Getting Started
Welcome to Art Blocks—where artists, collectors, and blockchain technology unite to create compelling works of generative art. This guide will assume you are new to the blockchain. We are delighted to have you here.
On a high level, Art Blocks is a platform on which artists publish editions of unique generative artworks using creative code. Artists releasing on Art Blocks are selected through a rigorous application process, and their projects represent the new directions in this emergent art form. A key feature of the artwork released on Art Blocks is the unique collaboration between artist, collector, and blockchain technology. When an Art Blocks piece is purchased for the first time, the collector’s transaction automatically interacts with the artist’s code to generate a unique artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This process is called “minting,” and it is the moment when each individual, unique piece is created. Prior to this, not even the artist has seen the final work. That’s why you, the collector, are essential—without your transaction, and the unique data it creates to set the artist’s code in motion—these individual artworks literally would not exist.
This guide will introduce you to the first step in the process of getting started as an Art Blocks collector: getting a crypto wallet up and running. If you are already set up with a wallet, and have funded it, you will likely find our next article of more use at this stage, where we’ll walk you through the steps of beginning your collection of Art Blocks artworks. If you are new to all of this, however, you are in the right place: please read on.
Blockchain wallet
All artworks on the blockchain are registered to accounts where their ownership is verified. These accounts are called “wallets,” and in order to collect your own piece of art, you will need a blockchain wallet. The option presented here is for an individual MetaMask wallet, installed on Google Chrome. MetaMask is a crypto wallet that works with a variety of browsers, as well as many mobile phones. Because it is so widely used, it will serve as the example here. MetaMask’s own how-to can be found here.
Setting up MetaMask
1. Go to metamask.io and click “Download” in the top right corner.
2. Next, click “Install MetaMask for Chrome.”
3. This will bring you to the Chrome extension page. Click “Add to Chrome”
4. Once installed, you will be automatically redirected. Click “Get Started.”
5. The next page asks for permission to collect anonymous data. Select “No Thanks” or “I Agree” to continue.
6. Next, you will be prompted to create a new wallet. Click “Create a Wallet.”
7. At the next prompt, you will create a MetaMask password. Treat this as you would a password for any private online login. You’ll be typing this in regularly start MetaMask and allow it to access your individual wallet. Create and confirm your password, agree to the Terms of Use, and click “Create.”
8. Now you should see a video titled “Secure your wallet.” Watch this video before clicking Next. (Please note: MetaMask is always working to improve their user experience, so, by the time you are using this, some minor details may have changed, but the basic concepts are here, and you can always check their site for support getting set up if you encounter anything unfamiliar.)
Now you should see “Secret Backup Phrase.” Pay attention because this is important.
Your seed phrase is your most secure piece of information. DO NOT SHARE YOUR SECRET BACKUP PHRASE, EVER. Anyone who knows this phrase (sometimes referred to as a “seed phrase”) will have full access to your wallet, and can transfer artworks and funds wherever they wish, irrevocably.
Write down the phrase and store it in a safe place. It is generally recommended to do this in triplicate.
9. Once you’ve written down your seed phrase and arranged the best place (or three) to store it, MetaMask will ask you to confirm the phrase. Select the words in the correct order to continue.
10. At this point, the setup is complete, and you’re ready to send funds to the wallet. The MetaMask icon should now appear in the extension panel of Chrome, and you can pin it, if you want easy access.
Funding your Wallet
Now that your wallet is set up, you can click the extension icon to see your Ethereum (ETH) balance. At this point, it should have a zero balance (0.00 ETH).
To fund your account, you can use the built-in option on MetaMask and buy ETH directly from Coinbase Pay, Transak, MoonPay, or Wyre. If you already have ETH in a third-party wallet or account (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini), you can transfer some directly to your MetaMask wallet.
Buy ETH on MetaMask with Wyre
1. You can buy ETH with a credit card or Apple Pay through Wyre using MetaMask by clicking “Buy,” then “Continue to Wyre.”
2. Type in the US dollar (USD) amount of ETH you want to purchase* and your method of payment. (note: Wyre charges a transaction fee, and there is also a network fee. These fees are not associated with MetaMask or Art Blocks. To learn about network fees, including “gas,” click here).
