How to buy Ethereum with MetaMask?

This blog will help you purchase ETH (Ethereum’s crypto-currency) using Metamask.

6 min readMar 23, 2021

Setting up your MetaMask wallet

MetaMask is an Ethereum extension for your browser. It connects you to Ethereum applications (called dApps) easily and securely. MetaMask is also a digital wallet: you can store digital currencies in it and use it to buy…an album for instance!

To get started, all you need to do is install a Chrome extension. This three minute guide will show you how to do that.

Step 1: Click here to go to the Chrome Webstore and add the MetaMask plugin.

Step 2: Click “Add Extension” to confirm and MetaMask will be added.

Step 3: Click “Create a wallet”

Step 4: Click “I Agree” after reading through the info.

Step 5: Create Password

Step 6: Secret backup phrase (Write this phrase down, and store in a safe location)

Now that you’ve securely set up your MetaMask wallet, it’s time to dive right in and explore Web3. By the end of this article, you will know how to use MetaMask Mobile’s built-in browser, buy ETH, and send and receive tokens anywhere in the world.

This article will:

📱Help you get comfortable with interacting with Web3 on Mobile
💰Show you how to buy and receive ETH and find custom tokens
🕸️ Explain the difference between Ethereum Main Network and other Test Networks

Please ensure that you’ve followed all the security steps outlined in this post before we get started.

Not only does MetaMask offer a non-custodial wallet that holds your Ethereum based assets, but it allows you to peruse thousands of decentralized applications.

What is MetaMask?

Please ensure that you’ve followed all the security steps outlined in this post before we get started.

Download MetaMask Mobile

Head to the App Store, Google Play, or the MetaMask website to download MetaMask. If you are downloading from the MetaMask website, be sure to type MetaMask.io in your browser’s address bar.

Download and install the app. Import your wallet from your seed phrase (which, if you followed our advice, is stored in your password manager, on a piece of paper hidden away, or even on a Seed Wallet). Once you’re in, you will see a balance of your ERC-20 and ERC 721 tokens.

The default home screen will automatically be the Ethereum Main Network, which is what most applications use. Under “Wallet,” you’ll also notice that you can choose between the Ropsten Test Network, Kovan Test Network, Rinkeby Test Network, and Goerli Test Network.

These test networks are meant to ease development, allowing developers to test their products, or sometimes, for users to test out applications. Think of this as play money. Test it out by acquiring test tokens at a “faucet.” We will stick with the Ethereum Main Network for this exercise, where the majority of value on Ethereum transacts.

Browse Web3

Now it’s time to explore the decentralized web. From this page, tap the hamburger menu icon on the screen’s left-hand side and click on Browser. Seems familiar, right? MetaMask Mobile contains a powerful browser like the ones you use every day, except this one can also access decentralized applications (dApps). Type in the name of the website that you want to visit in the search bar.

💡 You don’t need cryptocurrency to begin browsing Web3.

Notice how when you visit a Web3 site, you can connect your MetaMask account? MetaMask will never share your public address with a website unless you give it permission. This means you are always browsing privately and control the data you share with an application. It also makes it easy to browse between different applications without creating a new account each time.

Into other dApps? You have many others to choose from; visit State of the Dapps for a comprehensive list.

Ethereum Stats as of Feb 17, 2021

🧮 Total DApps — 3,060
🧑🏽‍🚀Users (24h) — 84.94k
⛓️ Transactions (24hr) — 216.89k
📈 Volume (24hr) — USD $116,943,208
📋 # of contracts — 5.1k

Manage your digital assets

One of the foundational aspects of Ethereum is ether, or ETH, which is the fuel to pay to use the Ethereum tokens. If you want to do anything that involves smart contracts on Ethereum, you’ll need to buy some ETH.

MetaMask also supports every type of ERC-20 token, including stablecoins, such as USDT, USDC, and DAI, and other types of utility tokens that may be used for governance. The other major category of tokens that MetaMask supports is ERC-721 tokens, also known as NFTs, which can represent unique digital items, such as art, tickets, badges, game items, and so on.

What’s the best way to see what tokens are out there? Use your MetaMask browser to visit CoinGecko. It’s a handy site that ranks cryptocurrencies and tokens by their market cap and presents useful information about each project. You’ll notice that the majority of tokens in the top 100 are ERC-20s and are supported by MetaMask.

💡You won’t be able to buy Bitcoin (BTC) through MetaMask, as MetaMask is an Ethereum Wallet. There are plenty of other wallets for BTC.

Buying ETH with Fiat

Ok, now that you have a sense of what is out there, load up your wallet with some ETH. The quickest way is to press “Buy ETH” on the home screen of your wallet.

Head to your wallet homepage
Click Buy ETH.
You may purchase ETH with Apple Pay (US only), a credit card, or a bank transfer. MetaMask Mobile uses Transak to convert fiat currency into ETH, so you might have different restrictions depending on where you live. You can check out the countries Transak supports here.

I chose the bank transfer option.

⚠️ A slippage fee refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is executed. Slippage can occur at any time but is most prevalent during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used.

Once the transaction has been processed or “mined” on the Ethereum blockchain, your account’s balance in MetaMask should update in a few minutes after the transaction is mined on the Ethereum blockchain. You can check your transaction status on a block explorer like Etherscan, by clicking the pop-up link.
After you have ETH in your wallet, you now have gas to power transactions on Ethereum, which you can use to swap for other Ethereum-based tokens or NFTs. We’ll save that for another guide.

Receiving ETH from another wallet

Want to settle a bill with friends? Sending a transaction to someone across the world? MetaMask makes it easy to send ETH, stablecoins, ERC-20 tokens, or even an NFT to someone else’s MetaMask Wallet.

Open the MetaMask app
Select “add funds.” A QR code will appear, and your friend could scan it and instantly send you ETH or an ERC-20/721 token
Conversely, you could copy your address and send it to them by text or Airdrop.
Click on the account name to copy your address
Paste your address in the “recipient” field of the application from where you will be sending your ETH or tokens.