BSC Wallet Guide – How to Set Up a Binance Smart Chain Wallet

Besides Ethereum, many other programmable blockchains are worthy of being at the top of the leaderboard. One of these is Binance Smart Chain, which actually remains as one of the go-to options for devs looking to launch dApps (decentralized applications) or deploy crypto tokens quickly. This is not surprising because, unlike Ethereum gas fees, BSC offers exceptionally low fees. Thus, it’s an excellent alternative for projects looking to maximize their profits. Now, since most of the programming tasks in Binance Smart Chain development require a BSC wallet, you’ll want to pay close attention to the content of this BSC wallet guide. Afterward, you will have a solid understanding of BSC basics, and you’ll also know how to set up a Binance Smart Chain wallet quickly with Moralis.

Moving forward, we’ll show you how easy it is to set up your BSC wallet using one of the most popular Web3 wallets – MetaMask. Keep in mind that MetaMask for developers represents a powerful and useful tool for programmers. Furthermore, Web3 authentication, Web3 login, and Web3 authentication via email become a straightforward process when building dApps with MetaMask. Aside from using a proper BSC wallet, you can make your BSC programming a whole lot simpler by using the best Web3 backend platform – Moralis. This ultimate Web3 development platform (a.k.a. Firebase for crypto) lets you focus entirely on the frontend. As such, you get to create a great dApp UI and attract more users. At the same time, you end up saving more than 87% of development time.

What is a BSC Wallet?

It is always important to have a clear understanding of the basics before diving deeper. As such, we want to make sure that you can all answer the “what is a BSC wallet?” question confidently. Thus, let’s break down the “BSC” and “wallet” terms. As you’ve probably realized by now, “BSC” stands for Binance Smart Chain. The latter is the Binance blockchain that is intended for the development of dApps and smart contracts deployment. We’ll go into more details regarding BSC in the following section.

While you all know what a wallet is in the physical world, in our case, the word refers to a crypto wallet. Furthermore, crypto wallets can be divided into two groups: cold crypto wallets and hot crypto wallets. Cold wallets are offline storage (can even be a piece of paper), while hot wallets are online applications that allow you to interact with the Web3 realm. Some might believe that a BSC wallet refers to a cold crypto wallet intended to store the native token of Binance Chain and BSC – Binance Coin (BNB). However, it actually means a hot crypto wallet that serves the same purpose. In addition, it’s important to note that any crypto address that can be used to store BNB may be referred to as a BSC wallet. If you are interested in diving deeper into blockchain wallets, make sure to follow the “Web3 wallets” link mentioned earlier.  

Let us also point out that Binance has its own hot wallet in the form of a mobile app and a browser extension. The latter is a solid choice, especially if you use Binance’s crypto exchange. However, if you are a developer (or looking to become a blockchain developer), using MetaMask is often the preferred choice when selecting a crypto wallet.  

What is Binance Smart Chain?

Folks that are new to the crypto realm aren’t usually even aware that there is so much more to Binance than just a centralized exchange (CEX). Thus, we must point out that Binance hosts an extensive ecosystem of crypto products. This includes Binance Labs as an incubator for projects, Binance Launchpad for token sale events, enterprise exchange solutions with Binance Cloud, its own NFT marketplace, and much more. When all of this is considered, it’s hard to say that Binance is a CEX. It is more of a hybrid platform.

Furthermore, Binance Chain is Binance’s dedicated blockchain for processing and validating transactions within the Binance ecosystem. Also, this is the original chain from Binance, which was already designed to host BNB coins. Nonetheless, Binance Chain also enabled trading with full custody of private keys. However, Binance Chain was not built to facilitate smart contracts. As such, it didn’t support the development of decentralized applications. Hence, Binance Smart Chain (BSC) was introduced.

Unlike Binance Chain, BSC is a smart contract-enabled blockchain, and it operates parallel to Binance Chain. Furthermore, it is important to note that the two chains are fully interoperable. However, their infrastructures, on the other hand, are completely independent. As such, in the unlikely event of Binance Chain going down, BSC would continue to run uninterruptedly. 

Considering developers’ point of view, BSC feels quite similar to the Ethereum blockchain. The reason for that lies in the fact that BSC basically uses the same codebase as Ethereum. Of course, there are some adjusted and updated parameters, but the principles are the same. This also makes BSC EVM-compatible. Moreover, if we add the user’s perspective (they want speed and low fees), you shouldn’t ignore BSC.

BSC Wallet Guide

Since we are all about blockchain development and understand that some of it can seem daunting, we want to make it as simple as possible. This is the way to bring blockchain tech (Web3 tech stack) one step closer to mainstream adoption. As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that Moralis includes full MetaMask integration. Moreover, as mentioned previously, the latter makes the creation and launch of dApps and tokens a lot simpler. Thus, let this BSC wallet guide lead you through the process of setting up your first BSC wallet. In addition, we will show you how to add both the BSC mainnet and testnet to MetaMask. By learning to add the BSC network to MetaMask, you will be able to use the same principles to add other reputable chains to this Web3 wallet.  

MetaMask as a BSC Wallet

In the following sections, we’ll guide you through the process of downloading MetaMask, installing it, setting up your first wallet, and adding the BSC network. Essentially, these are the steps you need to complete to set up your first BSC wallet. If you already have the MetaMask extension installed on your browser, you can jump over to the “Adding BSC to MetaMask” section below.

