in that wallet!

Purchasing Matic

Fun fact, you can buy Matic straight from MetaMask by simply clicking ‘Buy’ and following the steps indicated. Make sure you are on the right network first. If you choose this option, you are now the proud owner of a funded Polygon MetaMask wallet! This is by far the easiest and quickest option if you are not familiar with exchanges. However, the transaction fee is quite high so it’s also the most expensive option.

Now, if you do want to enter the wondrous world of exchanges and be cheaper off (definitely a level up in terms of complexity) then keep on reading.

Before we dive into the how, we need a little sidebar on Matic. Matic as a token exists on both the Ethereum and the Polygon networks. Why and how that works will be a story for another time but it’s important for you to know this because it’s really hard to figure out if you’re buying Matic on the Ethereum or Polygon network on exchanges. Good news though, for all intents and purposes they are the same token, have the same value but they just live in a different place.

Bought on the wrong network? That’s ok, you can transfer Matic from the Ethereum to the Polygon network but it requires a few more steps.
How will you know if you bought the wrong one? When you withdraw the Matic to your wallet, check which wallet was funded by toggling back and forth between your networks on MetaMask.
But you don’t have an Ethereum wallet! Yes you do :) When you set up your MetaMask, you automatically got one (go to MetaMask and choose Ethereum Main Net in the network dropdown).

Anyway, the easiest thing to do is to find an exchange that allows you to withdraw Matic to Polygon directly. There might be more but Binance seems like a good option because you can purchase Matic and withdraw it to the network of your choice.

Pro tip: if you want to download their app, go via their official website to make sure you have the right one.

If you already have an account on an exchange, you’ll know what to do. If not, choose an exchange and set up an account. You’ll need to verify it with some personal information before being able to make any transactions.

Once your account is setup, you can choose to either buy crypto directly by card or deposit EUR/USD into your Binance wallet to then buy the crypto of your choice.

Please note it can take a little time for your euros/dollars to end up in your exchange wallet if you choose the transfer option. Once they appear, you can start purchasing crypto!

Search for Matic and you should get the right one. Decide how much you want to buy and you are in the crypto business.

Transferring Matic from your exchange to MetaMask

Last but not least, once you have successfully purchased Matic, you’ll want to transfer them to your MetaMask wallet. Why? Because that’s how you’re going to be able to buy NFTs.

Go to your wallet and choose to withdraw. In Binance, you’ll find this under Wallet > Fiat and Spot > Withdraw Crypto. You’ll then be given the choice crypto you want to withdraw (Matic).

Here comes the super important part — it’ll ask you the address you want to withdraw it to. To find your address, go to MetaMask, make sure you are on the right network, and under the name of your account and amount that’s on it, you’ll find your wallet address which you should copy paste straight into the form on the exchange. This is really crucial because if you type the address wrong, your transfer will go to some super lucky unsuspecting other person and you will never be able to get it back. Always copy paste.

Choose the withdrawal network (Polygon).

You’ll then need to decide how much you want to withdraw and the exchange will then calculate the transaction fee and display it. Once you’ve double checked everything, click Withdraw and you’re done.

The transfer can take some time so hang tight. If you’re really keen to know what’s going on, you can follow the transfer on polygonscan. Once it’s transferred, you’re ready to start shopping.

Did you have any issues while running through this article? Did I miss any steps? Let me know in the comments! Happy shopping!