Always keep in mind that scammers do everything to trick you into doing something stupid. They don’t sleep and invent new methods to get hold of your tokens.

Recently, I transferred some $ARB to another wallet. But the block explorer displays two additional transactions now which look very similar to my own transaction. However, those transactions were not initiated by me.

Here are those three transactions on the block explorer:

My transaction is the third one from 16:53:40 UTC.

The transaction from 16:54:24 UTC sends the same amount of $ARB. But it is a fake contract address, not the real $ARB. Here are the two contracts:

The transaction from 17:02:34 UTC is a zero value transaction (that’s what the warning indicates as well), involving the real $ARB contract.

Now let’s have a look at the recipients’ wallet addresses in the To field.

Reminder: the third address is from my transaction.

Most of you probably know that Ethereum addresses (and those of its Layer2s and side chains) are 42 characters long. Hardly anyone can remember them. So quite often, the addresses are shortened on dapps, block explorers,… and only the first and last 4-8 or so characters are displayed.

Back to the screenshot above: The recipient addresses look quite similar but not the same! Scammers have built tools to create multiple wallet addresses automatically on the fly which resemble existing addresses.

As you can see from the second transaction, I was not singled out as a target. The transaction is involving several other wallets that transferred some popular tokens:

I guess, the intention of the scammer has become obvious by now: trick me into copying the wrong wallet address form the block explorer. The scammer made sure that:

• there is a transaction with a similar timestamp to my own one

• that the transaction displays the same amount of (fake) $ARB

• that there also is a zero value transaction with the real $ARB contract so that the correct icon and contract are displayed

So if I was looking for Alice’s address someday on the block explorer, I will stumble on those transactions. Yes, there are three transactions (two with the scammer’s wallet as a recipient) but I might think that there is a glitch when the block explorer is reading the chain. Eventually, I might copy the wrong address.

Don’t simply copy and paste addresses from the block explorer (or any other source). Always verify. Be vigilant and stay safe!

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Admittedly, the web3 experience could be easier, more pleasant, and more welcoming. Buzzwords like permissionless, ownership, decentralization, immutability,... are hurled at newcomers without providing context and explanation.

The technology itself makes matters worse. Often it is not self-explanatory how things work or what users have to pay attention to; that is even true for core components like wallets. A slew of technical terms need to be understood. Yes, there are FAQs, text and video tutorials, and other material available. But how much material is a newcomer supposed to read and watch if they want to start with web3? Setting up a wallet, purchasing ETH,... Oh, that cute NFT is on Polygon? What is Polygon? Can't I just buy it with my ETH? Most people will drop out at this stage if they are not very curious about the space or technology, especially if the use case is not obvious to them. It is simply too much effort.

So, much of the technology is not ready for mainstream adoption and the industry is plagued with scammers and ponzis. Why should I stay and watch the space or even get involved?

I think there is an alternative web3 beyond the headlines. Some people envision a better, more just world. ReFi and impact DAOs come to mind. Sure, several projects will never be fully realized and will remain pipe dreams. But imagination is the first step to changing circumstances. If we cannot imagine a better world, why are we here anyway?

Oddly, both critics and proponents of web3 agree that the current web of big tech and platform economy needs to change. Our data and efforts to provide content are monetized by corporations, profits stay in the pockets of the c-suite and shareholders. They only leave crumbs - if any - for the rest of us.

Web3 is offering new tools and ways for creators to earn an income. Mind you, nobody is claiming that all creators will make a living off their work if they only entered the magic world of web3. If anyone is claiming this, be suspicious of them! But it is an opportunity to change the rules, to bypass the middlemen.

Maybe I will be disillusioned about the space in a few months or years. Until then, I try to support people, companies, and projects that try to change the current state of the web. It is much easier to stay on the sidelines and just criticize without making a real effort and providing an alternative.

Currently, web3 is hope.

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The application is available as a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Firefox. Also there are iOS and Android mobile apps available from the respective app stores.

When reading tutorials on interacting with Ethereum or applications and protocols built on it, MetaMask is often used as the reference wallet application.

Add a new blockchain to MetaMask

While MetaMask is established, it is lacking some features newer apps like Rainbow provide. Out-of-the-box it only supports Ethereum Mainnet and some test nets. If you want to interact with applications on Level 2 blockchains like Arbitrum you have to add the configuration for those blockchains yourself.

Tutorials mostly mention to add those blockchains manually by going to Settings -> Networks -> Add Network:

You have to add the relevant information to all those fields below:

The information is usually provided in the tutorial or you have to look for them on the internet. This is not really comfortable.

Fortunately, there are at least two easier methods to add a blockchain to MetaMask.

Chainlist

The first method is Chainlist. It is exactly what the name is promising. Chainlist is displaying an almost endless number of Ethereum compatible blockchains, so called EVM (=Ethereum Virtual Machine) powered blockchains. Admittedly, I have not heard of most.

Anyway, simply connect MetaMask to Chainlist and look for the blockchain you want to add. For the purpose of this article I will add the Harmony blockchain:

Click the Add To Metamask button and MetaMask will pop up and will display all relevant information of the Harmony blockchain. Simply klick Approve.

