How to create a wallet

Welcome to Web3! Here we are going to walk through how to set up MetaMask.

MetaMask is a non-custodial wallet, meaning you have full responsibility for your assets. The wallet is stored locally on your hard drive, so you must take care to protect yourself. You are in essence acting as your own bank.

1. THE EXTENSION

MetaMask works in Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Edge browsers. In order to download it, go to the extension store for that browser or the official MetaMask website. Be aware that if you search for MetaMask on search engines like Google, phishing ads for MetaMask sometimes appear at the top. You definitely don’t want to download MetaMask from anywhere but the official source.

The official MetaMask website is: https://metamask.io/

2. THE SETUP

Once you install the extension, you will click on Create a wallet.

Create a password. Make sure that it is secure (numbers and letters) and is not the same password as your other accounts.

Then you will see a short video. Make sure to watch it fully to learn about your secret recovery phrase. Read the instructions as well to secure your wallet. This part is critical to avoid getting hacked.

After you watch the video, you will see a screen that looks like this. Get out a pen and paper and write down the secret words. Then store them in your secure place of choice. Be sure to keep them off the internet. Remember, if you ever lose the secret words, you should consider your wallet compromised and make a new one immediately!

You will then be asked to confirm your secret recovery phrase before moving on.

Welcome to your new MetaMask account!

On the top right you can see which network you are on currently (“Ethereum Mainnet”) and switch between networks.

Your public address is underneath “Account 1”. You can copy this and share it with anyone to receive assets—it will not compromise the security of your account.

To find your MetaMask when you are browsing around, just click on the puzzle piece at the top right and you will see it in the extensions. You will have to input your password (not your seed phrase) every time you lock the wallet or close your browser.