3. Enter your payment info and click submit. Now your wallet is funded, and you should see a balance of ETH reflected.
Buy or Deposit ETH from other Exchanges
Another option to fund a wallet is to transfer ETH from an existing wallet into your MetaMask Wallet. To do this, click “Buy” then “View Account.” This will show you your MetaMask wallet address. It should be a string of 64 characters, beginning with “0x.” Best practices recommend cutting and pasting this address when making any transactions, as entering it by hand can result in errors.
Once you have your MetaMask wallet address, initiate the ETH transfer from the wallet that currently holds your ETH and send it to your MetaMask wallet. This transaction can take a few minutes and when it is completed, your MetaMask wallet will update to reflect the new balance.
Keep in mind gas is used for this transaction, so depending on the price of gas when you initiate the transaction, fees will be taken from the amount transferred. Gas prices are determined by the load on the Ethereum network at any given time, and this fee goes directly to transaction validators (“miners”), not to MetaMask or Art Blocks.
List of popular crypto exchanges to purchase ETH
1. Binance (outside US)
2. Binance.US
3. Coinbase
4. Kraken
5. Gemini
6. Crypto.com
Art Blocks
With a wallet set up and funded, you are ready to acquire your first Art Blocks piece. To learn more about this process, head over to this article here, where we’ll cover the different designations for Art Blocks projects, introduce you to upcoming releases (“drops”), as well as walk you through the mechanics of minting and what generally happens after a project release. If you have any questions, please join the Art Blocks official Discord and ask the community.
Adapted from text first published by Dan Rosario, “Art Blocks 101,” in The Link: Art Blocks, on April 24, 2021, which can be accessed here.
Getting Started
Welcome to Art Blocks—where artists, collectors, and blockchain technology unite to create compelling works of generative art. This guide will assume you are new to the blockchain. We are delighted to have you here.
On a high level, Art Blocks is a platform on which artists publish editions of unique generative artworks using creative code. Artists releasing on Art Blocks are selected through a rigorous application process, and their projects represent the new directions in this emergent art form. A key feature of the artwork released on Art Blocks is the unique collaboration between artist, collector, and blockchain technology. When an Art Blocks piece is purchased for the first time, the collector’s transaction automatically interacts with the artist’s code to generate a unique artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This process is called “minting,” and it is the moment when each individual, unique piece is created. Prior to this, not even the artist has seen the final work. That’s why you, the collector, are essential—without your transaction, and the unique data it creates to set the artist’s code in motion—these individual artworks literally would not exist.
This guide will introduce you to the first step in the process of getting started as an Art Blocks collector: getting a crypto wallet up and running. If you are already set up with a wallet, and have funded it, you will likely find our next article of more use at this stage, where we’ll walk you through the steps of beginning your collection of Art Blocks artworks. If you are new to all of this, however, you are in the right place: please read on.
Blockchain wallet
All artworks on the blockchain are registered to accounts where their ownership is verified. These accounts are called “wallets,” and in order to collect your own piece of art, you will need a blockchain wallet. The option presented here is for an individual MetaMask wallet, installed on Google Chrome. MetaMask is a crypto wallet that works with a variety of browsers, as well as many mobile phones. Because it is so widely used, it will serve as the example here. MetaMask’s own how-to can be found here.
Setting up MetaMask
1. Go to metamask.io and click “Download” in the top right corner.
2. Next, click “Install MetaMask for Chrome.”
3. This will bring you to the Chrome extension page. Click “Add to Chrome”
4. Once installed, you will be automatically redirected. Click “Get Started.”
5. The next page asks for permission to collect anonymous data. Select “No Thanks” or “I Agree” to continue.
6. Next, you will be prompted to create a new wallet. Click “Create a Wallet.”
7. At the next prompt, you will create a MetaMask password. Treat this as you would a password for any private online login. You’ll be typing this in regularly start MetaMask and allow it to access your individual wallet. Create and confirm your password, agree to the Terms of Use, and click “Create.”
8. Now you should see a video titled “Secure your wallet.” Watch this video before clicking Next. (Please note: MetaMask is always working to improve their user experience, so, by the time you are using this, some minor details may have changed, but the basic concepts are here, and you can always check their site for support getting set up if you encounter anything unfamiliar.)
