How to add Solana to Metamask

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Unfortunately it is not possible to add the Solana network to Metamask due to Metmask not supporting the Solana network. Metamask runs on the Ethereum network while Solana is a Solana network based token. Solana is not an Ethereum EVM compatible network.

Is Solana an ERC-20 token?

No ERC-20 tokens are tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. Solana is not. Any tokens that are not ERC-20 can not run on the Ethereum blockchain so can not be stored in an Ethereum based wallet.

No need to worry though there are multiple Solana based wallets you can use and easily set up. Today we will cover a handful of them.

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Solanas native wallet Phantom

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Possibly the most popular Solana wallet is Phantom. 

Phantom is my personal favorite and the most common Solana wallet. It offers a browser extension wallet similar to Metamask and also a mobile wallet, this is a game changer. The wallet itself offers in wallet swaps, an NFT gallery and most importantly of all you own the keys!

Phantom has seen huge growth along with the Solana network as a whole, in 2021 Phantom grew to over 1.8 million active monthly users onboarding roughly 100,000 new users every week. This user growth gained them a whopping valuation of $1.2 billion dollars. That's a billion with a B.

One of the big selling points for Phantom over Metamask for a lot of people is the built in NFT gallery which Metamask does not offer. To view your NFTs in Solana simply click the four square shape icon at the bottom of the wallet and any Solana NFTs you hold in the Phantom wallet will be shown to you. Remember this will only show you Solana NFTs and not Ethereum NFTs.

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How to set up a Phantom wallet on pc?

Step 1: Head over to the official Phantom website. (Be sure to double check the link as there is a lot of phishing sites around, never enter your seed phrase into a website asking for it)

Step 2: Click the Download button and select from either the mobile app of the browser extension. Choose either your browser or mobile phone operating system.

Step 3: Add phantom to your browser as an extension. If you have chosen Chrome as your browser you will be taken to the Chrome web store where you can add to the browser.

Step 4: Now you have Phantom added to your browser, click the new extension and select create a new wallet.

Step 5: Choose a secure password.

Step 6: Write down the secret phase. Do not save this on your computer. It is best to write this down in a notebook which can be stored somewhere safe and secure.

Step 7: And just like that you now have a Phantom wallet.

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Phantom wallet alternatives

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Phantom is not the only Solana native wallet, there are a dozen or so which you can view on the Solana ecosystem page here.

The two other most common ones are Sollet and Solflare. As far as user base goes neither of these come close to competing with Phantom however you may find the User interface on one of these is more preferable than Phantom, it’s all personal preference.

Most Solana based protocols that accept Phantom as a wallet will also accept these two.

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What networks Metamask supports

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So now we have covered if Solana can be added to Metamask and the best alternative you might be wondering what networks does Metamask support?

With Metamask being possibly the most popular crypto wallet around they do support quite a few of the big networks, here is a list of networks that Metamask supports:

1. Ethereum

Ethereum is the base network on Metamask so does not have to be added manually.

2. Polygon

Polygon is a network built to try to fix the scalability issues of Ethereum.

Network Name: Polygon

New RPC URL: https://polygon-rpc.com/

Chain ID: 137

Currency Symbol: MATIC

Block Explorer URL: https://polygonscan.com/

3. Rinkeby

Rinkeby is a network built for testing blockchain developments on.

Network Name: Rinkeby Network

New RPC URL: https://www.rinkeby.io/#stats

Chain ID: 4

Currency Symbol: LINK

Block Explorer URL: https://explorer.anyblock.tools/rinkeby/

4. Avalanche

Avalanche is a layer 1 network that alot call the “defi chain” due to the stability and impressive transaction speeds.

Network Name: Avalanche Network

New RPC URL: https://api.avax.network/ext/bc/C/rpc

Chain ID: 43114

Currency Symbol: AVAX

Block Explorer URL: https://cchain.explorer.avax.network/

5. Kovan

Kovan is another testing network for Ethereum.

Network Name: Kovan Network

New RPC URL: https://kovan-testnet.github.io/website/

Chain ID: 42

Currency Symbol: KETH

Block Explorer URL: https://explorer.anyblock.tools/kovan/

6. Goerli

Goerli is another testing network for Ethereum. Testing networks are great to validate blockchain apps before deploying them to the main network.

Network Name: Goerli Network

New RPC URL: https://goerli.net/

Chain ID: 6284

Currency Symbol: GTH

Block Explorer URL: https://explorer.anyblock.tools/goerli/

7. Ropsten

Again ropsten is a testing network for validating ideas before deploying them to the main network (Ethereum)

Network Name: Ropsten Network

New RPC URL: https://faucet.ropsten.be/

Chain ID: 3

Currency Symbol: ETH

Block Explorer URL: https://explorer.anyblock.tools/ropsten/

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Conclusion

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As we have found Solana can not be added to Metamask, however there is a great alternative in Phantom. I think you will find the Phantom wallet user interface a lot nicer to use and the addition of a mobile app lets you use your crypto on the go. One of the big selling points for Phantom over Metamask for a lot of people is the built in NFT gallery which Metamask does not offer.

Remember to never share your seed phrase with anyone and never enter it into a website asking for it. If a website is asking for your seed phrase it is a scam. When visiting sites such as the Phantom wallet website, always be sure to double check the URL to make sure it is the real site.

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