Wondering how to add Solana to metamask? The reality is you can’t add Solana to Metamask because Solana isn’t compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Connecting to Solana requires using a wallet like Phantom, XDeFi, TrustWallet, or SolFlare.
Metamask is a blockchain wallet application that allows you to connect to blockchains that use the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Since Solana doesn’t use EVM technology, we’ll need to find other ways to connect to the blockchain. In this article, we’ll look at how to add Solana to Metamask, how to connect to the Solana blockchain, what makes Solana different, and how to access Solana on EVM blockchains.
How Do I Connect To Solana?
The easiest and fastest way to connect to Solana is by using the Phantom wallet. Phantom is a popular wallet in the Solana ecosystem, which you can add to almost any browser as an extension. If you’re familiar with MetaMask, you’ll feel comfortable using Phantom as the idea and user interface are highly similar.
Once you have Phantom added to your browser, click “Create new wallet.” Next, you’ll need to create a secure password and find somewhere safe to store your secret phrase. Your secret phrase will give you access to your funds on any computer in the world – as long as you have the password and the secret phrase in order.
Now that your Phantom wallet is set up, you can receive Solana tokens from centralized exchanges (like Coinbase, KuCoin, Binance, or BitMex) and begin using the Solana blockchain. Keeping your Solana tokens in your phantom wallet allows you to interact with projects on the blockchain that haven’t been listed by centralized exchanges yet. Being a direct participant in the Solana ecosystem gives you the opportunity to be early to projects that will go up 100x or more.
Another easy way to connect to the Solana blockchain is by using the SolFlare wallet. SolFlare is a wallet similar to Phantom, but you can interact with SolFlare in your web browser instead of as an extension.
Once you’re on the onboarding page, click “I need a new wallet.” On the next page, save your secret phrase in a safe place. You’ll need to type the secret phrase in the same order to confirm you have it saved.
The next step is creating a secure password for your SolFlare wallet. Use a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols to create a strong password. With your password created, you can start using the SolFlare wallet in your browser.
Why Doesn’t Solana Work With Metamask?
The design of the Solana blockchain differs from Ethereum in many ways. Ethereum uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to help the blockchain run smart contracts. Smart contracts on Ethereum are written in the programming language called Solidity. Metamask makes it easy to connect to blockchains like Arbitrum and Avalanche which support EVM.
In contrast, Solana allows developers to write digital applications (dApps) in Rust, C#, and C++. The Solana blockchain uses a combination of Proof of History (PoH) and a practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (pBFT) consensus algorithm called Tower BFT to achieve high transaction throughput while maintaining low latency. The design is significantly different from Ethereum, which is why Solana doesn’t work with an EVM wallet like Metamask.
How To Add Solana To Metamask On EVM Blockchains
Despite Soalna being fundamentally different from Ethereum, there are still ways to hold Solana on EVM blockchains. On Binance Smart Chain, you can hold wrapped Solana (wSOL), which is a 1:1 representation of Solana.
On the Avalanche blockchain, you can hold wrapped Solana, which represents Solana tokens transferred from the Wormhole bridge.
Wrapped Solana is also available on the Polygon side-chain. wSol on Polygon comes from the Wormhole bridge.
These different iterations of the SOL token work similarly to how USDT is available on every blockchain.
How To Add Solana To Metamask