Now you should see “Secret Backup Phrase.” Pay attention because this is important.
Your seed phrase is your most secure piece of information. DO NOT SHARE YOUR SECRET BACKUP PHRASE, EVER. Anyone who knows this phrase (sometimes referred to as a “seed phrase”) will have full access to your wallet, and can transfer artworks and funds wherever they wish, irrevocably.
Write down the phrase and store it in a safe place. It is generally recommended to do this in triplicate.
9. Once you’ve written down your seed phrase and arranged the best place (or three) to store it, MetaMask will ask you to confirm the phrase. Select the words in the correct order to continue.
10. At this point, the setup is complete, and you’re ready to send funds to the wallet. The MetaMask icon should now appear in the extension panel of Chrome, and you can pin it, if you want easy access.
Funding your Wallet
Now that your wallet is set up, you can click the extension icon to see your Ethereum (ETH) balance. At this point, it should have a zero balance (0.00 ETH).
To fund your account, you can use the built-in option on MetaMask and buy ETH directly from Coinbase Pay, Transak, MoonPay, or Wyre. If you already have ETH in a third-party wallet or account (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini), you can transfer some directly to your MetaMask wallet.
Buy ETH on MetaMask with Wyre
1. You can buy ETH with a credit card or Apple Pay through Wyre using MetaMask by clicking “Buy,” then “Continue to Wyre.”
2. Type in the US dollar (USD) amount of ETH you want to purchase* and your method of payment. (note: Wyre charges a transaction fee, and there is also a network fee. These fees are not associated with MetaMask or Art Blocks. To learn about network fees, including “gas,” click here).
3. Enter your payment info and click submit. Now your wallet is funded, and you should see a balance of ETH reflected.
Buy or Deposit ETH from other Exchanges
Another option to fund a wallet is to transfer ETH from an existing wallet into your MetaMask Wallet. To do this, click “Buy” then “View Account.” This will show you your MetaMask wallet address. It should be a string of 64 characters, beginning with “0x.” Best practices recommend cutting and pasting this address when making any transactions, as entering it by hand can result in errors.
Once you have your MetaMask wallet address, initiate the ETH transfer from the wallet that currently holds your ETH and send it to your MetaMask wallet. This transaction can take a few minutes and when it is completed, your MetaMask wallet will update to reflect the new balance.
Keep in mind gas is used for this transaction, so depending on the price of gas when you initiate the transaction, fees will be taken from the amount transferred. Gas prices are determined by the load on the Ethereum network at any given time, and this fee goes directly to transaction validators (“miners”), not to MetaMask or Art Blocks.
List of popular crypto exchanges to purchase ETH
1. Binance (outside US)
2. Binance.US
3. Coinbase
4. Kraken
5. Gemini
6. Crypto.com
Art Blocks
With a wallet set up and funded, you are ready to acquire your first Art Blocks piece. To learn more about this process, head over to this article here, where we’ll cover the different designations for Art Blocks projects, introduce you to upcoming releases (“drops”), as well as walk you through the mechanics of minting and what generally happens after a project release. If you have any questions, please join the Art Blocks official Discord and ask the community.
Adapted from text first published by Dan Rosario, “Art Blocks 101,” in The Link: Art Blocks, on April 24, 2021, which can be accessed here.
Getting Started
Welcome to Art Blocks—where artists, collectors, and blockchain technology unite to create compelling works of generative art. This guide will assume you are new to the blockchain. We are delighted to have you here.
On a high level, Art Blocks is a platform on which artists publish editions of unique generative artworks using creative code. Artists releasing on Art Blocks are selected through a rigorous application process, and their projects represent the new directions in this emergent art form. A key feature of the artwork released on Art Blocks is the unique collaboration between artist, collector, and blockchain technology. When an Art Blocks piece is purchased for the first time, the collector’s transaction automatically interacts with the artist’s code to generate a unique artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This process is called “minting,” and it is the moment when each individual, unique piece is created. Prior to this, not even the artist has seen the final work. That’s why you, the collector, are essential—without your transaction, and the unique data it creates to set the artist’s code in motion—these individual artworks literally would not exist.
