Using MetaMask with Polygon

4 min readApr 26, 2021

EDIT: We have now added automatic network switching to the website.

Matic Mainnet can now be added to your MetaMask with a few simple clicks through the Gravity Finance website. See video below.

If you would still like to add the network manually (or are just interest to see how to do it), follow the rest of the guide below.

Below are detailed video guides showing how to connect an existing MetaMask wallet to the Polygon Network and how to transfer funds from Ethereum to Polygon.

Note: Polygon (previously Matic) is still using the “Matic” name for the network and native token.

Install MetaMask

If you do not already have a MetaMask wallet installed, or are not sure how to use it, we highly recommend reading the detailed guide on the Matic website, which shows how to download, install and use the MetaMask wallet.

Connect MetaMask to the Polygon Network

Our video guide shows how to connect an existing MetaMask wallet to the Polygon Network.

This video is quick and short with on-screen instruction. We recommend watching the video in-full before attempting to connect so that you can see how quick and easy it is.

Prefer a written guide? Check out the Matic guide on their website.

Matic MainNet RPC information

Network Name: Matic Mainnet

New RPC URL: https://rpc-mainnet.maticvigil.com/

Chain ID: 137

Currency Symbol (optional): MATIC

Block Explorer URL (optional): https://explorer.matic.network/

After entering the network info and pressing save, the Matic Mainnet is successfully saved in the MetaMask wallet. Users can change between Networks from the drop-down menu at the top of the wallet.

Moving Funds from Ethereum to Polygon

The guide below shows how to transfer funds from Ethereum to Polygon using the Polygon/Matic bridge.

This guide assumes that you already have ETH on the Ethereum network. If you don’t have ETH already, you will need to purchase some through MetaMask or another centralized exchange that allows you to deposit fiat currencies and then withdraw it to your MetaMask wallet first.

It is also possible to move funds from Binance Smart Chain (BSC) to Polygon. Please see this article for instructions.

The bridge is the following video can be found here: https://wallet.matic.network/login

Viewing Balances in MetaMask

When moving funds from Ethereum to Polygon, you will see the balances in the Matic Bridge website-wallet, however not all tokens appear automatically in your MetaMask wallet.

If you move funds and do not see the token in your MetaMask wallet when connected to the Polygon Network, you may need to “add a custom token” in MetaMask (this is very easy to do).

Ethereum Example

When moving ETH from Ethereum to Polygon the ETH becomes “Wrapped” as a new token, called wETH.

In MetaMask, click “Assets”

Scroll to the bottom of the list and click “Add Token”.

At the top of the next screen, click “Custom Token”

Add the Token Contract Address for wETH on Matic: 0x7ceb23fd6bc0add59e62ac25578270cff1b9f619

Press Next and you will now see you have a wETH balance. wETH is “Wrapped Ethereum” on the Matic Network.

Finding the correct contract address

You may be wondering how you find the correct “contract address” to add a custom token to your MetaMask wallet.

You can do this by going to the Matic block explorer: https://explorer-mainnet.maticvigil.com and searching (upper right hand corner) for your own address from your MetaMask wallet.

When your address details are shown, click on the “Tokens” tab and you will see the tokens that your wallet contains. You can simple copy the Contract Address from here.

Example:

Using the Polygon Network

When using the Polygon Network to send funds or make payments, you will require a small sum of MATIC token to pay the network transaction fee (gas).

Unlike Ethereum, the Polygon network is extremely inexpensive to use, in fact a typical transaction costs just 0.00005 MATIC.

For context, with just $1 worth of MATIC you can currently send over 35,000 transactions on Polygon!

There are several free ways to obtain a small amount of MATIC:

Log in (connect wallet) to wallet.matic.network for the first time and 0.001 MATIC will be airdropped to you if your MATIC balance is less than 0.001 .
Transfer any asset from Ethereum to Polygon/Matic using the Polygon Bridge and 0.01 will be airdropped to you if your MATIC balance is less than 0.001.
Head the Polygon Faucet to trigger an airdrop to yourself. https://matic.supply/