Metamask As The Most Solid Crypto Wallet In 2021?
Easy-to-use, flexible, and has a pretty 3D orange fox looking at you when using it, yes, Metamask has everything to charm new users. But is it safe? What is it made for exactly? How to use it? Let’s find out in our following guide.
What’s Metamask?
Metamask is an Etherum virtual wallet that stores your cryptocurrency information. With the latter, you can send, add, or swap different tokens and ETH easily. It works as an add-on or extension on your web browser, in parallel with the trading platforms where you buy your favorite cryptos. The supported web browsers are as follows:
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- Brave
Moreover, Metamask also has its own mobile application, that will make great use of your fingerprint scan, if you have that feature on your smartphone.
Is Metamask safe?
First and foremost, you should see Metamask more as a bridge, and not as your one-stop solution for managing all of your ETH-based cryptocurrencies. In fact, Metamask is not the most secure place to store your virtual coins, as it is always and absolutely online.
Phishing sites could steal your username and password while you’re surfing on the web with your Metamask extension still opened. So the best advice would be to only open the extension when you actually need it. Also, we highly recommend using Metamask with MyEtherWallet or a ledger, so you can safely cold store your coins.
How to install Metamask?
In order to be able to start using Metamask from the comfort of your preferred web browser, follow the steps down below:
- Go on the Metamask official website (with one of the previously mentioned web browsers)
- Add the add-on/extension to your web browser by clicking ‘Get Chrome Extension’ for example
- The cute fox icon of Metamask will appear, click on it!
- Then, click on the Create New Vault button
- Thereafter, you will receive 12 seed phrases, so save them somewhere safe, they will be useful if you need to recover your account
- And you’re all set now, you can add Etherum in Metamask
What’s the difference between a ledger and a virtual wallet?
If you didn’t know, there are actually many ways you can store your cryptocurrency. There are web-based solutions, which are very popular since they are easy to use, but there are also safer (and more expensive) solutions.
Furthermore, you can store coins in a ledger, which is the best and most secure way to protect your crypto, as it is a hardware cold storing device with its own operating system. This OS is mainly designed to protect the stored assets.
In all cases, the best way to approach Metamask and other web-based crypto wallets is to combine them with other solutions. That way, you can get the advantage of all their best features and strengths, and your cryptocurrencies won’t be stuck all in one place.
Read more: https://zycrypto.com/metamask-as-the-most-solid-crypto-wallet-in-2021/
Text source: ZyCrypto