This guide will introduce you to the first step in the process of getting started as an Art Blocks collector: getting a crypto wallet up and running. If you are already set up with a wallet, and have funded it, you will likely find our next article of more use at this stage, where we’ll walk you through the steps of beginning your collection of Art Blocks artworks. If you are new to all of this, however, you are in the right place: please read on.
Blockchain wallet
All artworks on the blockchain are registered to accounts where their ownership is verified. These accounts are called “wallets,” and in order to collect your own piece of art, you will need a blockchain wallet. The option presented here is for an individual MetaMask wallet, installed on Google Chrome. MetaMask is a crypto wallet that works with a variety of browsers, as well as many mobile phones. Because it is so widely used, it will serve as the example here. MetaMask’s own how-to can be found here.
Setting up MetaMask
1. Go to metamask.io and click “Download” in the top right corner.
2. Next, click “Install MetaMask for Chrome.”
3. This will bring you to the Chrome extension page. Click “Add to Chrome”
4. Once installed, you will be automatically redirected. Click “Get Started.”
5. The next page asks for permission to collect anonymous data. Select “No Thanks” or “I Agree” to continue.
6. Next, you will be prompted to create a new wallet. Click “Create a Wallet.”
7. At the next prompt, you will create a MetaMask password. Treat this as you would a password for any private online login. You’ll be typing this in regularly start MetaMask and allow it to access your individual wallet. Create and confirm your password, agree to the Terms of Use, and click “Create.”
8. Now you should see a video titled “Secure your wallet.” Watch this video before clicking Next. (Please note: MetaMask is always working to improve their user experience, so, by the time you are using this, some minor details may have changed, but the basic concepts are here, and you can always check their site for support getting set up if you encounter anything unfamiliar.)
Now you should see “Secret Backup Phrase.” Pay attention because this is important.
Your seed phrase is your most secure piece of information. DO NOT SHARE YOUR SECRET BACKUP PHRASE, EVER. Anyone who knows this phrase (sometimes referred to as a “seed phrase”) will have full access to your wallet, and can transfer artworks and funds wherever they wish, irrevocably.
Write down the phrase and store it in a safe place. It is generally recommended to do this in triplicate.
9. Once you’ve written down your seed phrase and arranged the best place (or three) to store it, MetaMask will ask you to confirm the phrase. Select the words in the correct order to continue.
10. At this point, the setup is complete, and you’re ready to send funds to the wallet. The MetaMask icon should now appear in the extension panel of Chrome, and you can pin it, if you want easy access.
Funding your Wallet
Now that your wallet is set up, you can click the extension icon to see your Ethereum (ETH) balance. At this point, it should have a zero balance (0.00 ETH).
To fund your account, you can use the built-in option on MetaMask and buy ETH directly from Coinbase Pay, Transak, MoonPay, or Wyre. If you already have ETH in a third-party wallet or account (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini), you can transfer some directly to your MetaMask wallet.
Buy ETH on MetaMask with Wyre
1. You can buy ETH with a credit card or Apple Pay through Wyre using MetaMask by clicking “Buy,” then “Continue to Wyre.”
2. Type in the US dollar (USD) amount of ETH you want to purchase* and your method of payment. (note: Wyre charges a transaction fee, and there is also a network fee. These fees are not associated with MetaMask or Art Blocks. To learn about network fees, including “gas,” click here).
3. Enter your payment info and click submit. Now your wallet is funded, and you should see a balance of ETH reflected.
Buy or Deposit ETH from other Exchanges
Another option to fund a wallet is to transfer ETH from an existing wallet into your MetaMask Wallet. To do this, click “Buy” then “View Account.” This will show you your MetaMask wallet address. It should be a string of 64 characters, beginning with “0x.” Best practices recommend cutting and pasting this address when making any transactions, as entering it by hand can result in errors.
Once you have your MetaMask wallet address, initiate the ETH transfer from the wallet that currently holds your ETH and send it to your MetaMask wallet. This transaction can take a few minutes and when it is completed, your MetaMask wallet will update to reflect the new balance.
Keep in mind gas is used for this transaction, so depending on the price of gas when you initiate the transaction, fees will be taken from the amount transferred. Gas prices are determined by the load on the Ethereum network at any given time, and this fee goes directly to transaction validators (“miners”), not to MetaMask or Art Blocks.
