Let’s begin.

How’s your wallet situation right now?

Option A) I have one wallet for everything and I use the same wallet for every project.

Option B) I have multiple wallets but I do not use one wallet per project.

Option C) I use one wallet per project and keep most of my funds in a main wallet or in Binance.

If you fit in options A or B, this article is for you.

‍

Table Of Contents

• What’s the best option?
• Why should I have multiple wallets?
• What’s spending allowance?
• Isn’t it hard to manage so many wallets?
• How do I do it?
• Where can I find my private keys?
• How to store my private keys safely?
• BONUS — How To Revoke Spending Access
• Conclusion

‍

What’s the best option?

The best option you can go for is having multiple wallets, using one wallet per project, and keeping the funds that you’re not currently using in a main wallet that doesn’t interact with any contract, in a hardware wallet such as Ledger or in Binance.

Why should I have multiple wallets?

There are many advantages when it comes to having multiple wallets, here are a couple of them:

• More privacy.
• More security.

There are two main ways in which your funds can be stolen:

• Your wallet can be hacked from outside.
• Your funds can be stolen if you allow a sketchy project to spend your tokens.

‍

What’s spending allowance?

Let’s make it simple:

In order to use any project, you’ll first need to allow it to spend your tokens. The only thing you can do without accepting that is swapping BNB for other tokens. (Not the other way around, btw)

What does that mean?

It means that in order to use the functions of a contract you first have to give it permission to access your tokens.

It applies to anything:

• Farming
• Staking
• Providing liquidity
• Swapping tokens
• And so on…

What could happen if you allow a contract to spend your tokens and the project is not safe?

Well… I invite you to read this: Ethereum User Scammed For $140,000 in Uniswap (UNI) Tokens.

TL;DR: The developer used the “setGovernance” call to take the victim’s tokens out of his wallet.

Well, by having multiple wallets (and using one wallet per project) you can keep the funds which you don’t want to invest in the said project safe because the other wallets didn’t allow the spending on the specific project. (Especially your main wallet which should never accept any contract whatsoever. Remember, that one is just for sending/receiving tokens and keeping them safe.)

Isn’t it hard to manage so many wallets?

No, not at all!

MetaMask makes it extremely easy.

Within MetaMask you can create your wallets in just a few clicks and have all of them saved one click away.

If you’re switching computers then it might take a few minutes to import all of your wallets back into MetaMask, but it’s the small price you have to pay in order to keep your funds safe.

‍

How do I do it?

I’m so happy you’re taking this step in protecting your funds.

Let’s teach you how to do it now!

‍

Step 1) Create a main wallet.

Creating a brand new wallet right now it’s safer than using your old one as the main one (obviously). Let’s do it!

• Install the MetaMask extension if you don’t have it already. (MetaMask.io)
• Create a new wallet with a new seed phrase.
• Save the seed phrase on a piece of paper. (Please don’t forget to do this step)

Step 2) Create new wallets, one for each project.

I assume you took my advice above and transferred all of your tokens to the “Main Wallet”, so now let’s create a new wallet for each project!

• Click on your wallet’s avatar.
• Click on “Create Account”.
• Choose a name for it. (I prefer to use the following: “Project Name” + “Wallet”)

That’s it, you just created a new wallet that’s going to be used only for the said project!

Now transfer your tokens from the Main Wallet to the Project X Wallet.

Example:

• Your CAKE in your PancakeSwap wallet.
• Your DRUGS in your TrapHouse wallet.
• Your NYA in your NyanSwop Wallet.
• Your NAR in your Narwhalswap Wallet.
• Your STAX in your StableXSwap Wallet.
• …
• I think you got the idea already.

Where can I find my private keys?

This one is easy, your private keys are just a few clicks away.

• Click on the three dots line.
• Click on “Account details”.
• Click on “Export Private Key”.
• Confirm your password.
• Taa-daa, here is your private key.

How to store my private keys safely?

You stored your seed phrase on a piece of paper (I really hope you did). That was easy, but private keys… yeah, those are a pain to write on paper.

Here you have two options:

Option A) Print them on a piece of paper.

Option B) Store them in a .txt file on an USB stick.

Remember to check your computer for viruses before doing anything, your private keys need to be safe at all times.

‍

BONUS — How To Revoke Spending Access

The easiest way to revoke spending access is via allowance.beefy.finance.

The process is simple:

• Pick the contract you want to revoke the access of.
• Click “Revoke”.
• Accept the TX within MetaMask.

That’s it.

Conclusion

With just a few steps and a little bit of management you can keep your funds safe.

This method is what I personally use.

Let’s recap:

• Have a main wallet that never interacts with any project.
• Have one wallet per project.
• Keep the funds you don’t use on the “Main Wallet”.
• Keep high valuable funds in Binance or Ledger.

Stay safe!

—

The Ape 🦍

Follow: Twitter