Every week I'll be covering a different piece of infrastructure in the crypto world. That could be the latest decentralized application (dApp), protocol, game, NFT or currency.
For this week, I'm going to start with the dApp that I for one, use the most. It's the dApp that is your gateway to the crypto world. The gateway to holding and storing your assets. The gateway to exploring NFTs and DeFi.
It's also one of the oldest and most overlooked dApps within the Ethereum ecosystem. That dApp is none other than, Metamask.
The simplest way to explain Metamask is that its a browser plugin, that acts as both a wallet and a way for your to interact with the Ethereum network. Think of it as a 'bridge' between your browser and the world of decentralized applications.
It is also a non-custodial wallet. What that means is that your assets aren't transferred to a third party. Unlike storing your bitcoin or ethereum on an exchange like Coinbase.
With Metamask, your assets always remain in your control. This is because you control your private keys.
Now why is Metamask so powerful?
Without Metamask, you would need to install and run your own Ethereum node to transact with other dApps on the Ethereum network. You'd have to understand the backend of how these systems work and you'd have to get pretty technical.
I like to think of Metamask as the Netscape of the blockchain web.
With Metamask, you can 'log in' and interact with any dApp built on the ethereum blockchain.
To give you a sense of how that looks for me. I connect my Metamask account everyday, to a range of other applications, like:
SushiSwap
Uniswap
Zerion
Nifty Gateway
CryptoPunks
Neon District
KeeperDao
Pickle Finance
Gitcoin
I'll cover many of those in the coming weeks, but for now. If you want to open up the gateway to the crypto world, start by downloading and installing Metamask.
For a how-to guide on using Metamask: visit Metamask or check out this Coingecko guide.
A question rather than a comment. Do you have a view/preference on a hardware crypto wallet vs software and a top-3 on hardware wallets ?