List of popular crypto exchanges to purchase ETH
1. Binance (outside US)
2. Binance.US
3. Coinbase
4. Kraken
5. Gemini
6. Crypto.com
Art Blocks
With a wallet set up and funded, you are ready to acquire your first Art Blocks piece. To learn more about this process, head over to this article here, where we’ll cover the different designations for Art Blocks projects, introduce you to upcoming releases (“drops”), as well as walk you through the mechanics of minting and what generally happens after a project release. If you have any questions, please join the Art Blocks official Discord and ask the community.
Adapted from text first published by Dan Rosario, “Art Blocks 101,” in The Link: Art Blocks, on April 24, 2021, which can be accessed here.
Getting Started
Welcome to Art Blocks—where artists, collectors, and blockchain technology unite to create compelling works of generative art. This guide will assume you are new to the blockchain. We are delighted to have you here.
On a high level, Art Blocks is a platform on which artists publish editions of unique generative artworks using creative code. Artists releasing on Art Blocks are selected through a rigorous application process, and their projects represent the new directions in this emergent art form. A key feature of the artwork released on Art Blocks is the unique collaboration between artist, collector, and blockchain technology. When an Art Blocks piece is purchased for the first time, the collector’s transaction automatically interacts with the artist’s code to generate a unique artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This process is called “minting,” and it is the moment when each individual, unique piece is created. Prior to this, not even the artist has seen the final work. That’s why you, the collector, are essential—without your transaction, and the unique data it creates to set the artist’s code in motion—these individual artworks literally would not exist.
This guide will introduce you to the first step in the process of getting started as an Art Blocks collector: getting a crypto wallet up and running. If you are already set up with a wallet, and have funded it, you will likely find our next article of more use at this stage, where we’ll walk you through the steps of beginning your collection of Art Blocks artworks. If you are new to all of this, however, you are in the right place: please read on.
Blockchain wallet
All artworks on the blockchain are registered to accounts where their ownership is verified. These accounts are called “wallets,” and in order to collect your own piece of art, you will need a blockchain wallet. The option presented here is for an individual MetaMask wallet, installed on Google Chrome. MetaMask is a crypto wallet that works with a variety of browsers, as well as many mobile phones. Because it is so widely used, it will serve as the example here. MetaMask’s own how-to can be found here.
Setting up MetaMask
1. Go to metamask.io and click “Download” in the top right corner.
2. Next, click “Install MetaMask for Chrome.”
3. This will bring you to the Chrome extension page. Click “Add to Chrome”
4. Once installed, you will be automatically redirected. Click “Get Started.”
5. The next page asks for permission to collect anonymous data. Select “No Thanks” or “I Agree” to continue.
6. Next, you will be prompted to create a new wallet. Click “Create a Wallet.”
7. At the next prompt, you will create a MetaMask password. Treat this as you would a password for any private online login. You’ll be typing this in regularly start MetaMask and allow it to access your individual wallet. Create and confirm your password, agree to the Terms of Use, and click “Create.”
8. Now you should see a video titled “Secure your wallet.” Watch this video before clicking Next. (Please note: MetaMask is always working to improve their user experience, so, by the time you are using this, some minor details may have changed, but the basic concepts are here, and you can always check their site for support getting set up if you encounter anything unfamiliar.)
Now you should see “Secret Backup Phrase.” Pay attention because this is important.
Your seed phrase is your most secure piece of information. DO NOT SHARE YOUR SECRET BACKUP PHRASE, EVER. Anyone who knows this phrase (sometimes referred to as a “seed phrase”) will have full access to your wallet, and can transfer artworks and funds wherever they wish, irrevocably.
Write down the phrase and store it in a safe place. It is generally recommended to do this in triplicate.
9. Once you’ve written down your seed phrase and arranged the best place (or three) to store it, MetaMask will ask you to confirm the phrase. Select the words in the correct order to continue.
10. At this point, the setup is complete, and you’re ready to send funds to the wallet. The MetaMask icon should now appear in the extension panel of Chrome, and you can pin it, if you want easy access.
