First steps at DeFi: Manual to take your first steps at DeFi

Welcome to the exciting world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)! In this article we will guide you through the first steps of DeFi in a simple way. If you are not sure what DeFi is, we recommend you to read our article: What is DeFi? A complete guide to decentralized finance

One of the problems that arise when you start at DEFI is that you have to make a lot of decisions a lot of decisionsYou can spend hours reading and not taking any action. To avoid analysis paralysis, in this guide we are going to make these decisions for you.

Among the many DEFI options that exist, we propose the ones we consider the easiest and the ones that guarantee maximum security. Throughout the guide we will explain the reasons for each one. There are many options, so if you are convinced that there is another better option, do not ignore it and be guided by your knowledge and instinct, the important thing is that you take action!

The guide is written for informational purposes only and does not represent an investment recommendation. Investment in cryptoassets is not regulated, may not be suitable for retail investors and the entire amount invested may be lost. It is important to read and understand the risks of this investment which are explained in detail at this location. location.

In this manual we are going to use the Polygon network. Because in addition to being one of the networks with the highest capitalization, among other things, the Polygon network has similar characteristics to Ethereum, which is the queen of DEFI networks, but with fast transactions and lower fees, which makes it a very good option to start DeFi operations with little capital and without paying excessive commissions.

Install a wallet and add a network.

To access DeFi, you will need a digital wallet (wallet) compatible with the blockchain network of your choice. Wallets allow you to store and manage your cryptocurrencies securely. Some popular options for networks like Polygon include MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Ledger.

These wallets are usually self-custodial so they usually generate a "seed phrase": a list of essential words to restore your wallet in case you lose access to your device or need to reinstall the wallet. Write down the words in the correct order and keep them in a safe place, preferably offline.. If you lose the phrase you will probably lose access to the funds.

It is a brutal paradigm shift with traditional finance. We understand that it can be a bit scary but it is a mandatory consequence for the funds to be totally yours, in the same way that no one can recover them if you lose them, no one can block them if you do not give permission.

Install the wallet

In this guide we will use MetaMask which is a popular and widely used wallet that allows you to interact with the Polygon network and other DeFi protocols. Here we will explain how to install and configure MetaMask:

1. Download and install the MetaMask extension for your browser: MetaMask is available as an extension for web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Brave. Go to the official MetaMask website or search for "MetaMask" in your browser's extension store.
2. Click "Add to [name of your browser]": Once you find the MetaMask extension in the extension store, click the corresponding button to add it to your browser. Follow the instructions and accept the necessary permissions.
3. Create a new wallet: After installing MetaMask, a pop-up window will open asking you to set up your wallet. Click on "Create a Wallet" to get started.
4. Accept the terms and conditions: Read MetaMask's terms and conditions and, if you agree, check the box to accept them.
5. Set a strong password: Choose a strong password to protect your wallet. Make sure it is unique and hard to guess. It is important to remember this password, as you will need it every time you access your wallet.
6. Save your seed phrase: MetaMask will generate a list of 12 words known as a seed phrase. As we have said save them in a safe place, preferably offline..
7. Confirm your seed phrase: In the next step, you will be asked to confirm the keywords in the exact order in which they appear. This ensures that you have correctly noted and saved your seed phrase. Provide the words in the correct order to continue.

You're done! You now have MetaMask installed and configured. You can explore MetaMask features and customize your experience, such as adding additional accounts, changing the networks you connect to and adjusting privacy and security settings according to your preferences.

Remember that MetaMask is an online wallet, so you should take extra precautions to protect your you should take extra precautions to protect your information and ensure that your device is free of malware or malicious software.

Add network

Once you have configured MetaMask, you can connect to the Polygon network by following the additional steps explained below.

There are several ways to add a network to MetaMask, but here we will tell you we will tell you about the easiest and most secure one.

Unfortunately in the crypto ecosystem there are many scams so Metamask will show you several warning messages, in this occasion if you are following our steps you should have no problem. But when you perform this step on your own we recommend you to be careful and do not add networks without checking.

1. Open your browser and go to the following website https://chainlist.org/
2. On the home page of https://chainlist.org/you will see a list of different blockchain networks. Type in the search engine Polygon and click on "Connet Wallet, then click on the button "Add to MetaMask"button of the option called Polygon Mainnet.

1. If you already have MetaMask installed in your browser, a MetaMask pop-up window will open. In this pop-up window click on the "Next". If you do not have MetaMask installed be sure to perform the previous step in the manual before proceeding.. If you have more than one account, you will need to select the one you want to use.
2. After confirming the addition of the Polygon network, MetaMask will automatically update to show the Polygon network as the selected network. You can check this in the top part of the MetaMask interfaceinterface, where the default network name is shown, you should put Polygon LlamaNodes.

Congratulations! You have now completed the first step of the guide and have installed your wallet and successfully added the Polygon network to MetaMask.

You can now use MetaMask to interact with DeFi protocols and perform operations on the Polygon network.

Make sure you have funds in the Polygon network (such as MATIC) to be able to start trading, we will show you how to do it in the next step!