MetaMask has long been the go-to passport for accessing the sprawling Ethereum landscape. But, with minimal effort, anyone can configure it to point towards Binance Smart Chain. This allows them to enjoy years of development put into making MetaMask an indispensable tool for anyone interacting with decentralized applications.
Installing and setting up MetaMask
MetaMask can be downloaded on Chrome and Firefox, or on iOS and Android if you’re a mobile user. For the purposes of this tutorial, we’ll use the Chrome version, but the instructions will be more or less the same for every platform. Firstly, you’ll want to head over to the MetaMask Download page. From there, select whichever platform you’re using, and follow the steps to install it on your device. Easy!
Next, follow along with the setup specified by the app. Go ahead and click Create a Wallet. Write down the backup seed phrase somewhere secret (preferably not on an Internet-connected device). Without this phrase, your funds can’t be recovered if your device is damaged or lost. Confirm that you’ve written them down on the next page. And that’s it! You should now see your wallet, ready to send and receive funds.
Configuring the wallet
You might notice straight away that we’re still dealing with an Ethereum wallet. At best, this won’t work with Binance Smart Chain DApps. At worst, you could lose funds by sending them to addresses you can’t actually use. Let’s change that. We want to access the Settings to point the wallet towards Binance Smart Chain nodes.
To do this, click on the network selector at the top of the metamask wallet. A list of several networks will appear in the drop-down, most of these are Ethereum test networks. To add the Binance Smart Chain simply click on “Custom RPC” which will bring up a Network settings page where you can add a new network to Metamask. It’s important to note that there are two networks we can add here: the testnet or the mainnet. Below are the parameters to fill in for mainnet.
- Network Name: Smart Chain
- New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
- ChainID: 56
- Symbol: BNB
- Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com
Once you Save the Network and return to the main view, you’ll notice two things: the network has automatically been set to the one you just entered, and the units are no longer denominated in ETH, but in BNB. To switch back to the Ethereum network, simply click on the network drop-down and select Ethereum Mainnet.
You can now use metamask and your current wallet to manage transactions on the Binance Smart Chain, including purchasing BNB coins and using them to swap for other BNB derivatives. To get started use the ETH <-> BNB bridge at https://www.binance.org/en/bridge
Source: Binance Academy
https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/connecting-metamask-to-binance-smart-chain
