The Polygon network, formerly known as Matic, is one of the largest scaling solutions for Ethereum today. Popular for its rapid transactions and near-zero gas fees, a flood of users and protocols are now operating on the network.
Step-by-Step Polygon DeFi Guide
Note: This tutorial assumes you already use the MetaMask wallet for Ethereum. If you don’t already have MetaMask, you will need to download it for your browser or mobile device.
- Add Polygon Mainnet to Your MetaMask Wallet.
Polygon is a highly popular network, so it’s easy to add it to your MetaMask wallet with just a few clicks:
- Open the MetaMask extension and click the network dropdown arrow, in the top-left corner.
- Click “Add Network”.
- Find Polygon Mainnet in the “Popular custom networks” list and click “Add”.
- Click “Approve” to confirm the addition of the network.
- Use the Polygon Bridge
- Visit the official Polygon bridge at https://portal.polygon.technology/ and click “Connect Wallet”.
- Select MetaMask from the list of available options. Confirm the connection in the MetaMask popup window.
- Select “Bridge” in the sidebar on the left.
- Enter the amount ETH you wish to bridge to the Polygon network.
- Select “Polygon POS” from the dropdown menu in the “Transfer to” box.
Important: You’ll need MATIC on the Polygon chain to conduct any transactions.
- If you don’t already have MATIC in your Polygon account, toggle the switch next to “Low gas, Refuel now” to the “on” position.
- Enter the number of MATIC you want on the other side.
This will convert some of your ETH to MATIC during the bridging process.
- Click “Bridge ETH to Polygon POS” to start the bridging process and confirm the transaction in the MetaMask popup window.
There’s a waiting period for your funds to be accessible on the other side, so allow around 20 minutes for the bridging process to be completed.
3. Use a Polygon DApp
There’s an ever-growing number of DApps on Polygon, including several major protocols which originated on Ethereum.
To use a DApp on Polygon, simply:
- Switch to the Polygon network within your MetaMask wallet.
- Navigate to the DApp of your choice in your web browser.
- Connect to the DApp, the same way as you would on the Ethereum network.
Popular Polygon DApps
Here are some links to popular apps on Polygon, to get you started:
Lido
Lido provides staking for MATIC, the native token of the Polygon network.
Uniswap
Uniswap allows you to swap tokens on the Polygon network and several other chains.
Aave
Aave enables you to borrow and lend assets on the Polygon network and several other chains.
Keep Up With Polygon
To stay up to date with all the latest news and releases for Polygon, you can follow the protocol on Twitter, or join their official Discord. For more detailed information, check out their official Blog and GitHub.