MetaMask will pop up again and will ask you to switch the network:

After clicking the Switch network button Harmony has been added to MetaMask:

SushiSwap

Another option is SushiSwap. Hey cpoetter, Sushi is a DEX (decentralized exchange), you might say. That is correct and admittedly, it is probably not the most intuitive option to add a blockchain. However it is working surprisingly well.

First connect MetaMask to Sushi. You will see the Ethereum symbol next to your wallet address or ENS domain.

Next click the Ethereum symbol and a list of blockchains will pop up. This list is not as comprehensive as the list on Chainlist but the most common chains are listed. Well, those where Sushi is deployed, of course.

Select the chain you want to add. The following steps are the same as on Chainlist.

Add a new token to MetaMask

In general MetaMask supports ETH and all other ETH based tokens. It has built in auto-detection which detects most tokens; only on Mainnet, though. However sometimes tokens you hold in your wallet are not displayed, especially on Layer 2 chains like Optimism and sidechains like Polygon. Other wallet applications have better token support.

Block Explorer

MetaMask provides two good articles including screenshots on adding tokens you are missing. One method described there is finding the token on a block explorer like Etherscan. This method works but requires copying and pasting the contract address of the token and adding it to MetaMask. Every token has a contract address.

CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap

A more elegant way is adding the token via CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap. Since the way to add a token is very similar I only describe CoinGecko.

Let us assume we want to add the Lido DAO (LDO) token to Polygon. We can either scroll through the endless list of tokens on CoinGecko or use the search bar. Search works with the full name of the token as well as the currency symbol. The search result looks like this:

Interesting to us is the info section on the right side of the screen, especially the contract part:

The contract part consists of five elements:

• the Ethereum icon, indicating that the contract address of the token belongs to the contract on Mainnet

• the contract address itself

• copy to clipboard

• the MetaMask icon

• a three dotted button

Tokens can be deployed on more than one blockchain. It is important to know that the contract addresses of the same token differ from blockchain to blockchain.

I have mentioned that we want to add LDO to Polygon. Therefore we have to click the three dotted button. It reveals this screen:

We see the Polygon icon as well as the clipboard and MetaMask icons. If the LDO token was deployed on more blockchains they were listed here as well. Now simply click the MetaMask icon and MetaMask will pop up:

Confirm and LDO is added to MetaMask. Nice!

Please note: If you are using both the browser extension and the mobile app you will have to add blockchains and tokens in both apps. There is no sync!

You should know some easy ways to add blockchains and tokens to MetaMask now.

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Yes, gas fees on Ethereum can ruin a good trade. So it is no surprise that people are trying to minimise those fees. Possible way outs are Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism or side chains like Polygon. However sometimes the transaction has to take place on Ethereum; current skills on RabbitHole are such examples.

What are gas fees anyway?

In simple terms, gas fees are paid for computer power.

Computer power is required whenever transactions involve a smart contract that has to be executed (e.g. minting an NFT). More simple transactions like transferring ETH to another wallet require gas as well.

Gas is also an incentive for miners to secure the network and add executed transactions to a block on the blockchain. Depending on the amount of gas you are willing to spend this can happen faster or slower. However in the worst case the transaction fails and ETH is lost.

How are gas fees calculated?

Gas is usually denominated in gwei (=1 giga wei). 1 wei is the smallest unit of ETH. 1 ETH is 10^18 wei or in other words 0.000000000000000001 ETH represent 1 wei. So 1 gwei is 0.000000001 ETH. Wei is referring to Wei Dai, a computer engineer who formulated the concepts of modern cryptocurrencies.

A wallet application like Metamask is displaying gwei and the expected costs before approving the transaction. So this is the last moment you can decide if you actually want to confirm the transaction.

Usually the term gas fee is used to describe the complete transaction costs. However the actual gas fee consists of two parts: The first part is fixed and is called gas price. The gas price is the cost per unit computer power that is specified for the transaction (e.g. swapping tokens).

The second part describes the actual gas fee and is variable. It consists of a network base fee at the time of the block. Also it includes a gas limit which is often set automatically by the smart contract you interact with. But it can be changed by you. Warning: You should only do this if you know what you are doing!

In the screenshot you can see an example taken from Etherscan. It is the minting of an NFT.

Can I reduce gas fees?

As I have mentioned the actual gas fee is not fixed. It is dependent on the time of the block which your transaction is allocated to.

Gas fees fluctuate throughout the day and week. When the network is congested fees are higher than when there is not much traffic. Just think of rush hours when commuting. It is basically the same situation.

So when are gas fees low? For a general overview you can head to ethereumprice.org. It features a nice chart - set to your local timezone - of gas fees of the last two weeks. This chart should give you a basic idea of when to schedule your transactions.

As you can see from the image above gas prices have been rather low this week.

For real time gas fees I recommend checking the gas tracker on Etherscan. Other trackers you can try:

• ETH Gas Station

• useweb3.xyz

With the mentioned tools you should be able to reduce costs and make your Ethereum experience more pleasant.

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