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Setting up a wallet, step by step

Install, seed phrase, add the Polygon network, your first address. Twenty minutes, once.

Which wallet

Any wallet for the Ethereum family of networks works with Polymarket. The most common are MetaMask (extension and app) and Rabby (extension; it shows more clearly what you are signing). On a phone, MetaMask or Trust Wallet. Install only from the developer's official site or the official app store: fake wallets with the same names are the main theft vector.

Step 1. Install and create

  1. Install the extension or app from the official source.
  2. Choose "Create a new wallet" and set a password. The password protects only this device; it does not recover the wallet.
  3. The wallet shows a 12-word seed phrase. Write the words on paper, in order, numbered.
  4. The wallet asks you to confirm some words. Do it from the paper, not from memory.

Step 2. Storing the phrase

Make a second copy and keep it elsewhere. Not on the phone, not in notes, not in the cloud, not in a messenger "to yourself". If the only paper burns with the house, the money is gone forever and nobody can recover it. If the phrase ever appears on someone else's screen, treat the wallet as compromised: create a new one and move everything.

Step 3. The Polygon network

Recent MetaMask and Rabby versions already list Polygon; select it in the network switcher at the top. If it is missing, add it from the built-in list of popular networks. Do not type network parameters by hand: a wrong node address is also a scam vector.

Step 4. Your address

Under the account name the wallet shows an address like 0x… with a copy button. The address is the same on every Ethereum-family network, including Polygon. You will paste it when withdrawing from an exchange. Copy with the button, never retype, and compare the first and last four characters after pasting: clipboard-replacing malware exists.

Step 5. A little POL

To send anything from this wallet on Polygon the address needs some POL for fees. Buy it on the same exchange where you buy USDC and withdraw it on Polygon. One or two dollars last a long time. Without POL the wallet shows "insufficient funds for gas" even with USDC in the balance.

What you should have

Next: buying USDC with ordinary money and sending it on the right network.

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