In this blog tutorial, we show you how to add Optimism to the MetaMask wallet. But first, we talk a bit about what Optimism is, what it does, etc. If you do not want to read about that and directly want to see how to add Optimism to MetaMask. You can go down this page and start reading “Getting Optimism on MetaMask” to learn how to add Optimism to MetaMask.
What is Optimism Layer 2
Optimism AKA, Optimistic Ethereum is an Ethereum Roll up sidechain. The goal of Optimism is to support Ethereum by taking a part of the transaction load of the main Ethereum chain to process it on Optimism. Optimism then can then, later on, send the funds back to the main chain without having to put all the transactions on it. Because Optimism works with an EVM just like many other side chains. It allows users/developers to easily deploy the same smart contracts / Dapps on Optimism as on Ethereum. For many Dapps with high traffic, this can help them scale to the next level. Because Optimism is completely scalable and integrated with rooted into the Ethereum blockchain. It can easily support the chain and send its users back and forward. Which supports the functions of ERC-20 tokens as well as NFTs. So that their users can enjoy the benefits of low fees + the security of ETH.
How to pay fees on Optimism
You may wonder, does Optimism have its own token? But no, Optimism does not have its own token. Because the sidechain merely supports Ethereum and has no plans to compete or replace it. It has no need for its own token. But you do however need to pay transaction fees on Optimism. The good thing is that you can simply do this with your ETH. So to pay transaction fees you will have to send your Eth with a bridge to Optimism and then you can use it there for paying transactions.For now, it seems that Optimism will keep on using Eth as its main token. But that does not necessarily mean that they keep that in the future. Because the nodes of the chain can make changes to the network. And if they want to launch their own token for transaction fees in the future. Which is entirely possible.
Bridging to Optimism
Sending your tokens from an Ethereum or BSC address to Optimism will not just do the trick. This will most likely result in you losing your funds. No, if you want to transfer your assets from any EVM chain to Optimism, you will need a bridge. A bridge simply works as a smart contract that locks your funds on one side and releases them on the other. So when you are using a bridge, you can also keep on using the same address. Here you have a link to an Optimism bridge. Via a bridge, you can send your Eth or your tokens directly onto the sidechain. Do note though that withdrawals from the sidechain take very long. It takes a whole 7 days. This is because it allows sufficient time for verifiers to detect fraud on the Optimistic Ethereum chain. Before they send the funds back to the main chain.
Smart Contracts on Optimism
As you already know, Optimism works as an EVM. This means any smart contract from ETH can be deployed on it as well. For developers, this can help enormously, as they do not have to write a completely new program. But can just simply launch the same code on a new chain. Because it is quite easy to do it is very likely that many developers will do so. Especially if they run into problems with high fees on Ethereum. Just simply changing to a sidechain or running on both the main and side chain can solve their problems in an instant.
Dapps moving to Optimism
Optimism was already endorsed by many famous people in the Ethereum space. It also had a lot of Dapps that announced they would build on it, even before it launched. As expected most of these Dapps also run into problems with scaling on the mainchain. The most popular of these daps were, of course, UniSwap and Synthetix. But by now many more Dapps like 1inch, Lyra, Rubicon, Kwenta, and many more have deployed on the chain. And with the adoption of Dapps on the chain, the block Explorers also followed. With many Block Explorers having added support for Optimism like the Optimistic Etherscan.Having these Dapps and Explorers integrating with the chain is super important. Because without a running ecosystem on the sidechain, it would be worthless. So the best way to support sidechain networks like this one is to use them. And just add them to your EVM custom wallet. So you can benefit from the low transaction fees.
Wallets that support Optimism
The easy thing with EVM chains is that they can be added to any wallet that allows you to add a custom EVM. So because Optimism has an EVM it could integrate with many wallets from the start. This is possible with wallets like Trust wallet, Coinbase wallet, imToken wallet, TokenPocket, and more. That’s why we teach you how to add Optimism to MetaMask. Simply put, there are many wallets for either desktop or mobile. But besides these wallets, there are also some wallets and exchanges that started to support the chain automatically. This way you would not have to add the chain yourself.
If you are looking for a wallet that supports Optimism or lets you integrate Optimism into it. You can just simply go to our Optimism wallet page. Here you can find all the wallets that support the sidechain. On top of that, you can also filter for some other features that you might like the wallet to have. For as of now the list of these wallets is not that big yet. But we hope to add many more of them in the future. As new wallets start seeing the benefits of integrating side chains like Optimism & Arbitrum that work with Optimistic Rollups. Which are some of the best layer 2 solutions for Ethereum. Don’t forget that you need to use a token bridge for sending your tokens from one chain to the other and that it takes time to send them back.
So if you want to move any type of token like ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, etc. USE A BRIDGE!!! Now that you are all informed let’s add Optimism to your wallet!
Other wallets besides Metamask support Optimism. And we have ranked the best 10 of them already. Check them out here!
Getting Optimism on MetaMask
So to add the Optimism to MetaMask you have to open the MetaMask wallet. Once you have MetaMask installed, open it up on the full screen. So you will have the same screen as in our example here.
Now go to the top right of the screen where it says “Ethereum Mainnet” and click on the little arrow pointing down next to it. This opens the network’s tap where you can select all different types of EVM blockchains (Ethereum virtual machine) networks. Now here you can click on the Custom RPC to add a new custom EVM blockchain network of your choice. In this case, Optimism.
Now Metamask will ask you for the data needed to connect the wallet to Optimism. Please fill in the list below.
Network Name - Optimism
New RPC URL - https://mainnet.optimism.io
Chain ID - 10
Symbol - ETH
Block Explorer URL - https://optimistic.ethereum.io
When you have done this, you can just click save. And now you have added Optimism to your MetaMask wallet. If you would like to switch between the EVM blockchains. Simply click on the Network button in the top right of the screen to select another blockchain. Because adding different types of EVM blockchains works the same, you can add any EVM blockchain in the same way. But instead of the list given in this blog, you replace that with another network’s ChainID, symbol, etc. We hope this blog post helped you to integrate a new EVM into your MetaMask crypto wallet. So that you can now use Optimism as much as you want.
Find your wallet here
In case you want to see all the other wallets supporting Optimism. You can simply take a look here to filter between all wallets that do!
So we hope this article taught you more about how to add Optimism to MetaMask wallet. But in case you have Questions regarding Crypto or Ethereum? Feel free to ask them on our online Facebook or Telegram groups. Because we are happy to help whenever we can!
So now that you know How to add Optimism to MetaMask, we hope that you are ready to start using your own Optimism wallet.
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