This guide is meant for people who want to set up a wallet to use DApps (decentralized apps) on the Polygon Network, formerly known as the Matic Network. Connecting to the network will be demonstrated in this tutorial. This is meant to be followed on a desktop or laptop computer that runs Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Brave. If you already have MetaMask installed on your browser, you can skip to the Add Polygon Network section.
The Polygon Network allows for cheaper and faster transactions than on Ethereum. It is one of the most widely used scaling solutions, with platforms from OpenSea and Uniswap to Decentraland supporting it, along with many others. You can check a much more comprehensive list here.
MetaMask
MetaMask is one of the most popular wallets for Ethereum and other similar networks like Polygon. It allows for the user to have custody of their wallet without having to download the whole blockchain onto their computer. This makes setup quick and easily accessible to more people. If you have purchased a Ledger Nano hardware wallet, you can follow this guide. If not, continue with the current guide.
Installation
First, install MetaMask on their website at metamask.io/download. This will lead you to the web store for your browser where you will install the MetaMask extension. Once it is installed, you can begin the setup.
Create Wallet
Begin by clicking “Get Started” and then choosing “Create a Wallet” to start from the beginning as a new user. After agreeing or disagreeing with their data usage, create a password that you will remember, because you will have to enter it again when you open your wallet. This is only a local password and doesn’t protect you if your seed phrase, which you will find out later, gets stolen.
Pay attention to everything on the “Secure your wallet” page. This is all very important and can lead to you losing everything in your wallet if you don’t follow everything here. MetaMask Support or anyone else should never ask for your seed phrase. Don’t enter it on any random webpages, even if the page looks like the official website for MetaMask. Keep it safe! Once you have written it down, follow the next page to enter it again, which confirms that you have it safely written down. Now, read the tips and you are good to go!
Add Polygon Network
Now, add the Polygon Network to MetaMask by going to polygonscan.com and scrolling down to the bottom until you see a button labeled “Add Polygon Network.” Once you click this, click “Approve” to add the network and then “Switch network” to actually use Polygon.
Get tokens
You can begin by sending MATIC tokens to the wallet that you just set up. Go into a different wallet or exchange that you already have your tokens in. (Note: Some exchanges such as CoinBase and Gemini don’t support the Polygon network that you just connected to. These exchanges only support MATIC tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Make sure to select the correct network if the exchange you’re using supports it. For example, KuCoin has the option to select MATIC as the network to withdraw on, rather than Ethereum.) Then, click on “Account 1” near the top of the window shown to copy your address.
tip.cc supports the Polygon network. If you have any MATIC in your tip.cc wallet, you can follow the rest of this guide to withdraw. Since the fees on Polygon are extremely low compared to Ethereum, you shouldn’t need to withdraw too much just to pay gas to use the network. Run the $withdraw matic command and follow the prompts. This is where you can paste the address that you copied from your wallet.
Have fun
Once you have withdrawn tokens to your wallet, you can check your balance and transactions in your MetaMask wallet or by pasting your address on PolygonScan. Now that you have tokens in your wallet, the possibilities are endless! Explore dApps, create one yourself, or just enjoy the freedom of owning your own crypto.
