Whether you’re looking to create your first non-fungible token (NFT), lend assets on a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol or simply buy and transfer Ethereum-based tokens, you’ll first need to download compatible crypto-wallet software. This will allow you to store any assets you create or buy, as well as connect to any platform built on top of the Ethereum blockchain.

While there are a number of different wallet services available, MetaMask is by far the most popular with over 21 million monthly active users – up by 38x since 2020. To put it simply, MetaMask is a free hot wallet service available as a smartphone app or web browser extension. This means you can download it directly onto your phone or the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Brave or Edge browser similar to an ad blocker extension. The “hot” part simply means it’s permanently connected to the internet so that you can easily move your crypto assets around at any time.