Downloading and Installing MetaMask

1. Use your preferred browser and type in “MetaMask” into the search bar. Then, make sure to select the official MetaMask website:

2. Once on MetaMask’s homepage, click on the “Download” button in the top menu or the “Download now” button offered below that:

3. On the “Download” page, you will have an option to select between “Chrome”, “iOS”, and “Android”. Assuming that you plan to use your MetaMask wallet for development purposes, we’ll focus on the “Chrome” option. As such, make sure that the “Chrome” option is selected and click on the “Install MetaMask for Chrome” button: 

4. Once redirected to Google Chrome’s web store, you need to click on the “Add to Chrome” button:

5. Then, you’ll see a pop-up window asking for your confirmation. Thus, just click on the “Add extension” button:

6. If you’ve done all of the above steps properly, you should be greeted by MetaMask’s welcome message. This also concludes the MetaMask extension installation process. However, to create your new wallet, you need to click on the “Get Started” button:

Creating a New Wallet with MetaMask

After clicking on “Get Started”, you’ll be asked whether you are new to MetaMask. If you already have your wallet, you may use your secret recovery phrase to access it (click on “Import wallet”). If not, select “create a wallet”. As mentioned above, we’ll focus on creating a new wallet herein. 

1. Start by clicking on “Create a Wallet” on the right-hand side:

2. To complete the next step, you need to create your password and confirm it. Make sure to memorize your password or write it down and store it somewhere safe.

3. The MetaMask guide may be present with an instructional video as part of the process. We recommend watching it. However, the next vital step is all about the secret recovery phrase, which you need to store safely. Start by clicking on “click here to reveal secret words”:

4. After revealing your secret words, you need to copy/write them down in the correct order and store them somewhere safe. The safest practice is to hand-write them on a piece of paper (make sure to double-check the spelling). Then store that piece of paper somewhere safe. This is a vital step, so make sure to do it right. Also, note that the order of the words matters. Your secret recovery phrase will enable you to access your wallet from any other device or recover your account if needed. After writing your secret words down, click on “Next”.

5. You’ll be asked to enter your phrase from the previous step in the correct order. Do so to complete your wallet creation:

At this point, you’ve successfully created your MetaMask wallet. However, by default, MetaMask only supports the Ethereum testnets and mainnet. As such, you still need to add the BSC network to your wallet to actually get a BSC wallet. 

Adding BSC to MetaMask

When it comes to adding BSC (or any other blockchain) to MetaMask, you have two options:

1. Do it manually. This is a safer method and, therefore, the one we recommend.
2. Do it automatically. Use a reputable website that will add a particular chain with the click of a button. This is a faster method but potentially dangerous. If you decide to use this method, make sure you trust the website. There are many websites that offer this shortcut; however, we cannot vouch for them. Though, we can vouch for Moralis. As such, check out the instructions below.

How to Add a BSC Wallet to MetaMask Manually

1. Open your MetaMask extension, click on the “account” icon, and then select “Settings”:

2. Once on the settings page, select the “Networks” option:

3. To get a chance to enter BSC’s details (would be entered into the rounder rectangle above) manually, you need to click on the “Add Network” button.

4. Add the following details and click on the “Save” button. 
   1. Details to add BSC’s mainnet:

• Network Name: Smart Chain
• New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
• Chain ID: 56
• Symbol: BNB
• Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com

2. Details to add BSC’s testnet:

• Network Name: Smart Chain – Testnet
• New RPC URL: https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.binance.org:8545/
• Chain ID: 97
• Symbol: BNB
• Block Explorer URL: https://testnet.bscscan.com

How to Add a BSC Wallet to MetaMask Automatically

If you plan on using Moralis to speed up your dApp development, you’ll need to create your free Moralis account. As such, you’ll be able to access your Moralis admin area. This is where you’ll have the option to add a BSC wallet to your MetaMask with the click of a button. Here’s how:

1. Select the “Speedy Nodes” tab:

2. Click on “Endpoints” under “BSC Network” (see the image above).

3. In the pop-up window, you’ll see “Add to MetaMask” buttons for the mainnet and testnet. Click on the button for the network that you want to add:

4. The final step is to confirm network switching within MetaMask:

BSC Wallet Guide – How to Set Up a Binance Smart Chain Wallet – Summary

We’ve covered a lot of ground in this wallet guide for Binance Smart Chain. Thus, you now know what a BSC wallet is and how to set it up for developing purposes. Along the way, you’ve also learned some useful information about Binance Smart Chain and how it’s different from Binance Chain. Moreover, you’ve also learned about the ultimate Web3 development platform, Moralis. The latter enables you to create a BSC token or build BSC dApps in minutes without worrying about the backend. In addition, Moralis is also one of the best places to learn about all BSC-related things, such as BEP-20 and BscScan.

Furthermore, the Moralis YouTube channel and the Moralis blog are great sources to continue your free blockchain education. Both of these outlets host countless example projects and address many interesting crypto topics. For instance, some of our latest articles focus on upgradable smart contracts, Web3 data science, how to mint 10,000 NFTs, NFT game characters, Web3 gamification, React Native Web3, and what is the metaverse. However, if you are one of those eager individuals wanting to go full-time crypto sooner rather than later, then you may want to consider a more professional approach. If so, you should probably enroll in Moralis Academy. Aside from getting access to excellent courses, you will also become a part of an incredible community. On top of that, you will get a detailed plan to best optimize your learning path and receive expert mentorship.