In this tutorial, we will introduce you to MetaMask and Optimism, and how to add Optimism to MetaMask.
About Metamask and Optimism
What is MetaMask?
MetaMask, owned by ConsenSys, is a crypto wallet used to interact with the Ethereum blockchain, available for users as a web browser extension and a mobile wallet. As a crypto gateway, MetaMask can be used to connect to other blockchains besides Ethereum.
In November 2021, MetaMask surpassed the 21M Monthly Active Users milestone, making it the most popular Ethereum-based wallet. Later on, in March 2022, it raised $450M in a Series D round, valuing it at $7B.
Notable features of MetaMask:
- Friendly and easy-to-use UI.
- Easy to interact with other supported Dapps.
- An in-app DEX aggregator that allows users to swap ERC20 tokens natively.
- Data is owned by users who hold the passphrase.
What is Optimism?
Optimism is a Layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum to reduce gas fees, process new transactions faster, thereby providing a smoother user experience while maintaining security from the Ethereum original chain. Optimism is an Optimistic Roll-up project, using a fraud-proof security mechanism.
In simple terms, it allows most transactions and tasks to be processed off-chain in an L2 protocol and lets the Ethereum Network verify them on-chain.
Optimism uses ETH as the native token, serving as the gas fee (the fee you need to pay to the network).
Highlights of Optimism:
- Higher performance: Lower transaction fees (50x-150x cheaper), lower latency, higher speed, high throughput, and more ERC20 token transfer speed compared to Ethereum.
- Composability: Optimism can communicate with the L1 blockchain in a blink of an eye.
- Scalability: With OVM, Dapps on Ethereum can migrate to Optimism with only a few modifications.
- Security: Optimism processes the transactions then sends them to Ethereum. It inherits the decentralized network of Ethereum’s nodes that make up a firm security guarantee.
Since Optimism is an EVM-compatible blockchain, it can be connected via MetaMask. Using MetaMask lets users interact with Dapps on Optimism such as Uniswap V3 to swap tokens.
Furthermore, Coin98 Super App also supports Optimism. You can create an Optimism wallet on the Coin98 Super App.
Learn more: How to create an Optimism Wallet on Coin98 Super App
How to add Optimism to Metamask in 3 steps
Metamask is available for download on mobile (iOS and Android) and web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Edge.
This article will introduce how to connect Metamask to Optimism on the web browser, Chrome.
Step 1: Installing MetaMask Wallet
- Go to metamask.io/download.
- Click “Install MetaMask for Chome” to download the extension.
- Install MetaMask to Chrome and create a MetaMask wallet.
- Log in to your MetaMask wallet.
Your MetaMask will look like this if you successfully log in to MetaMask.
After MetaMask has been installed, you'll see this as the default user interface. Don't forget to store the passphrase someplace safe and secret so that you can recover the wallet if you forget the password.
Note: Passwords and paraphrases should never be shared or revealed to anyone.
Step 2: Connecting Metamask to Optimism
After logging in, MetaMask will set the Ethereum blockchain as default. To switch to using Optimism on MetaMask, we will walk you through the following steps.
At the top left corner of the MetaMask interface, select “Ethereum Mainnet” to drop down the menu, then click the “Add Network” button.
The web will direct you to the Settings page, where you can add a blockchain network. We will manually add Optimism Network to MetaMask as we first use MetaMask. We just switch Optimism to other blockchains at hand in later usage.
Optimism:
- Network Name: Optimism Ethereum
- New RPC URL: https://mainnet.optimism.io/
- ChainID: 10
- Symbol: ETH
- Block Explorer URL: https://optimistic.etherscan.io/
Fill in the network details and click Save.
Well done, you have successfully connected the Optimism Network to MetaMask.
Step 3: Switching between blockchains on MetaMask
In the previous steps, you are introduced to connecting Optimism to MetaMask. If you prefer to connect to other blockchains, click “Optimism Ethereum” as in the picture below to select your network.
Conclusion
That is all you need to know about how to connect Optimism to MetaMask. Coin98 Insights hopes the article is helpful to your crypto journey. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.
