One of the biggest issues in crypto today that is mentioned everywhere is how to easily onboard someone into the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space. A lot of people like to say that it's too difficult to easily explain it or that a lot of people just don't get it. Autonio is here to make it easy and we're going to walk you through it step by step.
Creating a MetaMask Wallet
The first step you’re going to take is to create a MetaMask account. Be sure to write down your passphrase on a piece of paper and lock it away in a safe place. This passphrase is the key to your wallet, whomever has it has the ability to open it so do not share it with anyone. You’ll want to follow the instructions in our guide to create one: Creating a MetaMask account.
You now have a web 3.0 Ethereum wallet! This same wallet can also be used for layer 2 protocols such as Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Loopring to name a few.
Adding Polygon and BSC to your wallet
For this example you’re going to withdraw MATIC tokens from binance to the Polygon/Matic Network.
Head over to beta.smartdex.app
Next, connect your newly created MetaMask wallet to the exchange following our guide: Login to Smartdex
Once you are logged in on Smartdex, you can easily add the Polygon or Binance Smart Chain to your MetaMask wallet by following the guide: Switching Networks.
It’s as easy as just a few clicks!
Ethereum chain transactions can be fairly expensive in comparison to the layer 2 protocols and it’s one of the biggest challenges in onboarding new users into DeFi. Paying $30-60 to make a transfer and upwards of $100 plus to make a trade isn’t doable for those without a lot of capital. With Polygon transactions costing roughly 1-2 cents per transaction we will use this as our way into DeFi.
As Binance allows withdrawals to Polygon/MATIC and BSC directly in most of the world and to ETH and BSC in the United States. Other large centralized exchanges vary so be 100% certain when withdrawing funds that you have selected the correct network as there is no way to reverse the process.
Transferring Funds from Exchange wallet to Metamask
The next step is to make sure you have the funds needed for “gas” in your wallet. Gas is what is needed to fuel (pay for) any transaction done on the corresponding blockchain or layer 2. ETH for the Ethereum network, MATIC for Polygon, or BNB for Binance Smart Chain.
- Go to your wallet on your exchange account.
- First you need to buy some MATIC tokens as they are necessary to pay for “gas” and you can use MATIC once on Smartdex to also exchange for other cryptocurrencies.
- Once you have your MATIC tokens, click on Wallet.
- In your wallet, select MATIC/Polygon
- In the next screen click “Withdraw”
- Under Network, select Polygon/MATIC as the network to Withdraw to.
- After Selecting Polygon Network, open MetaMask and Copy your wallet address at the top of the web app. You can click the double square icon to copy the entire wallet address.
- Paste it into the Recipient address field.
- Select the MATIC tokens you would like to transfer, Preview withdrawal, and then Confirm the Withdrawal.
As transfers are not instantaneous, you can go to your Wallet and check the pending transactions. Once completed, you’re now ready to make your first DeFi trading transaction!
Making your first Swap/Trade
Now that you’ve got your MATIC tokens in your MetaMask wallet, it’s time to make a swap/trade.
Head over to Beta.Smartdex.app and just like in the above guide, be sure you connect with your MetaMask wallet.
Select the Polygon Network on the left side of your screen in the network drop down menu.
As you have transferred MATIC tokens to Polygon, you have the necessary “gas” to pay for swaps.
You can use these MATIC tokens to swap for another token such as NIOX, Autonio’s token for the NIOX Suite.
Be sure when swapping to not sell all of your MATIC as each transaction will use a little bit of MATIC in order to pay for gas.
Now follow the easy to follow instructions on our guide: Making a Swap.
Continuing your Journey in DeFi
There you have it, you’ve entered Decentralized Finance (DeFi)! That was pretty easy wouldn’t you say.
Smartdex 2.0 makes DeFi easier than ever to use. You can follow our guides to bridge your tokens over to Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain at this time or even make cross-chain swaps to swap a token from one network to another. Soon you will be able to invest in different DeFi liquidity campaigns directly through Smartdex as well as take advantage of our Earn section to earn rewards.
Thank you and please join us in our Telegram or Discord if you have any questions or are looking for help or advice.
Have fun and happy trading with Autonio!