TL;DR – this article just shows you how to set up a wallet so that you can store tokens in them. There is more to read about how wallets work and which types there are to choose from. This page is just for the purpose of ‘yeah, whatever, how do I get started?’.
Setting up MetaMask on a phone or tablet
This shows you how to download the MetaMask app and configure a wallet. The address of this wallet can then be used with amsterdreams. We will use an Apple iPad in the example: phones or other tablet vendors will be similar.
First, download the MetaMask app from the App Store. It is free (also on Android).
Open MetaMask and the welcome screen will present itself.
Choose to Create a New Wallet
On the next screen, you create a password. This is an additional layer of security: even if your phone is unlocked, you still need to enter this password to access your tokens. You also have the option to use biometric verification, such as TouchID on this particular iPad.
The next part is the creation of a secure recovery phase. This is a very important step and it pays to take the extra couple of minutes to go through it. The secure recovery phase is the only thing that can get you access to your tokens again if your device crashes, you forget the password you just entered, and so on.
Important: do not share this phrase with anyone. Ever. Whoever has this phrase can recreate your digital keys and make off with your tokens. They don’t need your device, your password or your Face ID or fingerprint. Write this down and store it in a safe place.
After you successfully verify your recovery phrase, the main MetaMask screen presents itself. Press the hamburger button at the top left.
In the menu that results, you see part of your public key. The whole key is hidden not because it’s secret (it’s public, duh) but because it is too long. We will see this key later in the amsterdreams user interface. For now, just press browser and navigate to amsterdreams.
We recommend you create a user account on amsterdreams, to easily store your wallet address and email. You can do it on checkout as well, but it’s easier and less error-prone to just save it on the site. You will be sharing your public key with amsterdreams, but that’s ok; as described here, the public key can be viewed by anyone without adverse effects to you.
Please go to where it says ‘sign up / log in’ and choose Register. You will be guided to the page to create a new user account.
Now click on the button Connect Wallet. The Create Wallet option will also be described on this page.
MetaMask will recognize that you want to connect your public key to this page. amsterdreams will not be able to touch your tokens. If you agree what’s written in the user interface, continue.
After the MetaMask window disappears, you will see the public key address in the corresponding box. You also could have copied it (by clicking on the address in MetaMask) and pasting it here.
Now all you need to do is fill out your name, email and country and your new amsterdreams account will have been created!
Set up MetaMask in a browser on a computer
The procedure to set MetaMask up on a computer is quite similar. We will be using a Windows machine with Microsoft Edge in the screenshots below, but the process is almost identical on, for instance, a Mac running Chrome.
First of all, navigate to the Metamask website and click on the button to download and install the plugin for your platform.
This brings you to the plugin- or extension store of your browser platform, in this case with Microsoft. This is a secure environment from where you can download verified plugins (like the App Store in the mobile example earlier).
After a short download and install, the MetaMask welcome screen appears.
The rightmost option on this screen sets up a new wallet. The procedure is the same as above for the mobile version of MetaMask, so if you get stuck, please refer to that. The option on the left allows you to enter a recovery phrase for a wallet you created earlier. One use case for this is that you could set up a wallet on a mobile device and manage the same keys from your computer as well, for convenience.
Either way, after setting up a new wallet or recovering an existing one, you will now see your MetaMask wallet in the browser:
You don’t need this screen anymore and you can close it if you want. Now navigate to amsterdreams and choose to sign up for a new account.
After you click the Connect Wallet button, MetaMask will wake up and show on the right side of your screen, asking permission to connect to amsterdreams.
After you gave permission, you see the full address of your wallet on the screen. This is not private information and it can be shared with anyone.
Now all you need to do is fill out your name, email and country and your new amsterdreams account will have been created!
The Create Wallet option
On the account sign-up page, there is a second button called Create Wallet. This launches an amsterdreams feature to create a wallet if you are not able to install MetaMask, but you still want to create an account or buy tokens now. The most common use case for this is if you’re not on your own computer or device; maybe you’re at work, at school or at a friend’s house and using their devices.
See below again the amsterdreams registration page, this time on a Mac with Chrome. This time, we will push the Create Wallet button on the right.
If you click the button, the amsterdreams Create Wallet page appears and you can see that a new wallet has already been created:
VERY, VERY IMPORTANT:
- The private key and pass phrase are only shown here. They are not saved anywhere, not by amsterdreams and not in your browser. When you close the page, they will be gone. Forever. Nobody can retrieve them for you. So write them down.
- We recommend writing the pass phrase down. If you do that, you don’t need the private key. The private key can always be generated from the pass phrase and it’s a little easier to write without errors. You can also of course take a photo of the screen with your (own) phone.
- If you email or otherwise send the pass phrase and/or key to yourself, make sure that no record is left behind. This is especially important if you do so from a computer that is not yours. So delete the sent mail, for example, from a Sent Items box. Clear the clipboard of the computer by copying something else.
You leave this screen by clicking the Use This Wallet option. You then see the wallet address in the sign-up form.
We’ll be honest: this method is not recommended. It’s far safer to use a wallet like MetaMask, as described above. In fact, to do anything with your tokens, you’ll need a wallet anyway. You activate it by putting in the pass phrase that you got off the Create Wallet page.
The Create Wallet option is really intended for those cases when you cannot create a wallet or cannot install third-party apps and extensions. You can then, later, when you are on your own device, link the wallet address to a secure wallet with the pass phrase.
