MetaMask has always been the go-to wallet for accessing the Ethereum network. However, you can now connect MetaMask to the Binance Smart Chain, for accessing decentralized apps and DeFi that support it.
Users are getting increasingly frustrated with the sky-high prices when interacting with the Ethereum network and are now searching for ways to reduce their costs. One way is by avoiding the Ethereum blockchain altogether by using Dapps such as PancakeSwap or Burgerswap to exchange your assets, yield farm, or vote on proposals on alternative blockchains. One such blockchain is the Binance Smart Chain built for cross-chain compatibility with Binance Chain, the home of the BNB token.
In the tutorial, I will explain how to connect MetaMask wallet to the BSC (Binance Smart Chain). For more information on the Binance Smart Chain, you can also check out the Binance Academy.
Table of Contents
How to Connect Binance Smart Chain to MetaMask Tutorial
What is MetaMask Wallet?
MetaMask is a crypto wallet and gateway to blockchain-based apps. MetaMask is available as a browser extension for the likes of Chrome, FireFox, and Brave. Traditionally used on the Ethereum network, MetaMask can also be customized to connect to the likes of Binance Smart Chain, Polygon and Avalanche Network.
If you would like to find out more information, check out our step-by-step MetaMask tutorial here.
What is the Binance Smart Chain (BSC)?
The Binance Smart Chain is a blockchain created by Binance for developing high-performance decentralised applications. Whilst Binance already had the Binance chain that was created to issue, use and exchange digital assets on the blockchain. They had optimised this for ultra-fast trading which meant they had to make certain trade off’s, one of which was it wasn’t as flexible in terms of programming as other blockchains.
Therefore, the Binance Smart Chain was built to change this whilst also running alongside the Binance Chain, to ensure that users could get the best of both worlds.
Due to the affordability and speed of transactions on the Binance Smart Chain a number of Decentralised Applications or (DApps) now run on the Binance Smart Chain. These include the likes of PancakeSwap, Ramp Defi and Paraswap.
Binance BNB Tokens
The Binance Coin (BNB) was launched by Binance Exchange in 2017 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. However, BNB is now the native currency of Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
BNB has several uses which include; reduced trading fees, increasing your Binance account tier, spent as cryptocurrency and being used to pay for fees on the Binance Chain.
The Binance Coin BNB has seen huge growth since its launch, which has been helped along by several rounds of token burn events. BNB is currently sitting at the number 3 spot on CoinMarketCap and can be traded in over 300 trading pairs across 120 exchanges including the likes of Binance Exchange, FTX and Huobi Global.
How to Connect Binance Smart Chain to MetaMask
Below are the details that you will need to add to your MetaMask account to add the Binance Smart Chain. However, before transferring to the network, please also double-check these with the Binance Academy blog to ensure they are up to date.
Step 1: Download MetaMask
To start to connect Metamask to the Binance Smart Chain, make sure that MetaMask is installed on your device. Installing MetaMask will not be discussed in this thread but you can check out our tutorial to see how to set up MetaMask on your selected device.
Step 2: Add Network to MetaMask
Once MetaMask is installed, open your MetaMask wallet. After opening the wallet, click the dropdown beside the name of the connected network (usually set to Ethereum Mainnet). Then select “Add Network“.
Step 3: Add Binance Smart Chain to MetaMask
You will be directed to the “Add Network” page. To proceed, type in (or copy and paste) the below information to the appropriate box. You may view the image below for reference.
- Network Name: Smart Chain
- New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
- ChainID: 56
- Symbol: BNB
- Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com
Step 4: Save
After inputting, click save and your MetaMask wallet is connected to the Binance Smart Chain. Congratulations!
How to Send BNB to Binance Smart Chain on MetaMask
If you want to transfer BNB tokens from Binance Exchange to Metamask, you will first need to follow the above steps set out in this tutorial. Once that’s completed you can then follow below to send BNB.
- Step 1: Open up your Binance wallet within the exchange, select Binance (BNB), and click withdraw.
- Step 2: Open MetaMask on your browser. Make sure you have the Binance Smart Chain network selected before you copy your address.
- Step 3: Paste the MetaMask address you copied, in the address field on Binance Exchange. Choose the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) Network and enter the amount you want to transfer, then submit the transaction.
- Step 4: I recommend using 2FA as an extra layer of security, so if you have this in place, you should be asked to confirm the transaction. If you don’t have a YubiKey, I recommend looking into this to increase security.
- Step 5: Once you have completed security verification you should receive a confirmation email of your withdrawal.
- Step 6: As the transaction was sent via Binance Smart Chain, the transaction should go through within a couple of minutes and at a very low transaction fee.
Binance.US
Unfortunately, Binance.com isn’t available for users who live in the United States and are instead permitted to use Binance.US. Some of the downfalls with Binance.US is the number of trading pairs available and the ability to swap or take part in liquidity farming on PancakeSwap or BakerySwap.
However, Binance has released a Binance Chain Wallet extension for chrome browsers, that works for both the Binance Chain (BC) and Binance Smart Chain (BSC). However, users have experienced issues when using the Binance Chain Wallet, so just be curious when using this.
Another option I believe you can get around this is by disguising your location by using a VPN like ExpressVPN. This is a risk and not something I would recommend.
How to Bridge Binance Smart Chain Tokens
If you’re looking for ways to bridge your tokens. There are a few different ways to move your assets cross-chain. If you have a Binance account, you can withdraw your tokens on your required network. Alternatively, you can use sites such as the Celer cBridge that allows you to bridge your tokens from multiple chains such as Ethereum, Abitrum or Binance Smart Chain.
Just be aware that if you are bridging from the Ethereum network that you will need to pay for the transaction fees in ETH and at the time of writing this article, these are very high.
I am facing error of unsupportrd chain I’d, although I have carefully entered all the information and chain I’d as 56, please guide
Sorry for the late reply… Did you manage to resolve this?