Funding your Wallet
Now that your wallet is set up, you can click the extension icon to see your Ethereum (ETH) balance. At this point, it should have a zero balance (0.00 ETH).
To fund your account, you can use the built-in option on MetaMask and buy ETH directly from Coinbase Pay, Transak, MoonPay, or Wyre. If you already have ETH in a third-party wallet or account (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini), you can transfer some directly to your MetaMask wallet.
Buy ETH on MetaMask with Wyre
1. You can buy ETH with a credit card or Apple Pay through Wyre using MetaMask by clicking “Buy,” then “Continue to Wyre.”
2. Type in the US dollar (USD) amount of ETH you want to purchase* and your method of payment. (note: Wyre charges a transaction fee, and there is also a network fee. These fees are not associated with MetaMask or Art Blocks. To learn about network fees, including “gas,” click here).
3. Enter your payment info and click submit. Now your wallet is funded, and you should see a balance of ETH reflected.
Buy or Deposit ETH from other Exchanges
Another option to fund a wallet is to transfer ETH from an existing wallet into your MetaMask Wallet. To do this, click “Buy” then “View Account.” This will show you your MetaMask wallet address. It should be a string of 64 characters, beginning with “0x.” Best practices recommend cutting and pasting this address when making any transactions, as entering it by hand can result in errors.
Once you have your MetaMask wallet address, initiate the ETH transfer from the wallet that currently holds your ETH and send it to your MetaMask wallet. This transaction can take a few minutes and when it is completed, your MetaMask wallet will update to reflect the new balance.
Keep in mind gas is used for this transaction, so depending on the price of gas when you initiate the transaction, fees will be taken from the amount transferred. Gas prices are determined by the load on the Ethereum network at any given time, and this fee goes directly to transaction validators (“miners”), not to MetaMask or Art Blocks.
List of popular crypto exchanges to purchase ETH
1. Binance (outside US)
2. Binance.US
3. Coinbase
4. Kraken
5. Gemini
6. Crypto.com
Art Blocks
With a wallet set up and funded, you are ready to acquire your first Art Blocks piece. To learn more about this process, head over to this article here, where we’ll cover the different designations for Art Blocks projects, introduce you to upcoming releases (“drops”), as well as walk you through the mechanics of minting and what generally happens after a project release. If you have any questions, please join the Art Blocks official Discord and ask the community.
Adapted from text first published by Dan Rosario, “Art Blocks 101,” in The Link: Art Blocks, on April 24, 2021, which can be accessed here.
Getting Started
Welcome to Art Blocks—where artists, collectors, and blockchain technology unite to create compelling works of generative art. This guide will assume you are new to the blockchain. We are delighted to have you here.
On a high level, Art Blocks is a platform on which artists publish editions of unique generative artworks using creative code. Artists releasing on Art Blocks are selected through a rigorous application process, and their projects represent the new directions in this emergent art form. A key feature of the artwork released on Art Blocks is the unique collaboration between artist, collector, and blockchain technology. When an Art Blocks piece is purchased for the first time, the collector’s transaction automatically interacts with the artist’s code to generate a unique artwork on the Ethereum blockchain. This process is called “minting,” and it is the moment when each individual, unique piece is created. Prior to this, not even the artist has seen the final work. That’s why you, the collector, are essential—without your transaction, and the unique data it creates to set the artist’s code in motion—these individual artworks literally would not exist.
This guide will introduce you to the first step in the process of getting started as an Art Blocks collector: getting a crypto wallet up and running. If you are already set up with a wallet, and have funded it, you will likely find our next article of more use at this stage, where we’ll walk you through the steps of beginning your collection of Art Blocks artworks. If you are new to all of this, however, you are in the right place: please read on.
Blockchain wallet
All artworks on the blockchain are registered to accounts where their ownership is verified. These accounts are called “wallets,” and in order to collect your own piece of art, you will need a blockchain wallet. The option presented here is for an individual MetaMask wallet, installed on Google Chrome. MetaMask is a crypto wallet that works with a variety of browsers, as well as many mobile phones. Because it is so widely used, it will serve as the example here. MetaMask’s own how-to can be found here.
Setting up MetaMask
1. Go to metamask.io and click “Download” in the top right corner.
2. Next, click “Install MetaMask for Chrome.”
3. This will bring you to the Chrome extension page. Click “Add to Chrome”
4. Once installed, you will be automatically redirected. Click “Get Started.”
5. The next page asks for permission to collect anonymous data. Select “No Thanks” or “I Agree” to continue.
6. Next, you will be prompted to create a new wallet. Click “Create a Wallet.”
7. At the next prompt, you will create a MetaMask password. Treat this as you would a password for any private online login. You’ll be typing this in regularly start MetaMask and allow it to access your individual wallet. Create and confirm your password, agree to the Terms of Use, and click “Create.”
8. Now you should see a video titled “Secure your wallet.” Watch this video before clicking Next. (Please note: MetaMask is always working to improve their user experience, so, by the time you are using this, some minor details may have changed, but the basic concepts are here, and you can always check their site for support getting set up if you encounter anything unfamiliar.)
Now you should see “Secret Backup Phrase.” Pay attention because this is important.
Your seed phrase is your most secure piece of information. DO NOT SHARE YOUR SECRET BACKUP PHRASE, EVER. Anyone who knows this phrase (sometimes referred to as a “seed phrase”) will have full access to your wallet, and can transfer artworks and funds wherever they wish, irrevocably.
Write down the phrase and store it in a safe place. It is generally recommended to do this in triplicate.
9. Once you’ve written down your seed phrase and arranged the best place (or three) to store it, MetaMask will ask you to confirm the phrase. Select the words in the correct order to continue.
10. At this point, the setup is complete, and you’re ready to send funds to the wallet. The MetaMask icon should now appear in the extension panel of Chrome, and you can pin it, if you want easy access.
Funding your Wallet
Now that your wallet is set up, you can click the extension icon to see your Ethereum (ETH) balance. At this point, it should have a zero balance (0.00 ETH).
To fund your account, you can use the built-in option on MetaMask and buy ETH directly from Coinbase Pay, Transak, MoonPay, or Wyre. If you already have ETH in a third-party wallet or account (e.g., Coinbase, Gemini), you can transfer some directly to your MetaMask wallet.
Buy ETH on MetaMask with Wyre
1. You can buy ETH with a credit card or Apple Pay through Wyre using MetaMask by clicking “Buy,” then “Continue to Wyre.”
2. Type in the US dollar (USD) amount of ETH you want to purchase* and your method of payment. (note: Wyre charges a transaction fee, and there is also a network fee. These fees are not associated with MetaMask or Art Blocks. To learn about network fees, including “gas,” click here).
3. Enter your payment info and click submit. Now your wallet is funded, and you should see a balance of ETH reflected.
Buy or Deposit ETH from other Exchanges
Another option to fund a wallet is to transfer ETH from an existing wallet into your MetaMask Wallet. To do this, click “Buy” then “View Account.” This will show you your MetaMask wallet address. It should be a string of 64 characters, beginning with “0x.” Best practices recommend cutting and pasting this address when making any transactions, as entering it by hand can result in errors.
Once you have your MetaMask wallet address, initiate the ETH transfer from the wallet that currently holds your ETH and send it to your MetaMask wallet. This transaction can take a few minutes and when it is completed, your MetaMask wallet will update to reflect the new balance.
Keep in mind gas is used for this transaction, so depending on the price of gas when you initiate the transaction, fees will be taken from the amount transferred. Gas prices are determined by the load on the Ethereum network at any given time, and this fee goes directly to transaction validators (“miners”), not to MetaMask or Art Blocks.
List of popular crypto exchanges to purchase ETH
1. Binance (outside US)
2. Binance.US
3. Coinbase
4. Kraken
5. Gemini
6. Crypto.com
Art Blocks
With a wallet set up and funded, you are ready to acquire your first Art Blocks piece. To learn more about this process, head over to this article here, where we’ll cover the different designations for Art Blocks projects, introduce you to upcoming releases (“drops”), as well as walk you through the mechanics of minting and what generally happens after a project release. If you have any questions, please join the Art Blocks official Discord and ask the community.
Adapted from text first published by Dan Rosario, “Art Blocks 101,” in The Link: Art Blocks, on April 24, 2021, which can be accessed here.
